Allianz Commercial has named Elke Vagenende as its commercial managing director to head the countries in the Benelux and Nordics regions. In the new role, effective from the first quarter of 2024, Vagenende will be responsible for spearheading commercial insurance business across these newly established regions. She will also represent the complete suite of property and casualty insurance offerings of Allianz for mid-sized enterprises, large companies and specialty clients in these markets.

Vagenende will report to Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) board member and Allianz Commercial chief regions and markets officer Dirk Vogler as well as Allianz Benelux CEO Joos Louwerier. Vagenende will join Allianz from AIG, where she has been serving as the global head of multinational since February 2021. Prior to AIG, Vagenende held various senior leadership roles for six years at Allianz Global Corporate and Specialty.

She served as the head for Market Management UK, Financial Institutions and Product Development during her previous stint at Allianz. Under Vagenende's leadership, Allianz will launch this model in the Benelux and Nordics region under the trade name Allianz Commercial. Clients in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden will receive the company's services as part of the service expansion into the region.

Earlier this month, Allianz Asia Pacific unveiled a regional delivery centre in Malaysia to unify IT supply expertise for the region.