ACE Announces Leadership Appointments in Its Continental European Region

ACE has today announced a number of senior appointments and organizational changes within its Continental European region. Andreas Wania is promoted from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) Manager to Chief Operating Officer (COO) for ACE Germany and will be based in ACE’s Frankfurt office. Patricia Goudarzi is appointed to the position of Sales and Distribution Director for Continental Europe and Idan Shuklin is named E-Commerce Manager, also for Continental Europe. Both Ms Goudarzi and Mr Shuklin will be based in the company’s Paris office.

Patricia Goudarzi Sales and Distribution Director, ACE Continental Europe (Photo: Business Wire)

In his new role as COO, ACE Germany, Mr Wania will have direct responsibility for all Property & Casualty and Accident & Health lines of business. He will report to Dankwart von Schultzendorff, Manager for ACE’s German, Swiss and Austrian operations. Mr Wania will retain management responsibility for ACE Turkey.

Commenting on the appointment, Mr von Schultzendorff said, "I am very pleased to welcome someone of Andreas’s calibre and experience to the ACE Germany team. His proven credentials, both within Germany and across the Central and Eastern European region, will prove invaluable in supporting ACE’s future growth within the German market.”

As a result of Mr Wania’s promotion, ACE Continental Europe is making additional organisational and leadership changes as respects its CEE countries. These include:

• Serge Osouf, Executive Vice President of ACE Continental Europe, assumes the additional management responsibility for ACE Russia and Ukraine. Nikolay Dmitriev, ACE Russia Country manager, will report to Mr Osouf.
• Jeff Moghrabi, ACE France Country Manager, will assume the additional responsibility for ACE’s newly formed Central Europe cluster, which will encompass Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. Premyslaw Owczarek, ACE Poland Country Manager, will manage this cluster and report to Mr Moghrabi.

Ms Goudarzi, whose appointment is subject to administrative approvals, will report to Joseph Clabby, Regional President of ACE Continental Europe. She will be responsible for sales and distribution strategy across Continental Europe, with a particular focus on customer segmentation and producer management initiatives within the region. Prior to her appointment in Europe, Ms Goudarzi served as Branch Manager for ACE USA’s Washington DC branch office.

Idan Shuklin, who will report to Ms Goudarzi, will be responsible for the web enabled distribution systems and attendant business processes through ACE’s online product platform, ACE Online and through third party online distribution. Mr Shuklin has over eleven years of multinational experience in operations and process management, compliance and consulting. He joins ACE from a major global insurer, where he was Operations Manager Europe, heading a variety of strategic initiatives across the region.

Commenting on these changes, Mr Clabby said, "All of these appointments represent a significant investment in ACE Continental Europe. Andreas has done a tremendous job in leading and growing our CEE countries and his experience and insights will be invaluable in supporting the future growth of our strategically important German operation. Pat’s track record in underwriting and business development make her the ideal candidate to lead our client and broker based distribution strategies. E-Commerce represents an important and growing strategic distribution channel for ACE Continental Europe and one we have been developing for several years. Under Idan’s leadership we intend to take our e-commerce business to the next level. These appointments, combined with the increased management responsibilities under the proven leadership of Serge, Jeff and Przemek will create a stronger platform from which to further grow our Continental European business and improve the quality of the ACE customer experience.”

About ACE

The ACE Group is a leader in insurance and reinsurance serving a diverse group of clients. Headed by ACE Limited (NYSE: ACE), a component of the S&P 500 stock index, the ACE Group conducts its business on a worldwide basis with operating subsidiaries in more than 50 countries. Additional information can be found at: www.acegroup.com.

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