Judith Hanratty, OBE, has been appointed to Partner Re's Board of Directors.

Ms Hanratty recently retired as company secretary and counsel to the board of BP plc.

During her 29-year career with the BP Group, Ms Hanratty held senior executive positions in her native New Zealand and for 18 years at the group's London headquarters.

She developed BP's model of corporate governance and was instrumental in instituting major changes to the group's insurance and risk management arrangements in the early 1990s when she held the position of chairman and CEO of The Tanker Insurance Company, Ltd.

Ms Hanratty has maintained the positions of chairman of The Commonwealth Institute, governor and chairman of the College of Law and Member of the Council of Lloyd's of London.

She is also a non executive director of Charles Taylor Consulting plc, Partnerships UK Plc, the British Standards Institution and is a member of the UK Gas and Energy Markets Authority.

PartnerRe chairman John Rollwagen said: "Her international experience and exposure to diverse cultural and business environments will be substantial assets to the Board.

"Judith has an excellent reputation as a strong conceptual thinker and leader and we look forward to working with her."