Allianz sees raft of senior departures as it restructures business

Allianz Holdings has unveiled a "strategic restructuring" of its personal and commercial insurance operations in a move that will result in a number of senior executives leaving the business.

The insurer wants to create distinct personal and commercial businesses, supported by a number of integrated service functions. It believes these changes will simplify and streamline its operations to maximise its potential in the UK market.

However, the move will lead to the departure of Neil Clutterbuck, Sarah Mallaby, Chris Little and Gary Davess. Clutterbuck has decided the "time is right to pursue new opportunities" after 18 years in the company. The other three executives will be leaving as a result of their specific roles no longer existing in the new structure.

Under the new structure, Steve Treloar will become CEO of Allianz Personal, and Simon McGinn as CEO of Allianz Commercial. Reporting into Jon Dye, CEO of Allianz Holdings, they will both sit on the Allianz Holdings management board alongside the heads of the service functions - Fernley Dyson as chief financial officer, Julie Harrison as chief HR officer, Stephanie Smith as chief operations officer, and John Berry as chief risk officer.

Dye said: “These changes are the next step on our journey as we continue to build a well-balanced business that puts the customer at its heart and maintains a clear and resolute focus on delivering our business priorities. There are clear differences between Commercial and Personal trading in the UK market and the new structure will help us build upon the successful propositions already in place.

“Our simplified structure and streamlined, cohesive senior team will enable us to be more agile, responsive and collaborative.”

Allianz Personal will comprise the LV= Retail business, LV= Broker, L&G GI, Petplan, Home & Legacy and Allianz Musical Insurance.

Led by Treloar, the new business unit will have gross written premiums of £2.6 billion with 8.5 million customers and around 5,000 employees, making it "one of the largest personal lines insurers in the UK".

As well as being CEO of Allianz Personal, Treloar will remain CEO of LV= GI. The LV= Retail business will also continue to be led by Heather Smith as managing director, while Mike Crane will maintain responsibility for LV= Broker and L&G GI as managing director and CEO, respectively.

Kieran O’Keeffe will take up a new role as managing director for specialty, leading the Petplan, Home & Legacy and Allianz Musical Insurance businesses. Prior to taking on this role, O’Keeffe was the chief risk officer for LV= GI.

Treloar said: “This is an extremely exciting time for our business. By bringing together all the personal lines brands under one roof it will give us even more strength, scale and expertise to ensure we can cater for a broad range of customers and partners across a large number of different channels. The capabilities we now have mean we have some great opportunities ahead of us and I’m incredibly proud to be leading such a fantastic business.”

Allianz Commercial will comprise Allianz’s Mid-Corp Commercial, Engineering, Construction & Power, SME and Legal Protection businesses.

In his new role as CEO of Allianz Commercial, McGinn will be responsible for distribution, claims, underwriting, marketing and pricing for each of those business areas.

He will work closely with his new executive team which will include Graham Gibson as chief claims officer, who will also be responsible for engineering inspection. This will bring customer delivery in claims and service under one leader.

Catherine Dixon is promoted to the position of chief underwriting officer, with Nick Hobbs as chief distribution and regions officer, bringing distribution, regional underwriting and commercial broker operations into one place.

Gaby Tischler and Helen Bryant will continue in their roles as director, market management and strategy and director, digital trading respectively. A new director of pricing and data role has also been created with recruitment underway.

McGinn commented: “Our new structure gives us a clear focus on our Commercial business and is designed to provide market-leading levels of support and expertise to deliver for our brokers and customers and maximise our potential in the market. I am proud to lead such an incredibly strong and experienced senior team and I am excited about the opportunities that lie ahead.”

Commenting on the departures, Dye said: “Neil, Sarah, Chris and Gary have all made very significant contributions to our business. It’s never easy to see people go but I’m incredibly grateful for all their hard work and commitment and wish them all the best for the future.”

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