Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty SE (AGCS), the global industrial insurer of the Allianz Group, announces the following Board of Management changes to become effective January 1, 2015.
Axel Theis, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of AGCS, has been appointed to the Allianz SE Board of Management with responsibility for the global industrial insurance business, credit insurance and the insurance business in Ireland and Great Britain, succeeding Clement B. Booth who is stepping down from the Allianz SE Board and retiring from Allianz. Chris Fischer Hirs, current Chief Financial Officer (CFO) will take on the role of CEO of AGCS. Nina Klingspor, Head of CEO Office for Allianz SE, will become CFO of AGCS.
AGCS was created in 2006 through the merger of Allianz Global Risks and Allianz Marine & Aviation, since when Axel Theis has been the company’s CEO, working closely with Clement B. Booth as the Allianz SE Board member with responsibility for AGCS. During this time, AGCS has established itself as a leading global industrial and specialty insurer and a key contributor to the Allianz Group’s Property & Casualty business. In only eight years, AGCS has increased its gross premiums written by 78% to €5.0 billion (2013) and has doubled its employee numbers to 3,500 in 28 countries worldwide. In 2013 AGCS paid out over €2.5 billion in claims to its customers, with claims coming from nearly 100 countries during the year, reflecting its truly global business model.
Chris Fischer Hirs joined Allianz Risk Transfer (ART) in 1999. At ART, which became part of AGCS in 2006, Chris held a variety of roles including CFO and latterly CEO. In 2007 he was appointed to the AGCS Board of Management with responsibility for Asia-Pacific and ART. He then became Chief Regions & Markets Officer in addition to his ART responsibilities, before being appointed CFO of AGCS in 2009. Prior to joining Allianz in 1999, Chris worked at Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) where he held a number of client-facing and managerial positions in Zurich and New York.
Nina Klingspor will be joining the AGCS Board next January as CFO from her previous role as Head of CEO Office at Allianz SE since 2012. She brings strong financial and operational experience to her new position, having been Managing Director of Allianz Global Investors Europe prior to her latest role. Before this, she worked at Allianz Global Investors and Allianz Asset Management in a range of managerial and market-facing roles. Nina started her career at Landesbank Baden-Württemberg.
“AGCS has proven itself as a reliable partner for businesses around the world over the last eight years. This comes from the outstanding efforts of AGCS employees and the consistent loyalty of our clients and brokers worldwide, for which I would like to express my great appreciation,” comments Axel Theis. Referring to Chris Fischer Hirs’ appointment as his successor, he adds: “While I’m looking forward to continuing to be closely involved with the company in my new role, I know that I leave AGCS in Chris’s expert hands. With his extensive leadership experience and his deep knowledge of our clients and markets, he is ideally placed to lead the company successfully in the next phase of its development.”
Clem Booth added: “AGCS has demonstrated the value of a global business model for global clients and brokers, fielding expert teams in all its key markets. Under Axel’s leadership, the company has developed as a centre of excellence for corporate, industrial and specialty risks, and is now a leading global business within the Allianz Group’s Property & Casualty portfolio with great potential for the future.”
