CEO Spotlight: AGCS Canada

This an edited excerpt from our December issue, where we talked to the CEOs of some of Canada’s largest insurers. Read the full story here.

Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) has enjoyed consistent growth in recent years, and. It’s a trend that Ulrich Kadow, CEO and chief agent of AGCS Canada, hopes to see continue.

“To date, it’s been solid double-digit growth that we’re seeing, which is great,” he told Canadian Insurance Top Broker.

The insurer plans to keep the momentum going by continuing to focus on its strengths—aviation, multinational programs, cyber and manufacturing, to name a few.

“In all of these pockets where we have a core strength capability, we’re going to build out our product offering, we’re going to make the process easier, we’re going to invest in expertise and talent, and just grow organically,” Kadow says.

Rolling out new products, such as agricultural risks, and expanding existing offerings are also on the agenda.

“In the construction space, we have been very active in larger construction for quite a while,” Kadow says. “With the growth of our middle-market business, we will focus more and more on middle-market construction, which is one of the key strengths of Allianz.”

The insurer is also keeping its ear to the ground when it comes to predicting risks.

“One of the things you notice is how new InsurTech start-ups are using the big data available on the internet to predict exposures—it’s quite phenomenal,” Kadow says. “I think this is one of the areas that we as a company will focus on, and also collaborate with some of these [InsurTechs] on, to make sure we understand the exposures and can give clients adequate advice.”

AGCS launched AllianzGo—an online quote-to-bind tool for brokers working on small commercial accounts—in the U.S. last year, and it may look at making the platform available in Canada as well.

“We don’t have a current timeline right now, but it’s certainly something I’d like to explore,” Kadow says. “I do see some opportunities in certain segments for our business.”

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This story was originally published by Canadian Insurance Top Broker.