People Moves: BHSI Taps Allianz’s Fuertes as Head of Energy and Construction in Spain; Allianz Commercial Hires AIG’s Vagenende to Lead New Benelux & Nordic Region

This edition of International People Moves details appointments at Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) and Allianz Commercial.

A summary of these new hires follows here.

BHSI Taps Allianz’s Fuertes as Head of Energy and Construction in Spain

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) announced that Ana Fuertes has joined the company as head of Energy and Construction in Spain.

Her 20-year career in the insurance industry has included several leadership roles in construction, energy and technical lines at other global insurers in Spain. Fuertes joins BHSI from Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) where she was global practice group leader (power, conventional and nuclear). She held a number of other leadership roles during her eight years with the company.

Prior to AGCS, she was senior underwriter, technical lines, for ACE Group in the Iberia region, where she worked for eight years, according to her LinkedIn profile. Previously, she was technical (property & construction) underwriter at Banco Vitalicio de España la Prevision y Banco Vitalicio de Cataluña Compañias de Seguros Sobre.

“I’m so pleased to have Ana leading our efforts, bringing BHSI’s solutions-focus to these sectors and enabling customers to seize opportunities with the assurance of stable protection in place,” commented Tomás Blas, head of Property, Spain, BHSI.

In Spain, BHSI underwrites single projects as well as annual contractor works and can provide CAT-only capacity for construction customers. Coverages for energy and power generation customers include all risk property damage and business interruption, machinery breakdown, and property CAT insurance.

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Allianz Commercial Hires AIG’s Vagenende to Lead Benelux & Nordic Region

Allianz Commercial has appointed Elke Vagenende as commercial managing director for its newly established Benelux and Nordics’ region. She will rejoin Allianz from her current role at AIG during the first quarter of 2024.

She will represent Allianz’s full set of property/casualty insurance solutions for mid-sized companies, large corporations, and specialty clients in the market. This Benelux & Nordics region will service customers across Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Norway.

Vagenende, a Belgian national and qualified lawyer, rejoins Allianz Group from AIG, where she has been Global Head of Multinational since February 2021, and previously Head of FINEX Western Europe for Willis Towers Watson 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.

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

Allianz announced 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 now introduce this model to its AGCS and national businesses across the Benelux & Nordics region, using the trading name of “Allianz Commercial” under Vagenende’s leadership to better serve clients and brokers across the full Commercial insurance segment.

“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,” commented Vogler.

Topics Commercial Lines Construction AIG Allianz