

We care about your employees
Members of the Board of Directors

Theo Iaponas
CEO Swiss Life International and Member of the Corporate Executive Board Swiss Life Group and Head of Global Employee Benefits

Rolf Aeberli
Head Corporate Mandates Swiss Life Group

Adrian Brügger
Company Secretary Swiss Life Group (Generalsekretär)

Philippe Golinvaux
CFO Swiss Life International
elipsLife Executive Team

Patricia Mattle
CEO Elips Life Ltd & CEO Switzerland
Patricia Mattle
Patricia Mattle has over 12 years of experience in the insurance sector and is a recognised expert in the employee benefits field. Patricia has held a variety of roles in the areas of employee benefits and pension funds, and has spent time working in the US and France, all of which has allowed her to develop a broad range of skills and international experience in life and health insurance.
In her role before joining elipsLife, Patricia spent two years in the Pensions department at AXA Switzerland as Head of Autonomous Market Group Life.
Patricia holds an MA in Marketing, Services and Communication Management from the University of St. Gallen (HSG), Switzerland.
She has been CEO Switzerland/Liechtenstein at elipsLife since April 2020 and since July 2022 a member of the Swiss Life International Global Employee Benefits Management Team. Since July 2022 she is also CEO of Elips Life Ltd.

Sandra Kipfer
CFO
Sandra Kipfer
Sandra Kipfer joined elipsLife as Chief Financial Officer in January 2024.
She brings broad experience in the insurance industry for over 15 years, holding various positions in finance. In her previous role, Sandra was Head Finance Transformation International Division at Swiss Life. Before, she hold numerous roles at Zurich Insurance.
Sandra possesses a Master’s degree in Finance and Accounting, in addition to an Advanced Federal Diploma in Business Administration.

Gielijn Arends
CEO Netherlands
Gielijn Arends
Gielijn Arends is responsible for the elipsLife Benelux organization.
Gielijn brings extensive experience in the insurance sector, including working for the corporate insurer MS Amlin and its legal predecessors for 20 years. During his career, he has held various senior positions in underwriting, claims and reinsurance and has been Country Manager for the past nine years. Additionally, Gielijn has been actively involved in the Dutch Insurance Exchange Association, the Association of Insurers and the International Network of Insurance.
Gielijn joined elipsLife in 2023. As CEO Netherlands he is responsible for both the Dutch and Belgian market and a member of the Swiss Life International Global Employee Benefits Management Team.

Marco Giovannini
CEO Italy
Marco Giovannini
Marco's journey in the financial sector began as a financial analyst, and he has since held various roles of increasing responsibility within the investments division of Generali.
His professional path has taken him across different global hubs, including Munich, Paris, and New York, where he gained expertise in life, health, and savings products. His extensive industry experience has equipped him with a deep understanding of employee benefits and a comprehensive skill set spanning across strategy, finance, sales, marketing, and operations.
Marco holds a MS in Law and Business Administration, a Ph.D. in Corporate Finance, and a joint global executive MBA programme from Columbia and London business Schools.

David Lata
Chief Underwriting Officer
David Lata
David Lata is responsible for Underwriting at Swiss Life International Global Employee Benefits since 2022 and a member of the Swiss Life International Global Employee Benefits Management Team since July 2022.
He has worked in the Life and Reinsurance industry for over 20 years across many markets. David joined elipsLife late in 2020 as Head Costing & Underwriting.
He started his career with Generali Worldwide on the valuation/reserving side and then joined Winterthur Group in a product design/profitability role before moving to Swiss Re and later Credit Suisse ILS (Insurance Linked Securities).
David is an actuary (Swiss Actuary Association) and studied actuarial science at HEC University of Lausanne, Switzerland.

Kaspar Weiss
Head Business Technology & Transformation
Karine Verbruggen
Karine Verbruggen is heading the newly created Business Transformation department at Swiss Life International Global Employee Benefits since April 2022, after having managed the Operational department of Swiss Life International Global Employee Benefit during four years and the Business Engineering team during two years.
Before Swiss Life, Karine held several international leadership positions, driving group projects and teams across Europe, Asia and Africa.
She graduated with a Master’s degree in Business Economics from UCLouvain University, Mons, Belgium, and Laval University, Quebec, Canada.

Benjamin Heusi
Head Legal & Compliance
Karine Verbruggen
Karine Verbruggen is heading the newly created Business Transformation department at Swiss Life International Global Employee Benefits since April 2022, after having managed the Operational department of Swiss Life International Global Employee Benefit during four years and the Business Engineering team during two years.
Before Swiss Life, Karine held several international leadership positions, driving group projects and teams across Europe, Asia and Africa.
She graduated with a Master’s degree in Business Economics from UCLouvain University, Mons, Belgium, and Laval University, Quebec, Canada.
International presence
elipsLife operates in Europe. Its European headquarters are located in Ruggell, Liechtenstein, and it has branch offices in the Swiss (Zurich), Dutch (Hoofddorp) and Italian (Milan) markets. In accordance with the principle of freedom to provide services, elipsLife also operates in Belgium.