Dame Amanda Blanc

DBE
Born
Amanda Jayne Blanc

1967 (age 56–57)
NationalityUK
Education
OccupationBusinesswoman
Years active1988–present
TitleCEO, Aviva
TermJuly 2020–present
PredecessorMaurice Tulloch

Dame Amanda Jayne Blanc DBE (born 1967) is a Welsh businesswoman who has been the chief executive of Aviva since July 2020.[1] Aviva has 18.5 million customers across the UK, Ireland and Canada, £401 billion of group assets under management and 22,000 people.[2]

Blanc was previously CEO EMEA & Global Banking at Zurich and Group CEO Axa UK, PPP and Ireland at Axa. The first woman to chair the Association of British Insurers and a past president of the Chartered Insurance Institute, she has held a number of non-executive roles, including chair of the Welsh Professional Rugby Board.[3][4]

Early life

Blanc was born and brought up in Treherbert, Rhondda, Wales. She attended Treorchy Comprehensive School. Both her grandfathers were miners.[4] She studied Modern History at the University of Liverpool and later graduated from the University of Leeds with an MBA, and Chartered Insurer (ACII).[5][6]

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.[7] She left Commercial Union in 1999 for EY and soon after joined Axa for the first time as Regional Director.[7] In December 2003, she joined Groupama, in the newly created role of distribution and customer services director.[7] In 2006, she moved to Towergate Insurance, where she had responsibility for the retail broking division, and in 2010 she was promoted to deputy CEO.[8]

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.[9] At this time, Blanc was received the Insurance Times 'CEOs CEO of the Year' award twice in three years (2013 and 2015).[10] 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.[11]

Blanc was announced as CEO for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Zurich in April 2018.[12] A little over a year later she had resigned.[13] Blanc did not comment on the reasons why but “personality clashes”[14][15] between her and Group CEO Mario Greco were cited by sources.[16] She was required to step down as chair of the ABI as protocol dictates that only a sitting insurance CEO can hold the role.[17]

After leaving Zurich, Blanc started in seven non-executive roles: three InsurTec startups – Laka,[18] Trov[19] and RightIndem,[20] OSG,[21] Aviva PLC,[9][22] Chair of specialist Lloyd's of London motor insurer ERS,[23] and chair of the Welsh Professional Rugby Board, a voluntary position.[24]

Blanc was the first woman to chair the ABI,[25] and was previously chair of the ABI General Insurance committee. She was the first woman to chair the Insurance Fraud Bureau and served as president of the Chartered Insurance Institute.[4] In April 2020 Blanc was asked by the Government to lead a review into the 2019 floods.[26] The report was published in November 2020.[27] Blanc is also a member of the FCA Practitioner Panels.[28]

On 17 March 2021, Blanc was appointed HM Treasury's Women in Finance Champion, succeeding Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia. As part of the role, she is tasked with promoting the UK government's Women in Finance Charter, which aims to boost gender diversity across UK financial services.[29][30]

On 11 November 2021, Blanc joined the Geneva Association as a new board member, one of only two women on the board of directors of the insurance industry think tank.[31][32][33]

In February 2022, she was appointed to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's new Business Council, advising the government on matters such as recovery from COVID-19 and unlocking global investment.[34][35][36] On 25 April 2022, she was announced as co-chair of the UK Transition Plan Taskforce to develop the "gold standard" for UK firms’ climate transition plans.[37][38][39]

On 1 September 2022, Amanda joined the board of energy company BP as a non-executive director.[40][41][42]

Honours and awards

Blanc was named Woman of Achievement in 2008 by Women in the City.[43][44] The award recognises senior level women who actively promote and encourage the progress of women above and beyond their everyday job.

Blanc was also featured in Yahoo! Finance's 2019 HERoes Women Role Model Executives list[45][46] due to her efforts to drive gender equality in the workplace, and in Forbes' 2021 Power Women list,[47][48][49] which showcases the world's 100 most influential women.

