The qualified mathematician began her career in 1994 at the life insurer Securitas Gilde.
(Photo: Baloise)
Frankfurt Baloise board member Julia Wiens will be the top insurance supervisor at the financial regulator Bafin from January 2024. The 53-year-old succeeds Frank Grund, who is retiring at the end of September after eight years at the helm of insurance supervision. Bafin announced this on Wednesday and thereby confirmed corresponding media reports.
With the start of Wiens, for the first time there will be as many female executive directors as executive directors at Bafin. Until then, Axel Oster, head of the insurance supervision department, will take over as interim head of the insurance and pension supervision division.
Wiens is considered an experienced insurance expert. It comes from the insurer Baloise in Germany, formerly known as Basler Versicherung. Previously, she was responsible for the two board departments of life insurance and finance and investments. She previously held various management roles at the insurer since 2009, for example in actuarial and risk management.
The studied mathematician and trained actuary began her career in 1994 at the life insurer Securitas Gilde before moving to Deutscher Ring in 2006.
The Bafin announcement states that Vienna wants to “help shape the modernization path we have chosen”. Bafin President Mark Branson emphasized that he sees a strong focus on consumer protection for products and their distribution in insurance supervision in the future.
The Executive Director is retiring at the end of the year.
(Photo: IMAGO/sepp spiegel)
Vienna’s predecessor Grund, who originally also came from the insurance industry and was, among other things, CEO of Basler Versicherungen Deutschland, recently published a leaflet on good conduct obligations in life insurance.
In it, he made it clear that life insurers’ products must offer appropriate benefits for customers. The authorities are currently taking a closer look at companies that attract attention with high commissions in sales.
Grund sees risks in digitalization
The biggest challenges for insurers during Grund’s term in office included coping with the low interest rate phase and the introduction of the European Solvency II Directive, which, among other things, specifies the capital requirements for insurers.
Grund sees future risks for insurers primarily in dealing with digitalization and in particular with developments in the area of artificial intelligence, as he recently said at the annual insurance supervisory conference. He also observes changing customer behavior due to social media platforms. He also calls for insurers to pay more attention to the consequences of climate change on their business. His successor Vienna will have to keep an eye on all of this.
More: These three future topics pose major risks for insurers