Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty SE, the industrial insurer of the Allianz Group, has announced a realignment of its Board of Management, focusing on responsibilities for regions and markets as well as for Underwriting and Claims functions.
Effective from July 1, the number of Chief Regions & Markets Officers (CRMO) on the AGCS SE Board of Management will be reduced from three to two.
Henning Haagen, current Chief Underwriting Officer Specialty, will assume responsibility for all AGCS regional units outside North America as Chief Regions & Markets Officer Regional Group 1, including Africa, Asia Pacific, Central & Eastern Europe, Mediterranean Region, Regional Unit London, and South America.
As Chief Regions & Markets Officer Regional Group 2, Bill Scaldaferri will continue to head the North America Regional Group.
Additionally, the two current AGCS CRMOs, Sinéad Browne and Hartmut Mai will resign from the AGCS SE Board effective June 30 and pursue opportunities outside AGCS.
Their responsibilities will be merged into one single Regional Group 1 under the lead of Henning Haagen, who will also oversee Global Broker Management.
In terms of appointments for Underwriting and Claims, AGCS has appointed NewRe CEO Renate Strasser as Chief Underwriting Officer Specialty to its Board of Management.
Henning Haagen will retain his existing Board responsibility for Specialty lines of business (Aviation, Marine, Entertainment, MidCorp) on an interim basis until Strasser starts at AGCS
Furthermore, the current Chief Underwriting Officer Corporate, Thomas Sepp, will assume a re-established Board role as AGCS Chief Claims Officer.
He will be succeeded by Tony Buckle who will join from AXA XL with effect from July 1. As Chief Underwriting Officer Corporate, Buckle will oversee AGCS’ Corporate lines of business.
“Sinéad and Hartmut have been long-standing members of the AGCS SE Board of Management in various roles over many years,” said AGCS CEO Joachim Mueller.” “I would like to thank them for their extensive list of contributions and achievements.”
“With the consolidation of regional leadership at Board level, we aim to strengthen our global approach at AGCS and to simplify our organization. I look forward to working with both Henning and Bill to act as one team at AGCS globally to service clients and brokers effectively in all our key markets.”
Mueller also welcomed Strasser and Buckle to the AGCS SE Board: “Renate’s strong technical and quantitative background combined with her broad experience across the Property & Casualty industry is exactly the skill set we need. Tony has a strong track record of re-positioning portfolios for performance, as well as extensive experience in underwriting and portfolio management.
“We have already come a long way in our underwriting turnaround and now the two new Board Members will further help in steering our portfolios to sustainable profitability.”
Since 2016, Renate Strasser has been CEO of Munich Re Group carrier NewRe, with responsibility for the entire legal entity operating out of Zurich, including traditional property and casualty reinsurance business, structured reinsurance solutions, weather derivative business and life business.
Buckle, meanwhile, has held senior underwriting and portfolio management positions both in reinsurance (Swiss Re, GE Frankona) and corporate insurance (Swiss Re Corporate Solutions, RSA and AXA XL), most recently as Chief Underwriting Officer International P&C at AXA XL, based in Zurich.
Mueller further commented on the appointment of Sepp as Chief Claims Officer: “Claims is the moment of truth for our clients and also a key element of technical excellence in our business.”
“With his strong analytical skills as well as underwriting and claims expertise, Thomas will move our claims team to the next level, improving both services for our clients as well as internal claims analytics and identification of loss trends.”