In 2022, she was named Insurance Personality of the Year at The British Insurance Awards[50][51] and was recognised as one of the 100 Most Influential Women in Finance by Financial News.[52] Most recently she has been named in the Financial Times' 25 most influential women of 2022.[53] In March 2021 Blanc was appointed the government’s women in finance champion.[54]

She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2024 New Year Honours for services to business, gender equality and net-zero.[55]

Personal life

Blanc lives in Hampshire and is married with two daughters.[8] She has a large collection of shoes, which have their own Twitter account.[56] Blanc is an accomplished piano player and when growing up her ambition was to be a professional musician.[4]

Blanc was a guest on the long running BBC Radio 4 series Desert Island Discs, hosted by Lauren Laverne in March 2023. She represents Aviva as WWF's lead strategic partner in the insurance and pensions sector in both the UK and Canada.[57][58][59]

References

  1. ^ "Aviva appoints Amanda Blanc as chief". FT.com. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  2. ^ "Annual Report 2021". www.aviva.com. 2 March 2022. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
  3. ^ Thomas, Simon (20 December 2019). "The woman just handed one of the biggest jobs in Welsh rugby". walesonline. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d "A View from the Top with insurance boss Amanda Blanc". The Independent. Archived from the original on 1 February 2019.
  5. ^ Lynch, Interviews by Andrew. "How we made it (thanks to an MBA): Amanda Blanc of AXA UK, John McFarlane of Barclays and Linda Jackson of Citroën". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  6. ^ Business-jadu (19 September 2017). "Alumna featured in Sunday Times article". business.leeds.ac.uk. Retrieved 12 September 2022. ((cite web)): |last= has generic name (help)
  7. ^ a b c "Starting with a clean slate". Insurance Age. 1 July 2004. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  8. ^ a b Stobbart, George (14 December 2009). "Towergate appoints Amanda Blanc as Deputy Group CEO". News Insurances. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  9. ^ a b "Amanda Blanc lands Aviva role". Insurance Times. 3 December 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  10. ^ Newsdesk (16 July 2014). "Amanda Blanc on being the Insurer CEO's CEO of the Year". Insurance Times. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  11. ^ "AXA".
  12. ^ "Amanda Blanc a "big loss to Axa and unbelievable gain for Zurich"". Insurance Age. 5 April 2018. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  13. ^ "Amanda Blanc resigns as CEO EMEA of Zurich". www.zurich.com. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  14. ^ Gangcuangco, Terry. "Zurich's Amanda Blanc in shock resignation". www.insurancebusinessmag.com. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  15. ^ "'Personality clash' behind departure of top female Zurich executive". Financial Times. 7 July 2019. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  16. ^ "Briefing: So why DID Amanda Blanc leave Zurich?". Insurance Times. 5 July 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  17. ^ "Amanda Blanc leaves Zurich and steps down as ABI chair". www.covermagazine.co.uk. 3 July 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  18. ^ "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.
  19. ^ "Blog". Trōv Insurance Solutions. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  20. ^ "RightIndem appoints Amanda Blanc as Chair of Board of Directors". symvan-capital-1709. 8 January 2020. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  21. ^ GmbH, finanzen net. "OSG Announces Executive Leadership and Board Member Transitions". markets.businessinsider.com. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  22. ^ "In Person: Amanda Blanc". Insurance Age. 12 February 2020. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  23. ^ "Amanda Blanc to become Chair of ERS". ERS Insurance. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  24. ^ O'Dwyer, Michael (7 July 2020). "Blanc Slate: New Aviva Chief Enters the Battle to Keep Insurer Relevant". Daily Telegraph – via EBSCOhost.
