Ahlmann retires to focus on applying Six Sigma principles to wine making
Kaj Ahlmann, the managing director and global head of insurance strategy at Deutsche Asset Management and formerly the chief executive of Employers Re, part of GE, will retire from his current role at the end of the year – to focus on making and selling wine.
Ahlmann owns the Six Sigma Ranch & Winery in Lake County, California, around 100 miles south of San Francisco, where he farms livestock including a 400 head of cattle and has 40 acres of vineyards.
The Six Sigma brand, which is also the brand of his wine, comes from his time at Employers Re/GE where he was part of the team of officers who introduced the now well-known Six Sigma methods to GE Capital Services.
He also applies these methods to regulate the grape growing and winemaking processes by monitoring and refining data at each stage. According to Ahlmann, when people see the Six Sigma name on the bottle, they know that the wine is “truly a marriage of science and art”.
Ahlmann boasts some 35 years of experience with various companies related to the reinsurance and insurance industries and asset management including EW Blanche, Employers Re and Erie Insurance Group.
He joined Deutsche Bank as global head, strategic services and chair, advisory board in 2009 after having provided independent services to the Council of Global Insurance Asset Management, Deutsche Asset Management, since 2006.
From 2001 to 2003, Ahlmann was the chairman and CEO of inreon, a global electronic reinsurance venture created by Munich Re, Swiss Re, Internet Capital Group and Accenture.
He was vice chairman and executive officer of EW Blanch Holdings from 1999 to 2001. Prior to that position, from 1993 to 1999, he was chairman, president and CEO of Employers
Reinsurance Corporation and a director of its parent GE Capital Services. During this tenure here, he was part of the team of officers who introduced the Six Sigma methods in GE Capital Services.
Ahlmann also served on the board of Erie Indemnity Company, Erie Insurance Group from 2003 to 2008, SCPIE Holdings from 2006 to 2008, and Cyrus Re from 2005 to 2010.
