Dr. Stephan Kalb is a senior director at Fitch Ratings and heads up the rating team for insurance companies in Frankfurt. He is responsible for managing Fitch’s primary insurance analysis and ratings in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Eastern Europe and leads Fitch’ initiatives on IFRS 17.  Before joining Fitch Ratings in 2011, Stephan was Senior Vice President and Director, European Insurance Research at Sal. Oppenheim. Prior to that Stephan worked at different international investment banks and has more than twenty-five years of insurance analytical experience. Stephan holds a Dipl.-Volkswirt degree from the J.W. Goethe University, Frankfurt as well as a M.A. and a Ph.D. in economics from the European University Institute in Florence, Italy.