Allianz reshuffles AGCS board as Scheffel retires

Allianz Group’s specialist corporate insurer Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) is making changes to its management board as chief regions and markets officer, Carsten Scheffel retires at the end of June, 2018.

Scheffel will be replaced at board-level by chief operating officer Sinéad Browne. In her new role, based in London, Browne will oversee AGCS regional unit London, including the UK, 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 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.

Browne 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, Browne has since held progressively senior roles in underwriting, organisational and strategy development and operations at Allianz Ireland, Allianz SE and Allianz Re.

Currently group head of operations at Allianz SE since January 2017, Dietsche 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, Dietsche has been a key partner for AGCS within Allianz group operations, working collaboratively to support and enable the evolution of the business.

Scheffel, 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, Scheffel has also led both AGCS North America and the London region, which includes the UK 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.

Mack, 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.

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.

Cremer joined Allianz Group in 1996 as a corporate counsel. In 1999, he established a central liability claims department for the pre-cursor 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 d eputy CEO for AGCS Spain.

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