The risks of Amanda Blanc's big Zurich move

Briefing by Saxon East 

‘Strategy is nothing, without execution,’ Amanda Blanc is fond of saying. A straight-talking doer, who likes action instead of words, Zurich has landed the ultimate execution artist.

It’s a good move for the Swiss-based insurer and the career-defining move Blanc wants.

Blanc will face many challenges at Zurich, and she will tackle them. But the big question is not so much around what Blanc can bring to Zurich, but what Zurich can bring for Blanc.

Will she prosper with her well-known qualities or find herself unhappy in an organisation that is only beginning to recover from an era of being bloated, strategically choppy and springing nasty surprises upon the market?

Blanc’s qualities 

Let’s begin with what Blanc will bring to Zurich as EMEA boss.

She has a much bigger business with a larger global footprint than anything under her AXA realm, so one could argue it is Zurich taking the risk. 

But the former Towergate deputy has qualites that should shine through: Blanc’s greatest asset is being clear about intentions and acting upon them.

She inherited a messy AXA business and scrubbed it up well.

She was clear in her approach at AXA UK: withdraw from expensive MGAs and consolidator partnerships; attack the lucrative independent broker space for growth. It worked.

A year before Blanc took over the bulk of the business, AXA’s UK general insurance arm was running a pretty poor combined operating ratio of 104.9% in 2010. It now stands at 96.3%.

Looking at Zurich in the UK, she will need similar single-mindedness. The business does well in corporate, has global reach and is a strong brand.

It has good levels of service, claims are generally dealt with well and clients stick.

But in SME it has not grown meaningfully with brokers and remains underweight.

The personal lines business has had so much change, it’s hard to define from year to year what the proposition is in that space.

The excellent commercial lines head Dave Smith has been gone for a couple of years, meanwhile the senior management teams have chopped and changed over the years.

The latest leadership team have barely been in their posts a year in the latest newly-defined structure.

Brokers are a fickle bunch, but if Zurich can attack some sweet spots – whether that be in having a super commercial combined policy, a great manufacturing proposition in mid-market or continuing to enhance its z-trade extranet – brokers will follow.

Zurich needs stability

Blanc has the qualities, but the length of her stay will surely depend a lot on the level of support, interference and pressure she gets from the group

She will need time to grow Zurich. Blanc could grow the book at 5% to maintain or even improve combined ratio, or hurtle through at 10% and deteriorate the underwriting.

New boss Mario Greco appears the right man to work with: he has talked much about a simplified structure and clarity of purpose, values close to Blanc’s heart.

Greco will also need to show he can lead a stable business, providing a stable platform for Blanc. He inherited a company that shocked the market in 2015, pulling out of the RSA deal at the eleventh hour, and then revealing large losses in China and problems in its US motor book.

In her new international role, Blanc could easily get caught up with these distractions.

Property and casualty across EMEA is a $14.1bn out of a $33bn book. 

At AXA she was important, now she is cruicial. 

Zurich has landed a leader with good qualities, now it will need to provide a happy home for her to thrive in.