Allianz rehires AIG exec to lead Benelux and Nordic business

Allianz Commercial has hired an AIG executive to lead its business in Benelux and Nordic countries.

Elke Vagenende (pictured) has been appointed as commercial managing director for Allianz Commercial’s Benelux and Nordics region, which includes Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Norway.

She will rejoin Allianz from her current role at AIG during Q1 2024 to lead this newly established region and will represent Allianz’s full set of property and casualty insurance solutions for mid-sized companies, large corporations, and specialty clients in the market.

In her new role, Vagenende will report to Dirk Vogler, board member of AGCS SE and Allianz Commercial chief regions and markets officer, in conjunction with Joos Louwerier, CEO of Allianz Benelux.

She rejoins Allianz from AIG, where she has been global head of multinational since February 2021 and previously head of FINEX Western Europe for WTW from 2018 to 2021. Prior to that, she spent six years with Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty in a variety of senior market-facing roles, including head of market management UK, head of financial institutions, and head of product development, both for financial lines.

Allianz revealed in March that it will serve the global commercial insurance segment as one go-to-market business, combining the Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) business serving large corporate and specialty clients together with the insurance businesses of Allianz’s operating entities serving mid-sized country-based accounts. Allianz will introduce this model to its AGCS and national businesses across the Benelux and Nordics regions, using the trading name ‘Allianz Commercial’ under Vagenende’s leadership to better serve clients and brokers across the full commercial insurance segment.

Vogler said: “I am delighted to welcome Elke back to Allianz; she’s a top executive in the market with a proven track record of delivery. With her appointment, this also marks a significant milestone—the completion of our regional leadership team across our 11 regions.”

Louwerier added: “It is good to have Elke on board. With her leadership, we will be able to build an even stronger and more integrated team to serve Allianz Commercial specialty clients, large corporations, and mid-sized companies in the future in the Benelux and Nordics regions.”

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