Briefing: Management moves may highlight a deeper industry problem

By Jon Guy

Allianz Insurance will enter 2025 with a new look as the senior staff merry-go-round shows no sign of slowing down.

For example, November 2024 saw the insurer announce Isabella Von Mesterhazy as managing director for its specialty business, following on from the arrival of Graham Wright as managing director of home insurance in September.

This year, Allianz also appointed a new chief risk officer, chief technology officer and managing director for its personal lines broker business.

However, one reason behind this influx of new faces is the number of Allianz’s market leading figures that have exited the business for pastures new.

Mike Crane left LV= in April 2024 to become Axa Commercial’s SME and specialty director from January 2025, but potentially the biggest departure from Allianz this year was Nadia Cote – the former UK managing director at Allianz Commercial is now chief executive at RSA’s Luxembourg arm.

Cote made her move in November 2024.

More than just the grass being greener

But what is really behind these moves?

Has there been a culture shift at Allianz? Will we see a change in direction for the insurer, which just this week (16 December 2024) announced a major revamp of its commercial digital trading team?

The hard market is stalling and there is every likelihood that 2025 will be a year where rates come under pressure in classes that are not exposed to natural perils.

However, Allianz’s management changes more than likely point to a more fundamental issue for the insurance sector – the ongoing struggle to identify and develop the leaders of the future.

Much has been said across the sector about the need for the industry to retain and develop the next generation of talent.

Commentators have warned that we are entering a period where many senior managers are reaching the point of retirement, but with no one internally waiting in the wings to step into their shoes.

Brokers, in particular, have been through a period of frantic recruitment, which has seen companies looking to their rivals to fill senior roles – and insurers may well be entering a similar period.

Given the size of the workforce employed by insurers in the UK, there should be a wealth of staff keen to progress their careers. The ABI estimated that 111,600 individuals are directly employed by insurance companies in the UK.

Continued moves to recruit externally may frustrate some within the market – companies may find that staff who have been passed over for promotions they believe they deserved not only end up leaving their company, but also the industry itself.

The situation at Allianz may well be a microcosm of the wider industry.

But, as we enter a new year and a period when new strategies will be defined, it is likely that new faces to drive organisational strategies will be in significant demand, prompting more headline grabbing moves in the months to come.