This is a profile image of Dr. Simon Kaesler

Dr. Simon Kaesler

Senior PartnerFrankfurt

Leads our insurance work in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, and advises financial-services organizations on digital strategy, distribution transformation, and new business building

Simon leads the firm’s insurance sector in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, helping clients strategize and accelerate digital strategy and transformation projects. As the leader of McKinsey's work in insurance distribution across Europe, Simon works with financial-services executives to develop and implement distribution-transformation strategies that drive growth and address rapidly changing customer needs in the industry.

He combines deep industry and functional expertise around marketing, digital, and sales with a fresh, bold perspective about driving growth and performance improvements along the value chain through innovation, digital business building, and new technologies. He’s fueled by a keen understanding of new industry attackers and insurance-technology companies.

Simon has conducted dozens of projects in the digital-distribution space of insurance over the past five years, including the comprehensive omnichannel transformation of a global insurer; the development of digital distribution and aggregators models for two large financial institutions; performance programs for multiple digital insurance marketplaces encompassing the entire value chain; and the build-up of an insurance vertical for an online distributor as an annex product.

As a leader of Leap by McKinsey, Simon also helps companies build new digital businesses that combine the agility of start-ups with the operational and technical excellence of established corporations. He has led the buildup of several direct insurance groups in Europe, including claims, customer perspectives, design and value propositions, go-to-market approach, IT, and operations.

In addition to his work around digital distribution and new business building, Simon serves several major global insurance companies on multiyear-strategy programs and digital and analytics transformations.

Published work

Global perspectives on insurtechs,” McKinsey & Company, September 2021

Four executives on the future of insurance distribution,” McKinsey & Company, August 2021

Moving to a user-first, omnichannel approach,” McKinsey & Company, January 2021

Future of insurance: Unleashing growth through new business building,” McKinsey & Company, December 2020

The next frontier for sustainable growth: Capturing the cost advantage of direct insurance,” McKinsey & Company, July 2020

How insurance can prepare for the next distribution model,” McKinsey & Company, June 2020

The multi-access (r)evolution in insurance sales,” McKinsey & Company, April 2020

Direct insurance was set to disrupt the industry: What went wrong?” McKinsey & Company, November 2019

Live from DIA Amsterdam 2019: The three megatrends and one global shift driving insurtech innovation,” McKinsey & Company, July 2019

Ten years of change in direct insurance,” McKinsey & Company, July 2019

A new industry model for insurtech,” McKinsey & Company, May 2019

Friends or foes: The rise of European aggregators and their impact on traditional insurers,” McKinsey & Company, December 2018

The five trends driving insurtech, live from DIA 2018,” McKinsey & Company, May 2018

Education

Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main
PhD, finance

EBS Business School
MS, finance, management accounting