AGCS appoints new global leadership positions in Alternative Risk Transfer and Crisis Management lines of business

Press release | July 9, 2019 | Johannesburg/London/Munich/New York/Paris/Sao Paulo/Singapore
  • Christof Bentele, previously Head of Global Crisis Management, assumes a newly created position as Head of Global Client Management at the Alternative Risk Transfer line of business.
  • Two successors for reorganized Crisis Management practice: Björn Reusswig is appointed Head of Global Political Violence and Hostile Environment Solutions and Stewart Eaton will be the new Head of Global Crisis Management Recall. 
Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty SE (AGCS) has appointed new global executive roles in its Alternative Risk Transfer (ART) and Liability lines of business: With immediate effect, Christof Bentele assumes a newly created position as Head of Global Client Management for the Alternative Risk Transfer line of business at AGCS. His previous role as Head of Global Crisis Management has been split into two positions: Effective immediately, Björn Reusswig is appointed Head of Global Political Violence and Hostile Environment Solutions and Stewart Eaton is appointed Head of Global Crisis Management Recall. Both report to Ciara Brady, Global Head of Liability AGCS.

In his new role, Christof Bentele will oversee the management of existing and the building of new client and broker relationships across the global ART portfolio. As part of AGCS’ strategic priorities, he will drive the expansion of ART’s solutions and services. Based in New York, he will report directly to Michael Hohmann, Global Head of ART. The ART line of business has been set up in November 2018 and designs tailored multi-line, multi-year or parametric risk management solutions for businesses beyond traditional property & casualty insurance products.

Bentele joined AGCS in 2014 to launch the AGCS Crisis Management Practice on behalf of the global insurer. Over his time leading this area, he built a global team of experts and successfully grew AGCS business in the areas of product recall and contamination, terrorism and political violence. Prior to joining AGCS, he spent more than 20 years in a variety of leadership roles in the insurance industry, including over 10 years with leading global brokers.

Michael Hohmann says “Christof has always put the customer at the center of what he does and I am extremely pleased that he has joined ART and is now helping us further develop our client solutions and services. Alternative risk transfer typically involves designing complex deals and programs which are tailored to the needs of a specific company and, with Christof’s support, we aim to make this process as smooth as possible for our customers.”

 

Christof Bentele
Björn Reusswig
As Head of Global Political Violence and Hostile Environment Solutions, Björn Reusswig will oversee AGCS’ global product offering for coverages such as terrorism and sabotage, terrorism liability, political violence as well as special contingency and other hostile environment solutions, including access to Worldaware services. Mr. Reusswig joined AGCS in 2015 as an Executive Underwriter for terrorism and political violence products reporting to Christof Bentele. Prior to joining AGCS he held various underwriting positions for a Lloyd’s syndicate working in Cologne, London and Munich for 11 years.  
The new AGCS Head of Global Crisis Management Recall, Stewart Eaton joined AGCS in 2016 as Head of Product Recall for Regional Unit London. Previously he held various underwriting positions for AIG and Lloyd’s syndicates working in both Manchester and London over the course of the past 18 years specializing in product recall and contaminated products solutions. Product recall exposures have increased significantly over the past decade and AGCS offers its corporate customers comprehensive protection for automotive product recall, consumer goods product recall and contaminated products. 
Stewart Eaton
Ciara Brady, Global Head of Liability, says “AGCS entered the crisis management business in 2015 and has had tremendous success building our footprint as a market leader. With the move of Christof to ART, I wanted dedicated leaders for these highly specialized and unique product suites. Both Björn and Stewart have the underwriting expertise and global insight to help AGCS be the insurance partner our clients need. I welcome them to my leadership team, and look forward to working with them in future.”

Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) is a leading global corporate insurance carrier and a key business unit of Allianz Group. We provide risk consultancy, Property-Casualty insurance solutions and alternative risk transfer for a wide spectrum of commercial, corporate and specialty risks across 12 dedicated lines of business.

Our customers are as diverse as business can be, ranging from Fortune Global 500 companies to small businesses, and private individuals. Among them are not only the world’s largest consumer brands, tech companies and the global aviation and shipping industry, but also wineries, satellite operators or Hollywood film productions. They all look to AGCS for smart answers to their largest and most complex risks in a dynamic, multinational business environment and trust us to deliver an outstanding claims experience.

Worldwide, AGCS operates with its own teams in 34 countries and through the Allianz Group network and partners in over 200 countries and territories, employing over 4,400 people. As one of the largest Property-Casualty units of Allianz Group, we are backed by strong and stable financial ratings. In 2018, AGCS generated a total of €8.2 billion gross premium globally.

As with all content published on this site, these statements are subject to our Forward Looking Statement disclaimer:
Keep up to date on all news and insights from Allianz Commercial