Reinsurance firm PartnerRe has appointed a new head of catastrophe.

Greg Haft will take over the role from Brian Secrett, who has left the firm.

Mr Haft joined the firm — which has agreed to merge with Axis Capital Holdings — in 2013 from financial holding company Markel Corporation, where he was managing director and head of US property casualty underwriting.

He will now be responsible for PartnerRe’s worldwide catastrophe reinsurance business, reporting to PartnerRe Global CEO Emmanuel Clarke.

Mr Haft has a degree in mathematics and statistics from the University of Michigan, is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is a certified cat risk analyst.