Munich Allianz is converting its board of directors to two positions. Andreas Wimmer and Sirma Boshnakova are replacing the previous members Jacqueline Hunt and Sergio Balbinot in the ten-person committee. The group announced this on Thursday after the market closed.
Both Wimmer and Boshnakova have already worked for Allianz so far. Wimmer is the head of the important life insurance division, while Boshnakova is responsible for the Allianz Partner growth sector, which offers so-called assistance insurance for travel, for example. Both newcomers receive – as is customary with Allianz newcomers to the board of directors – a three-year contract. The changes are long-term and strategic in nature, it said.
The successor to Jacqueline Hunt in particular was eagerly awaited in advance. Her area of responsibility includes the asset management division, which currently faces claims payments of up to six billion dollars.
The subsidiary Allianz Global Investors (AGI) had offered large investors such as pension funds in the USA hedge funds, which came under massive pressure with the slump in prices at the beginning of the corona pandemic and had to be partially liquidated. Around 25 addresses are now demanding compensation.
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
A judge in the New York borough of Manhattan admitted twelve lawsuits – including two class actions – worth four billion dollars on Thursday. In the 81-page decision, the district judge wrote that the investors had to show that the AGI had acted negligently and not in good faith in managing the “Structured Alpha” funds.
Hunt, who has been a member of the Allianz Board of Management since 2016, had reportedly offered to prematurely terminate her contract, which ran until the end of next year, after the full extent became known. However, she will remain with Allianz as a consultant even after she has left the company immediately.
Eigengewächs moves to the board
Your successor, Andreas Wimmer, is an alliance of his own. After studying business administration in Regensburg and completing his doctorate, the 47-year-old joined Allianz in 2004 in the life insurance division in Stuttgart. After holding positions as assistant to the executive board, he worked in product development for a few years and rose to head of broker sales in 2009. After further positions in property insurance, among others, he has been a member of the Board of Management of Allianz Life Insurance since 2015. Since the beginning of last year he has been its chairman.
Of the The current CEO of Allianz Leben succeeds Jacqueline Hunt on the Allianz Board of Management.
The renewed promotion after less than two years in this position is viewed internally at Allianz as a long-term perspective solution. In his short time as head of life insurance, Wimmer had dared to take the step, which was noticed throughout the industry, of cutting the guarantee promise of one hundred percent of the paid-in premiums for new life insurances and offering more returns with a greater risk margin.
The step of guaranteeing only 90, 80 or even 60 percent of the contributions paid, depending on the risk appetite, was followed by many other providers. There was criticism from consumer advocates, but Wimmer’s move consolidated Allianz’s position as the undisputed number one among German life insurers with a market share of almost 30 percent.
Within the alliance, some observers had also expected an external top manager in the important position. What spoke in favor of Wimmer, however, was that as CEO of life insurance he had quickly stepped out of the long shadow of his predecessor Markus Faulhaber. Faulhaber had led the life insurance division to the top in his almost four decades in the company. That is why he was nicknamed “Mister Life Insurance” in the industry.
The processing of the damage related to the AGI hedge funds will only have to be partially responsible for Andreas Wimmer as the new responsible group board member. CEO Oliver Bäte has now made the incident a top priority.
Hunt’s successor would also be involved, but at least as important is the future direction of asset management with the focus on sustainable restructuring of the portfolio. After the group had already committed itself to the goal of climate neutrality by 2050 around two years ago, an ambitious interim goal was added at the beginning of this year. Emissions from selected portfolios of stocks and corporate bonds are now expected to fall by 25 percent by 2025 compared to 2019.
The 42-year-old CFO of Allianz Germany will take over from Andreas Wimmer as CEO of Allianz Leben on January 1, 2022.
Until the end of the year, Andreas Wimmer will be a member of the Group Board of Management in a dual role and will be in charge of life insurance. Then Katja de la Vina takes over this position from him. The 42-year-old is currently CFO of Allianz Germany. It will be dissolved in its current form at the end of the year.
Experience in a difficult growth market
In addition to Andreas Wimmer, Sirma Boshnakova, another newcomer, will join the Allianz Board of Management in the new year, replacing Sergio Balbinot. He will fulfill his contract until the end of 2022, the group board will then have eleven members on a temporary basis. Boshnakova should take over more of Balbinot’s tasks from next year. The 63-year-old Italian had exceeded the internal age limit of 62 a few weeks ago and is the longest-serving member of the board after CEO Bäte.
For Boshnakova, the corporate headquarters on Koeniginstrasse in Munich is not new territory. The 49-year-old Russian worked in middle management there for four years before she was promoted to head of Allianz Partners in 2019. The division, which was growing rapidly in the years before the corona pandemic and which offers so-called assistance insurance, for example for travel or entertainment electronics, had to accept a 19 percent decline in sales last year due to the limited travel activity.
the 49-year-old will be the successor to on the Allianz Board of Management Sergio Balbinot whose term of office expires on December 31, 2022.
The group nevertheless stuck to its strategy in the high-margin business outside of times of crisis. The figures for the first half of the year now confirm expectations that the division could make a strong return this year.
As expected, the contracts of the two board members Renate Wagner and Klaus-Peter Röhler were extended. Both of them will lose part of their previous tasks in the coming year. In addition to his role on the group board, Röhler is also head of Allianz Germany. Among other things, Wagner is responsible for personnel issues on the board. With the end of Allianz Germany in its previous form, announced in the spring, both positions are no longer applicable.
Both Röhler and Wagner are increasingly challenged elsewhere. In addition to the insurance business in German-speaking countries, Röhler is also responsible for the countries in Central and Eastern Europe. After the Poland business of the competitor Aviva was taken over in the spring, Röhler now has to ensure that the alliance there is far more than just a marginal phenomenon there in the future. In addition to personnel issues, Renate Wagner is responsible for a broad portfolio of law, compliance, mergers and acquisitions. The tasks in each area are likely to increase in the future.
More: Allianz boss Bäte: “Germany’s business model is at stake”