EMEA

Tony Cheng, Executive Vice President, Head of Asia, Australia, and EMEA for RGA Reinsurance Company (RGA), leads and provides executive oversight for RGA Asia, Australia, and EMEA operations. He is a member of RGA’s Executive Committee. 

Tony, who joined RGA in 1997, has nearly a quarter-century of life insurance industry experience. He joined RGA in 1997 as Chief Actuary of Malaysian Life Reinsurance Group Berhad, RGA’s joint venture with the Life Insurance Association of Malaysia. He moved to RGA’s headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri (U.S.), in 1999, and then relocated to Hong Kong in 2002. In 2004, Tony was named Chief Executive Officer of the Hong Kong office, responsible for all business activity in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, and in 2011, was appointed Senior Vice President, Asia, an expanded role incorporating overall management of RGA Asia. 

Tony received a Bachelor of Economics (B.Ec.) degree from Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, and an M.B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis’s John M. Olin School of Business. He became a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia (FIAA) in 1997. An active participant in the Actuarial Society of Hong Kong, Tony was elected its President in 2008 and served as a council member of the Society from 2005 to 2015. He has also served as Chair of its Experience and Life Committees. 

Simon Wainwright is Executive Vice President, EMEA. Prior to his current role, Simon was responsible for leading the management and growth of RGA’s businesses and operations in the UK & Ireland, Continental Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Simon has more than 30 years of strategic and global leadership experience in financial services. Prior to joining RGA in 2012 he worked for HSBC for 15 years in roles as varied as CEO HSBC Bank Ireland during the GFC, COO Global Commercial & Corporate Banking, and Managing Director Insurance, EMEA. He has also held executive leadership roles with Lloyds Banking Group and Nationwide Building Society.

He holds several directorships with both RGA and external organizations.
Simon is a graduate of The University of Reading and received a Diploma in Management Studies (DMS) from Oxford, as well as an M.B.A. from Henley Management School. In addition, he is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (now The Institute of Financial Services), and a Chartered Company Director and Fellow of the Institute of Directors.

Lionel Périnel is Chief Operating Officer, EMEA. Prior to being appointed to his current role, he served as Managing Director, Continental Europe, for RGA International Reinsurance Company dac, where he was responsible for all business activities of RGA International branch offices in France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands. Lionel also served as the first Managing Director for France when the branch office opened in 2007, and then was responsible for France and Spain from 2015 to 2017.  

Lionel started his career in 1996 as a pricing actuary with AXA in Switzerland. In 1998, he joined Paris-based ERC Frankona (now part of Swiss Re), and in 2003 he became its Managing Director for the French and Belgian markets.

He has a bachelor’s degree in actuarial science from the University ISFA (L’Institut de Science Financière et d’Assurances) in Lyon, France, and is a qualified actuary of the French Institute of Actuaries (IA). In 2010, he was elected Vice President of the IA.

Adriano de Matteis is Managing Director, Italy and Chief Marketing Officer, EMEA Region, RGA International Reinsurance Company dac. In addition to overseeing the operations of RGA Italy, Adriano cultivates and implements new bancassurance and product development opportunities and fosters sales and business growth and development for RGA’s EMEA region. 

Adriano came to RGA in 2007 as Director, Business Development for RGA Italy, and has 20 years of insurance industry experience. Prior to joining RGA, Adriano held senior-level sales and marketing positions with Partner Re’s Paris office and Munich Re’s Italy office. He also spent seven years as actuarial office manager for Assiba S.p.A. Società di Assicurazioni (now merged into Intesa Sanpaolo Vita), the Generali Group’s bancassurance operation at that time.

Adriano earned his master’s degree in mathematics from Milan University.

As Chief of Staff for EMEA, Arjan van der Velden works closely with the Head of EMEA, EMEA Managing Directors and other global and regional senior executives to implement the company’s diversification strategies and to streamline and optimize business management processes. Arjan guides the annual regional financial, strategy and business development planning, including implementing strategic account plans and thought leadership in CRM management. In addition, Arjan steers and supports large-scale strategic business development projects throughout the EMEA region.

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

Prior to 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 his bachelor’s degree in commercial economics from the Haarlem Business School in the Netherlands.

In her role as Senior Marketing and Communications Manager, Dorota Wysocka is responsible for coordinating communications and special events in the EMEA region, as well as serving as a liaison with RGA global headquarters. Based in RGA’s Italy branch office, Dorota works closely with the Italian Business Development Team to support sales, business development, marketing, and CRM management activities.

Dorota joined the company in 2010, initially as Office Manager and in a marketing support role in Italy, helping the office grow in the local market before being promoted to her current role in 2015. Prior to joining RGA, Dorota worked in customer relations for 5 years in the hotel industry. She also has experience as an Italian language instructor.

Dorota received a master’s degree in marketing communication and events and a bachelor’s degree in Italian language and culture from the University of Silesia in Katowice (Poland). She is fluent in Italian, as well as Polish and English.