Allianz AGCS sets up new unit with 10-year Zurich vet in major ESG push

Allianz group’s specialist corporate insurer has established a dedicated in-house environmental, social & governance (ESG) division with several high-level leadership appointments to accelerate the integration of sustainability in its business, with a key focus on market opportunities in renewable energy and low-carbon technology to help transition to net zero.

Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) has hired Zurich Insurance Group’s Gabrielle Durisch to drive the development of sustainable products and services. Durisch will join AGCS from Zurich in April 2023 as the new global head of ESG & sustainability solutions.

In her new role, Durisch will help evolve AGCS’s ESG & sustainability strategy and work with all AGCS lines of business to drive the development of new insurance solutions including market opportunities in renewable energy, low-carbon technology, or sustainable construction and transport.

Durisch has been global head of sustainability for commercial insurance and group underwriting at Zurich since April 2020. She started at Zurich in 2011 and has held several leadership positions in claims and finance since then. Previously, she worked in roles spanning corporate tax, pricing, financial planning and M&A transaction services at Deloitte, General Motors and KPMG.

Durisch’s appointment follows that of Ralf Heintges who has been named global head of ESG & sustainability governance, overseeing the decarbonisation of AGCS’s own insurance portfolio over the coming decades in line with Allianz Group’s membership in the UN-convened Net Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA).

Managing ESG topics in underwriting, Durisch and Heintges both work for AGCS chief underwriting officer, specialty, Renate Strasser who assumes responsibility for all underwriting related ESG activities of AGCS. As AGCS’s head of ESG operations since July 2022, Katja Oristanio ensures that AGCS will effectively contribute to the ambitious Allianz Group targets for net zero operations by 2030 in its own business.

Heintges has extensive underwriting experience over 30 years across engineering and construction lines of business as well as underwriting governance. Oristanio joined AGCS from Allianz Reinsurance where she was global head of protection and resilience. She started at Allianz in 2009, moving to corporate sustainability roles at Allianz SE and Allianz Reinsurance, including a position as head of risk advisory for renewables at Allianz Climate Solutions.

Strasser said: “Tackling climate change and other ESG factors increasingly drive the agenda, both in business and society. At AGCS we are committed to realizing Allianz Group’s sustainability strategy and becoming an ESG leader in the corporate insurance segment. Our new ESG organizational set-up is now fully rolled out. We see this new business area as a priority for growth, focused on delivering impact and accelerating the path to a net zero world.

“Led by Gabrielle, Ralf and Katja we will drive engagement for sustainability topics across all our underwriting lines, Allianz Risk Consulting and core business functions. We will partner with our customers on their low-carbon transition, supporting them with new products and services and helping them mitigate increasing climate risk.

“The transition to a net zero economy can only be achieved in partnership and we are committed to do our part, together with our customers and supporting the climate partnerships of Allianz Group.”

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