Sirma Boshnakova has the necessary international experience.
(Photo: Allianz)
Munich The personality is unusual in several ways. When Sirma Boshnakova moves into the Allianz Board of Management at the turn of the year, the committee will not only grow by one person to eleven members, but the description of the tasks will also be surprising.
The 50-year-old Bulgarian will initially work with board member Sergio Balbinot before she will take on more and more portfolio responsibility from him over the course of the year and from 2023 will be entirely responsible for the insurance business in Western and Southern Europe as well as for the important Asia-Pacific region. The 63-year-old Italian will then retire. Subsequently, the Allianz Board of Management will shrink back to the tried and tested ten-person line-up from 2023.
It is a key position on the Allianz Board of Management that is now starting with a familiarization phase for Boshnakova. It is less the insurance business in Western and Southern Europe that is new to Boshnakova. She was in charge of the division until 2019 before she took over as CEO of the subsidiary Allianz Partners.
By far the bigger challenge is likely to be expanding business in the Asia-Pacific region. For many years, fund managers criticized that Allianz had “missed the boat” there. Competitors acted much more aggressively in this growth market. In the past two years, however, expansion has continued.
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A year ago, the insurance business of the Australian Westpac Group was taken over under the leadership of Sergio Balbinot. Since then, the alliance has been one of the market leaders on the fifth continent with Australia Group and Suncorp.
In China, the life insurance subsidiary Allianz China Life has been fully owned by Allianz since November, after the 49 percent stake of the previous joint venture partner Citic Trust was taken over. This makes Allianz the first completely independent foreign life insurer to emerge from a partnership with a local partner.
The distribution of tasks is in place
The distribution of tasks in the future Balbinot / Boshnakova tandem is clearly regulated at least in 2022. “In view of the growth potential of the Asia-Pacific region, Sergio Balbinot can now concentrate even more on the strategic priorities in this region, which is important for Allianz,” said the announcement at the end of September.
Allianz wants to expand its business in the Asia-Pacific region.
(Photo: dpa)
In plain language this means: Sergio Balbinot, who is highly valued by CEO Oliver Bäte, will drive further expansion steps in the Asia-Pacific region in his last year at Allianz. Boshnakova should take as much of it with him as possible in order to be able to act independently there in a year.
The challenges in the Asia-Pacific region remain enormous: Although operating profit rose by 37 to 343 million euros in the first half of the year, the huge region still only accounts for around five percent of the Group’s total profit.
In the future, Boshnakova will be measured by how it manages to turn the enormous potential into profits for Allianz, according to the company. The relationship to the local management is likely to be decisive. Anusha Thavarajah only took over the position as CEO of the Asia-Pacific subsidiary in December. Both women should drive the long-term growth strategy there in the future.
international experience
Boshnakova has the necessary international experience. Before moving to Allianz in 2015, the economist headed the small Russian insurer Uralsib Insurance Group for four years and worked for Boston Consulting. At Allianz, she has been managing the subsidiary Allianz Partners since 2019.
The provider of additional insurance for travel, mobility and health with more than 10,000 employees felt the effects of the corona crisis particularly hard. Revenue fell by almost 20 percent last year due to limited travel options. The trend reversal was achieved this year. Allianz Partners has recently been a major growth driver in property and casualty insurance.
The new role of Sirma Boshnakova, on the other hand, is much bigger: The leadership position in the growth markets is to be strengthened, announced Allianz boss Bäte with the new strategy. In many parts of the Asia-Pacific region, however, the alliance is still a long way from being a leader. Boshnakova will be measured by the success of this task in a year at the latest.
More: Change in the board of directors at Allianz: Eigengewächs succeeds Jacqueline Hunt