Amanda Blanc

Amanda Blanc (born 1967) is a Welsh businesswoman who is the chief executive officer (CEO) of Aviva since July 2020.[1] She was previously CEO EMEA & Global Banking at Zurich and Group CEO AXA UK, PPP & Ireland at Axa. The first woman to chair the Association of British Insurers[2] and a past president of the Chartered Insurance Institute, she holds a number of non-executive roles, including chair of the Welsh Professional Rugby Board.[3]

Amanda Blanc
Born1967 (age 52–53)
NationalityWelsh (British)
Education
OccupationBusinesswoman
Years active1989–present
TitleCEO, Aviva
TermJuly 2020–present
PredecessorMaurice Tulloch

Early life

Blanc was born and brought up in Treherbert in the Rhondda valley. She and her sister attended Treorchy Comprehensive School. Both her grandfathers were miners.[2] She studied Modern History at the University of Liverpool and later graduated from the University of Leeds with an MBA.

Career

After graduating, she obtained a graduate role with Commercial Union (which later became part of Aviva) in Luton. Blanc went on to become a fleet and casualty underwriter, then an area development manager and the youngest and first woman to work as a Commercial Union branch manager.[4] She left Commercial Union in 1999 for EY and soon after joined Axa for the first time as Regional Director.[4] In December 2003, she joined Groupama, in the newly-created role of distribution and customer services director.[4]

In 2006 Blanc moved to Towergate Insurance, where she had responsibility for the retail broking division, and in 2010 she was promoted to deputy CEO.[5] 

Blanc joined Axa in February 2011 to lead the commercial division, at a time when it was rumoured that the UK business was to be put up for sale by its French parent company. The business survived and was later held up by Axa Group as a best practice example.[6] At this time, Blanc was received the Insurance Times 'CEOs CEO of the Year' award twice in three years (2013 and 2015).[7] In 2015 she was given responsibility for the entire General Insurance division for Axa in UK & Ireland and then a year later became Group CEO AXA UK, PPP & Ireland.[8]

Blanc was announced as CEO for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Zurich in April 2018.[9] A little over a year later she had resigned.[10] Blanc did not comment on the reasons why but “personality clashes”[11] [12] between her and Group CEO Mario Greco were cited by sources.[13] She was also required to step down as chair of the ABI as protocol dictates that only a sitting insurance CEO can hold the role.[14]

Since leaving Zurich, Blanc has started in seven non-executive roles: three InsurTec startups – Laka,[15] Trov[16] and RightIndem,[17] OSG,[18]Aviva PLC,[19][20] Chair of specialist Lloyd’s of London motor insurer ERS,[21] and chair of the Welsh Professional Rugby Board, a voluntary position.[22]

Blanc was the first woman to chair the ABI[23], and was previously chair of the ABI General Insurance committee. She was first woman to chair the Insurance Fraud Bureau and served as president of the Chartered Insurance Institute.[2] In April 2020 Blanc was asked by the Government to lead a review into the 2019 floods.[24]

Personal life

Blanc lives in Hampshire and is married with two daughters.[25]

She is interested in cycling and is a supporter of Welsh Rugby. She has a large collection of shoes.[26] Blanc is an accomplished piano player and when growing up her ambition was to be a professional musician.[2]

gollark: Are your lenses related to these things?
gollark: Capitalism of identity/ideas sounds like it could be coooool.
gollark: Wait, what? How do *those* work?
gollark: I assume they're saying that if we become "enlightened" somehow we'll just coordinate loads better somehow and fix it?
gollark: It doesn't seem like a very actionable (or problematic, as you have been vague about it) problem.

References
  1. "Aviva appoints Amanda Blanc as chief". FT.com. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  2. "A View from the Top with insurance boss Amanda Blanc". The Independent.
  3. Thomas, Simon (20 December 2019). "The woman just handed one of the biggest jobs in Welsh rugby". walesonline. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  4. "Starting with a clean slate". Insurance Age. 1 July 2004. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  5. Stobbart, George (14 December 2009). "Towergate appoints Amanda Blanc as Deputy Group CEO". News Insurances. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  6. 2019-12-03T10:51:00+00:00. "Amanda Blanc lands Aviva role". Insurance Times. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  7. Newsdesk2014-07-16T06:30:00+01:00. "Amanda Blanc on being the Insurer CEO's CEO of the Year". Insurance Times. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  8. "AXA".
  9. "Amanda Blanc a "big loss to Axa and unbelievable gain for Zurich"". Insurance Age. 5 April 2018. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  10. "Amanda Blanc resigns as CEO EMEA of Zurich". www.zurich.com. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  11. Gangcuangco, Terry. "Zurich's Amanda Blanc in shock resignation". www.insurancebusinessmag.com. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  12. "Subscribe to read | Financial Times". www.ft.com. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  13. 2019-07-05T12:52:00. "Briefing: So why DID Amanda Blanc leave Zurich?". Insurance Times. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  14. "Amanda Blanc leaves Zurich and steps down as ABI chair". www.covermagazine.co.uk. 3 July 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  15. "Kicking Off 2020 with a Bang: Laka Welcomes Amanda Blanc to Board of Directors". Laka – Read the Latest Stories About Cycling & Insurance. 7 January 2020. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  16. "Blog". Trōv Insurance Solutions. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  17. "RightIndem appoints Amanda Blanc as Chair of Board of Directors". symvan-capital-1709. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  18. GmbH, finanzen net. "OSG Announces Executive Leadership and Board Member Transitions | Markets Insider". markets.businessinsider.com. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  19. 2019-12-03T10:51:00+00:00. "Amanda Blanc lands Aviva role". Insurance Times. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  20. "In Person: Amanda Blanc". Insurance Age. 12 February 2020. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  21. "Amanda Blanc to become Chair of ERS". ERS Insurance. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  22. O'Dwyer, Michael (7 July 2020). "Blanc Slate: New Aviva Chief Enters the Battle to Keep Insurer Relevant". Daily Telegraph – via EBSCOhost.
  23. "Amanda Blanc, CEO Europe, Middle East & Africa and Global Banking, Zurich and ABI Chair ABI". www.abi.org.uk. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  24. "Flood insurance review 2020: Blanc review". GOV.UK. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  25. Stobbart, George (14 December 2009). "Towergate appoints Amanda Blanc as Deputy Group CEO". News Insurances. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  26. "Amanda Blanc takes on the profile-in-focus challenge". Insurance Age. 4 February 2014. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
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