Cristina Schulze-Bergmann has been elected as the next director of Swiss Export Risk Insurance (Serv). 

The former banker will take the reins on April 1, next year from Peter Gisler, who has led the agency since early 2017.  

Schulze-Bergmann has held transaction banking and corporate banking roles at lenders including RBS and Deutsche Bank, and in early 2021 joined Swiss textile machinery manufacturer Rieter as head of trade and export finance.  

She is also president of the Export Financing Commission at industry association Swissmem.  

Board chairwoman Barbara Hayoz says in a statement that Schulze-Bergmann “outperformed numerous other applicants in the evaluation process for the publicly advertised role”.  

“Serv’s board of directors is convinced that she is the right person for the job: her career has been shaped by her involvement in complex international projects and the constant balancing act between risk mitigation and market development,” Hayoz adds. “As a result, she has learned how to navigate safely even in stormy times – whether on the exporter side or in the banking world. 

Last year, Serv reported its fourth-highest net income of CHF98.9mn (US$124.6mn), despite a fall in premium revenue due to “the bleak overall economic situation”, according to its annual report. New insurance policies issued during the year amounted to CHF1.76bn, the lowest since 2015.  

Schulze-Bergmann says: “In a time of rapidly evolving global markets, I look forward to the many challenges and opportunities ahead of us,” adding that the “necessary adjustments to the legal framework in particular may enable Serv to further strengthen its role as a reliable partner to the Swiss export industry”.