Senior Vice President
Chief Medical Director
Dr. Nico van Zyl is Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at RGA, where he provides medical consultation, expertise, and technical assistance for reinsurance underwriting and claims assessment. Dr. van Zyl evaluates medical factors in the underwriting risk assessment and claims management process. He also integrates medical practice policies into product definitions, underwriting guidelines, standards, and manuals. He has a special interest in the use of technology in medicine.
Before joining RGA in July 2025, Dr. van Zyl spent more than a decade at Hannover Re, serving in several senior medical director roles, including Chief Medical Office and Vice President. In these roles, he supported underwriting and claims teams, led comprehensive medical research initiatives, managed the development and promotion of underwriting manuals across international offices, and established best practices for risk selection processes.
Dr. van Zyl started his medical career in general practice in the United Kingdom, where he trained and worked in various psychiatric specialties including acute adult crisis resolution and psychiatric home treatment, liaison psychiatry, and addiction psychiatry in London and surrounding home counties.
Dr. van Zyl earned a Master of Science in health informatics from University College London and obtained his medical degree from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.