Allianz Deutschland appoints chair

Allianz Deutschland, a subsidiary of German insurer Allianz, has appointed Manfred Knof as chairman of the board.

He succeeds Markus Rieß, who Allianz said was one of the top candidates for the position and has held the position of chief executive officer of Allianz Deutschland since 2010. Rieß has joined Munich Re to head up its primary insurance arm, Ergo, as chairman.

Knof was the chief executive officer of Allianz in Central and Eastern Europe from April 2014. Prior to that, he served on the board of Allianz Germany responsible for operations and claims, and most recently as chief operating officer.

Werner Zedelius, member of the board of management of Allianz and responsible for insurance German speaking countries and human resources, said: “We are pleased that with Manfred Knof a well-proven manager of the Allianz Group is taking the helm at Allianz Deutschland. Under the management of Markus Rieß, Allianz Deutschland developed in a very successful way and significantly increased its customer orientation and competitiveness. We thank him greatly for this and wish him all the best for the future. Manfred Knof is the right person to further improve our products and services for the German customers and to seize future opportunities.”