Incumbent Giulio Terzariol will return to Italian rival Generali at the turn of the year after 25 years, both companies confirmed. The 51-year-old Italian will be head of the entire insurance business, a position on the board created especially for him, and could potentially replace Philippe Donnet at the top of the group.
Terzariol’s successor at Allianz comes from within the company’s own ranks: Claire-Marie Coste-Lepoutre spent four years restructuring the major customer division AGCS as head of finance before returning to the group headquarters as chief actuary in September. The 48-year-old Frenchwoman will be the fourth woman on the nine-member Allianz board.
Bäte’s contract, which ran until September 2024, was extended by the Supervisory Board at the earliest possible date by three and a half years until the 2028 Annual General Meeting. This would mean that the now 58-year-old would exceed the age limit of 62 for the Allianz Board of Directors by a few months. However, in the opinion of the supervisory board, this is “within reasonable limits,” said a spokesman for the Reuters news agency. “The Supervisory Board strongly supports Oliver Bäte’s continued management of the company in order to continue Allianz’s sustainable and profitable growth together with his board colleagues (…) and to strengthen its competitive position for the future,” said Supervisory Board Chairman Michael Diekmann. Bäte has led the group as Diekmann’s successor since 2015.
Coste-Lepoutre worked closely with Bäte for four years from 2011, first as his office manager and later as his deputy, when he was on the board responsible for the Southern and Western Europe regions. Before moving to Allianz, like Bäte, she worked for years as a management consultant for McKinsey and before that for the French reinsurer Scor. In 2019, she moved to the industrial insurance division Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS), which was in the red and was considered a restructuring case. She was “significantly involved in the turnaround and transformation of AGCS,” said AGCS boss Joachim Müller when Coste-Lepoutre was promoted to Allianz’s chief actuary.
Terzariol could make the career leap at Generali that was blocked for him at Allianz after Bäte’s contract extension at the latest. Generali CEO Donnet is 63 years old and only survived a shareholder revolt last year. At that time, Terzariol was brought into play by the opposition as a possible successor, but now he reports directly to Donnet. His career began at Generali in Munich and Vienna. In the newly created position, he is responsible for the entire business except asset management – a possible stepping stone to the top of the group.
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