Board changes at Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty in 2018

Allianz Group’s specialist corporate insurer Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty SE (AGCS) announced changes to its Board of Management, which take effect in 2018.
  

From July 1, 2018, Chief Operating Officer Sinéad Browne moves to a new Board-level role at AGCS, taking over from Chief Regions and Markets Officer, Carsten Scheffel, who retires from his role at the end of June. In her new role, based in London, Ms Browne will oversee AGCS Regional Unit London, including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Nordics, Russia, Dubai and Australia, plus Asia and South America regions. Bettina Dietsche, currently Head of Group Operations at Allianz SE in Munich joins AGCS on April 1, 2018 to succeed Ms Browne as COO, subject to approvals of the regulator and the Supervisory Board.
  

In addition, Chief Claims Officer Alexander Mack will retire from AGCS on June 30, 2018, with Philipp Cremer taking on the non-Board level role of Global Head of Claims, reporting to AGCS CEO Chris Fischer Hirs. Ms Browne (45) joined the AGCS Board in 2012. As Chief Operating Officer, she oversees a broad range of functions including IT, Operations, HR, Organization & Business Transformation and the Shared Services Unit. 

Originally joining Allianz Group in 1993, Ms Browne has since held progressively senior roles in underwriting, organizational and strategy development and operations at Allianz Ireland, Allianz SE and Allianz Re..
  

Currently Group Head of Operations at Allianz SE since January 2017, Ms Dietsche (46) has held a variety of international senior leadership roles in the insurance industry both within Allianz Group and externally for more than 20 years, including COO for Allianz Global Automotive.
  

In her current role, Bettina has been a key partner for AGCS within Allianz Group Operations, working collaboratively to support and enable the evolution of the business.
  

Mr Scheffel (60), who retires from the AGCS Board, has held leadership roles in key parts of the global business in a career with Allianz spanning 40 years. Responsible for establishing and developing many key client relationships, Mr Scheffel has also successfully led both AGCS North America and the London Region, which includes the United Kingdom and Ireland, Dubai, Australia, Nordics and Russia.
  

He originally joined Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company in Canada in 1978 and in the years since, held progressively more senior roles, including Chief Agent in Canada and President and CEO of AGCS Americas. He joined the AGCS Board of Management in 2015, responsible for Regional Unit London and expanded regional responsibility for South America, adding Asia in 2017.
  

Mr Mack (59), who will retire from the AGCS Board in 2018 on reaching the age of 60, was appointed Chief Claims Officer on the Board of Management in 2014, and has been responsible for the strategic development of the AGCS global claims service since that time. Mr Mack originally joined AGCS in 2007 as Global Head of Long Tail Claims, and was later appointed as Global Head of Claims across all AGCS lines in May 2013.
  

Prior to that, he held a number of senior leadership roles over 20 years at Gerling Insurance Company, including Global Head of Liability and Financial Lines Claims.
  

Mr Cremer (51), currently Global Head of Claims Portfolio Strategy, joined Allianz Group in 1996 as a corporate counsel. In 1999, he established a central liability claims department for the precursor to AGCS Germany.
  

Since that time, he has held a number of roles at AGCS, including Head of Market Management and Communication for AGCS UK, as well as Global Head of Market Management, and Deputy CEO for AGCS Spain.
  

AGCS CEO Chris Fischer Hirs says, “Thank you to both Carsten and Alexander for their many years of excellent work on behalf of AGCS, and Allianz Group more broadly. Both have been with AGCS from the early years of our foundation helping expand our business and creating the strong global organization we are today. With her extensive knowledge of AGCS, I know Sinéad will have an immediate impact in her new market-facing Board role.
  

Bettina brings a wealth of experience from across Allianz Group and beyond, and we welcome her to AGCS. On a final note, by having direct responsibility for Claims at CEO level, we will continue to keep Claims at the heart of what we do.
  

Our customers demand a superior claims experience, and I’m looking forward to working together with Philipp, our claims team and customers to constantly improve all aspects of our claims services.”
  

Heidi Polke-Markmann
AGCS (Munich)
Phone: +49 89 3800 14303

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Wendy Koh
AGCS (Singapore)
Phone: +65 6395 3796

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Heather Armond
AGCS (London)
Phone: +44 203 451 3263

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Sabrina Glavan
AGCS (New York)
Phone: +1 646 472 1510

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