Allianz Commercial restructures its Benelux and Nordics units with four senior hires

Allianz Commercial, part of global insurer Allianz, has made four new senior appointments to establish a new structure to drive growth in the Benelux and Nordics regions.

The firm is establishing its Nordics region effective August 1st, 2025, led by Margaretha Mo as Regional Managing Director.

This aims to separate Benelux and Nordics regions, reflecting the market potential in both regions, now with dedicated teams serving each.

Also effective August 1st, 2024, Elke Vagenende has been promoted as Chief Client Officer.

She will also continue as Regional Managing Director, Benelux, until September 1st, when Jonathan Poole, who joins from Chubb, takes over her responsibilities in Benelux.

Simultaneously, Tom Leonard is appointed as Global Head of Broker Management, as of August 1st. Both Vagenende and Leonard will be based in London and are part of Allianz Commercial’s Global Distribution team, led by Jeremy Sharpe.

Lastly, Martin Zschech, Global Head of Industry Solutions and Client Management, will continue to work on all client-related topics with an increased focus on the Private Equity segment.

Mo has been Country Managing Director in the Nordics region at Allianz Commercial since 2024. She will now lead Nordics as a standalone region, with teams present in Denmark, Sweden, and Finland, serving businesses across all Nordic countries.

She has three decades of industry experience in various roles at both insurers and brokers across the Nordics market, including in leadership positions. The region shows high potential for Allianz Commercial, with a thriving market of companies operating across the region and increasingly with demand for multinational programmes.

Vagenende has been Regional Managing Director of Benelux and Nordics since 2023. In her new role, she will lead the global client management activities of Allianz Commercial.

Vagenende has extensive experience in senior market-facing roles, both in underwriting and broking, including six years at Allianz in Market Management and in Financial Lines in the UK, and previously worked for 12 years as a risk manager for large multinationals (BP, Siemens).

Leonard will lead global broker management activities, ensuring strong trading relationships with Global, International and Key Regional Broker segments which are major contributors to Allianz Commercial’s existing portfolio and are key for future business growth.

Before this, he held several roles of progressively senior underwriting, trading and operational roles for Allianz UK, having joined the company as a graduate trainee in 2007.

Poole was most recently the Head of Mid-Market Division, UK and Ireland for Chubb. He has over 30 years of experience in a range of leadership roles in corporate and international insurance, having held pan-European leadership roles with Chubb and MSIG. He will be based in Belgium in his new role.

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