Who is “Paul the Insurer”?

Have you ever heard of “Paul the insurer”? Pierre Perrenoud, who worked for Swiss Re in Zurich for over 35 years, is the inventor of this concept. Together with Irma de Jong (co-owner of the company), and Eduardo Remolins (strategic advisor and overall coordinator), the company is spreading the good word about insurance.

Find out in the following interview how Paul or PAVEL can help insurers and reinsurers.

thebrokernews talks to Pierre Perrenoud.

Pierre, you have worked for Swiss Re for over 35 years, some of them as member of Group Management, and you have lived abroad and traveled around the world. Can we know your age and why do you still have a professional interest in the insurance world?

Some political parties advocate working past retirement age. You could say that I am a good example of work that insures longevity, a very bad risk for pension funds. Why do I still work? Simply because I am in love, in love with a profession that gave me many satisfactions, not only monetary but also from a professional and cultural viewpoint. Although many people feel insurance is boring, I would qualify it as a sexy activity. You get adrenaline each time you meet a new challenge, like cyber risks.

You are still a board member of insurance and reinsurance companies in Spain, Luxembourg, Singapore and Switzerland. Do you still travel a lot?

Does “travel” sound like a punishment? All my life I have spent at least five months a year on the go, even six if you add the time on military duty. Some people say that traveling saves your marriage. I agree, particularly if you can take your wife with you. What sounds like a joke is a very serious issue: my wife was a great help in establishing solid ties with our clients.

I still enjoy traveling, the old way, i.e. taking time to discover a city, visiting a museum or an art gallery, enjoying a glass of wine in a quiet square or going to the theater. To some, this sounds like a waste of time, but a few companies see it as an asset, an enrichment that makes employees not only more human, but also provides them with interesting conversation topics with clients.

On a cultural level, you were very involved in cultural projects in Crans-Montana (Valais). What projects are involved?

When I was young, some people felt I was a Maoist, and I enjoyed this reputation in the sense that the insurance industry and also the cultural environment needed a revolution. Not that I would demonstrate in the streets! A more subtle approach was needed. In my job, I told my staff that we needed a “cultural revolution”, and meant we had to get rid of old ways of working and adopt word processors and e-mails which were still in their infancy at the time.

In Crans-Montana, where I learned how to ski, we lived in a cultural desert. So, I adopted Mao’s slogan: “Let one hundred flowers bloom”, and within a few years, together with like-minded friends, the resort counted over half a dozen cultural associations that we supported with a foundation.

In 2014, you founded a company called iClassical Academy with friends. What for?

Imagine a talented young woman with her violin in the countryside of Argentina or in the mountains of Mexico, or a young man using the only piano in a German village. How can they make any progress in their studies after spending years with the local teacher? Online lessons are the answer, and this is the reason we started a school that features over 1800 video lessons. Not only students but even teachers and amateurs subscribe to our program because our professors are selected amongst the best.

Now tell us, who or what “Paul the Insurer”?

This “Paul” was invented by a team member who felt that the name sounded good in various languages. I had no objections, mostly because there is an important precedent: Paul the Apostle, who some consider to be the actual founder of Christianity. So, I hope our “Paul The Insurer” will spread the good word about insurance, particularly the fact that it is a lively business despite its reputation as a boring industry.

Paul the Apostle was a great writer of letters to Christian communities. We want to be known as good writers of podcasts for a growing community of people who, like us, believe in the beauty of insurance. And like Paul, we want to proselytize!

How often do you publish these podcasts and who creates them?

Some may think that up to three podcasts a week is more than enough. But they are short, four minutes or a page and a half at most, with original views, anecdotes and, since last week, testimonials from managers. Not technical topics, but light stuff that many times are thought-provoking. And it happens that we cannot resist including famous personalities such as Einstein, Kafka or even Socrates to hear their views on insurance.

And what is PAVEL?

“Personal Assistant Via Engaging Language” says it all. It is not one of the 400 chatbots available on the market, but a modest wizard that answers questions about insurance in a condensed and friendly manner. We wanted to call it Paul but did not find a corresponding acronym and had to settle for a Slavic language.

Why should insurers use your chatbot, when ChatGPT is learning more about the Re/Insurance industry and risk management every day?

Now I must confess my sins! PAVEL does not just live with my own databank in a closed room. We have opened a window on the world to obtain more and better information. Nevertheless, PAVEL is not meant for insurance specialists who want an encyclopedic answer. It provides satisfactory explanations for beginners or people who just want a piece of information.

What languages does PAVEL speak?

All languages spoken by chatbots. Try Schwizerdüütsch (Swiss German!). I did and he answered me in Bernese dialect…

What about the business case – how does it work and what does it cost?

Was Paul the apostle a businessman?

Good counter question! How many subscribers do you have?

Ask me this question after we have been preaching for at least a year. For the time being, we have about 6000 followers. Whether they listen to the good word every time we speak is a moot question, because we know that we are not preaching in a desert, but in a world that is lean on meaning.

Tell our readers more about our collaboration and when it starts.

That depends very much on Binci’s reaction after reading the interview!

I met Binci at the Risk-!n conference 2025 in Zurich and was impressed by her dynamism, her knowledge of the insurance market and, above all, her talent for networking! We felt that our podcasts could enrich thebrokernews content with original topics. At the same time, we believe that our message to young people and the general public would reach a wider audience. We hope to launch the first podcasts in September. However, readers and listeners can also go back in time and discover what we have published since the beginning.

How do thebrokernews readers benefit from this collaboration?

thebrokernews can be seen as the Wall Street Journal that adds a page to provoke or give the reader a good time. Most readers of thebrokernews are probably insurance professionals. The podcasts show them a different approach to insurance and may even make them smile! We hope they know young people who are interested in hearing testimonials from executives and learning about the many facets of this profession.

Take a look at the following podcast as an example!

Thank you for the compliment with the Wall Street Journal…

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