  25. ^ "Amanda Blanc, CEO Europe, Middle East & Africa and Global Banking, Zurich and ABI Chair ABI". www.abi.org.uk. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  26. ^ "Flood insurance review 2020: Blanc review". GOV.UK. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  27. ^ "South Yorkshire flood review calls for better insurance support". BBC News. 5 November 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  28. ^ Panel, Practitioner (14 April 2021). "Amanda Blanc". www.fca-pp.org.uk. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  29. ^ "Amanda Blanc appointed Women in Finance Champion". Business & Finance. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  30. ^ "Amanda Blanc appointed Women in Finance Champion as Charter marks fifth year". GOV.UK. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  31. ^ "Board of Directors". Geneva Association. 11 October 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  32. ^ "Aviva CEO joins The Geneva Association board". Insurance Age. 16 November 2021. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  33. ^ Gangcuangco, Terry. "Swiss Re chief becomes The Geneva Association chair". insurancebusinessmag.com. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  34. ^ "PM assembles new cohort of business leaders to turbocharge UK economy". GOV.UK. February 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  35. ^ "Boris Johnson strives for gender equality with new line-up of business advisors". Sky News. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  36. ^ Robinson, Jon (2 February 2022). "Top bosses join Prime Minister Boris Johnson's new Business Council". Business Live. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  37. ^ headforwards (25 April 2022). "HM Treasury Launches UK Transition Plan Taskforce". Transition Taskforce. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  38. ^ Feijao, Sara; Havard-Williams, Vanessa; Barrett, Rachel; Buchanan, Aileen; Fergusson, Lucy; Rix, Wilma (26 April 2022). "UK government launches new taskforce to develop best practice for UK climate transition plans". Passle. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  39. ^ "Amanda Blanc to co-chair Treasury's climate transition plan taskforce". Insurance Age. 25 April 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  40. ^ "Aviva chief Amanda Blanc joins BP as non-executive director". CityAM. 2 August 2022. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  41. ^ "Aviva CEO Amanda Blanc joins BP as non-executive director". Investment Week. 2 August 2022. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  42. ^ Gangcuangco, Terry. "Aviva chief Amanda Blanc to join BP board". insurancebusinessmag.com. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  43. ^ "Women in the City - Woman of Achievement Award". Retrieved 17 August 2022.
  44. ^ WalesOnline (4 December 2008). "Treherbert-born Amanda Blanc wins the 2008 Woman of Achievement award". WalesOnline. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
  45. ^ "2019 Top 100 Women Executives – INvolve Heroes". Retrieved 17 August 2022.
  46. ^ "The HERoes Top 100 Role Model Women Executives 2019". uk.finance.yahoo.com. 11 September 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
  47. ^ "Amanda Blanc". Forbes. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
  48. ^ Sands, Katie (15 December 2021). "Welsh woman named in Forbes power list above the Queen and Oprah Winfrey". WalesOnline. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
  49. ^ Gangcuangco, Terry. "Amanda Blanc joins Queen, Kamala Harris, Oprah Winfrey on most powerful women list". www.insurancebusinessmag.com. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
  50. ^ "Zurich, Amanda Blanc and Vicky Carter among big winners at the 2022 British Insurance Awards". Insurance Post. 6 July 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  51. ^ "2022 Winners". The British Insurance Awards. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  52. ^ "FN100 Women in Finance 2022 | Financial News". www.fnlondon.com. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  53. ^ "The FT's 25 most influential women of 2022". Financial Times. 1 December 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  54. ^ Makortoff, Kalyeena (19 April 2023). "Aviva chair warns shareholders against repeat of sexism at AGM". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  55. ^ "No. 64269". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 2023. p. N9.
  56. ^ "Amanda Blanc takes on the profile-in-focus challenge". Insurance Age. 4 February 2014. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  57. ^ "Amanda Blanc". WWF. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  58. ^ "Aviva chief Amanda Blanc to sit alongside Sir David Attenborough as ambassador for WWF". CityAM. 30 March 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  59. ^ techregister (30 March 2022). "Aviva chief Amanda Blanc to sit alongside Sir David Attenborough as ambassador for WWF". Techregister. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
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