Allianz names new CFO; overhauls management board

Munich-based Allianz has appointed Giulio Terzariol as chief financial officer (CFO), succeeding Dieter Wemmer, whose contract ends at the end of 2017.

Terzariol served as the chief financial officer of Allianz Life in the US for seven years.

CEO Oliver Bäte said: "Dieter Wemmer made significant advances to our finance division and particularly to our capital management. Giulio Terzariol is an internationally experienced Allianz manager with a proven track record in our operating business as well as in the headquarters. I am pleased that he will take over the finance division."

Terzariol and Niran Peiris are appointed as members of the group’s management board as of January 1, 2018 as Wemmer and Werner Zedelius are set to retire upon reaching the designated age limit.

Peiris has been with Allianz for 16 years in various management positions at Allianz Australia, where he has served as the chief executive officer since the beginning of 2013. He will take over responsibility for the global insurance lines, anglo markets, Russia, ESG from Axel Theis.

As of January 1, 2018, Theis will take over the responsibility for insurance German-speaking countries and Central and Eastern Europe from Zedelius, whose contract also ends with Wemmer at the end of 2017.

"Werner Zedelius has been a driving force at Allianz for thirty years, the last 16 years as a member of the board of management," Bäte said. "He is responsible for the successful development of the German-speaking countries and Eastern Europe. It is important that Axel Theis, one of our most experienced managers, will take over these markets. I am particularly pleased that Niran Peiris, a highly successful manager in the Anglo-Saxon markets and with experience in customer centricity, takes over Axel Theis’ area of responsibility and moves to the board of management of Allianz SE."

The company has also extended the contract of chief operating officer Christof Mascher by three years until the end of 2020, who has been a board member since 2009. Additionally, Sophie Boissard, Michael Diekmann and Herbert Hainer have been put forward for election to the supervisory board.

The company said that if Diekmann is elected at the annual general meeting, it is planned to propose him to be the chairman of the supervisory board. He was the chief executive officer of Allianz SE between 2003 and 2015 and became a member of the board in 1998.

Moreover, the group has planned to propose Boissard, CEO of the French Korian Group, and Hainer, former chief executive officer of adidas AG, for election to the supervisory board as shareholder representatives, succeeding Renate Köcher and Wulf Bernotat, who will not stand for re-election.

Christine Bosse, Friedrich Eichiner and Jim Hagemann Snabe will be proposed for re-election to the supervisory board as shareholder representatives.

Perlet said: "On behalf of Allianz, I would like to express my sincere thanks to Renate Köcher and Wulf Bernotat for their valuable support and commitment to the supervisory board over all the years. At the same time, we can propose six excellent candidates for election as shareholder representatives at the annual general meeting."