Global Client Office

Olav Cuiper is Executive Vice President and Global Chief Client Officer of Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated. In 2021, RGA established its Global Client Office (GCO) in order to strengthen and align the company’s strategic client-centered approach and enable efficient service delivery and holistic solutions. Olav leads the GCO, which consists of Global Marketing, Client Engagement, Innovation and Partnerships (RGAX), Global Accounts, and Health. He is also a member of RGA’s Executive Committee.

Olav Cuiper is Executive Vice President and Global Chief Client Officer of Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated. In 2021, RGA established its Global Client Office (GCO) in order to strengthen and align the company’s strategic client-centered approach and enable efficient service delivery and holistic solutions. Olav leads the GCO, which consists of Global Marketing, Client Engagement, Innovation and Partnerships (RGAX), Global Accounts, and Health. He is also a member of RGA’s Executive Committee.

Dennis Barnes, Jr. is Chief Marketing Officer for RGA and Chief Executive Officer of RGAX, RGA's transformation engine.

Dennis came to RGA with more than two decades of experience as an entrepreneur and innovator in insurance direct marketing. His company, Marketing Direct, Inc. (MDI), an integrated healthcare marketing services company which he founded in 1997, was acquired in 2010 by WPP, the world’s largest provider of marketing and communication services. There, he was President of Wunderman St. Louis and Chief Client Officer of Wunderman Health, a digital agency for life insurance, pharmaceutical, medical devices and other health and wellness verticals. 

He earned his Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree from the University of Missouri – Columbia, and holds a certificate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Birthing of Giants program, which focuses on entrepreneurial development. Dennis’ awards include international recognition from Ernst & Young as the Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year and local recognition from the St. Louis Chapter of the Direct Marketing Association as Direct Marketer of the Year.
 
Dennis currently serves as Board President for the American Parkinson Disease Association (APDA). Previously he has served on the University of Missouri Strategic Development Board, as President of the St. Louis Chapter of the Young Entrepreneurs Organization (YEO) and as a member of the Board of Directors of The Magic House, St. Louis’ children’s museum. An author and speaker, Dennis has been featured in Inc. Magazine, St. Louis Commerce Magazine, Fast Forward, St. Louis Business Journal and St. Louis Small Business Monthly.

As Executive Vice President, Global Client Support & Initiatives, Paul Nitsou primarily focuses on overseeing business relations with multinational insurance companies and in developing and supporting local teams in implementing chosen value-added services and business initiatives.

He joined RGA in 1996 to assist in the company’s international expansion outside of North America, and was named President of RGA’s International Division in 2006. Paul began his insurance career in 1985 with Manulife Financial, where he held numerous actuarial-related positions in the company’s U.S. division before joining its retrocession division in 1989, ultimately serving as Vice President, Financial Reinsurance. Currently he serves as chair of ACLI’s International Markets and Trade Committee and is a Member of the Advisory Board of the International Insurance Society.

Paul received a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree from the University of Toronto. He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (FSA), and a Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA) Charterholder.

John P. Laughlin, Executive Vice President, Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated (RGA), is Senior Adviser to RGA and a member of RGA’s Executive Committee.

Prior to his current role, John served for more than a decade as Executive Vice President of RGA’s Global Financial Solutions unit. Under his leadership, GFS grew into RGA’s global asset-intensive, capital-motivated, and bulk longevity reinsurance business. John first came to RGA in 1995 when the company acquired then-employer ITT Financial Corporation, a major provider of financial reinsurance in the U.S.

John received his Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in business administration and accounting from the University of Missouri, Columbia and his Master of Science (M.S.) degree in finance from St. Louis University.

Arjan van der Velden is Vice President, Chief of Staff Global Client Office, and EMEA Marketing Business Partner of Reinsurance Group of America. In 2021, RGA established its Global Client Office (GCO), consisting of Global Marketing, Client Engagement, Innovation and Partnerships (RGAX), Global Accounts, and Health. As Chief of Staff, Arjan works closely with Olav Cuiper, Executive Vice President, Global Chief Client Officer and member of RGA’s Executive Committee, to strengthen and align the company’s strategic client-centered approach and enable efficient service delivery and holistic solutions.

In his second role of EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Marketing Business Partner, Arjan acts as a business partner to foster alignment and drive the execution of regional marketing strategies to deliver modern client-centric marketing propositions by working cross-functionally with product development, business development, innovation, operations, and external partners.

Arjan is based within the RGA office in Amsterdam (the Netherlands).

Prior to his current role, Arjan spent a decade as Chief of Staff EMEA, implementing the company’s diversification strategies and streamlining and optimizing business management processes within the region. Arjan guided the annual regional financial and business development planning, including implementing strategic account plans and thought leadership in CRM management. In addition, he steered large-scale strategic business development projects throughout the EMEA region, especially in the Middle East.

Before joining RGA, Arjan held several senior-level sales and marketing positions within ABN AMRO Retail Banking (formerly known as Fortis Bank), and Ageas (formerly known as Fortis Insurance International). He also worked as self-employed business and marketing consultant for AMVOX Management Consultants, based in the Netherlands. Arjan received a Bachelor’s Degree in commercial economics from the Haarlem Business School in the Netherlands.