Allianz has been careful to keep its key relationships with brokers unchanged as it restructures its state and regional corporate and commercial teams.

The restructure of the company’s broker and agency management division has been prompted by the departures in July of former commercial GM Denis Morrissey and former national manager of key partners Chris Lynch.

As reported in a Breaking News bulletin last week, the insurer has created three new leadership positions: GM Broker Distribution; GM Consumer, SME and Platform Solutions; and National Manager Strategy and Key Partnerships.

All three roles will report directly to Chief GM David Hosking, but only one has been filled so far.

Glen Drinnan, previously GM corporate and New Zealand, has been appointed to the GM Broker Distribution position, which combines aspects of the previous commercial and corporate GM roles.

“To ensure Allianz has a holistic view of its distribution strategy, the state and regional operations of the corporate and commercial teams will merge,” Allianz says. “This will ensure a consistent high level of service and expertise, irrespective of broker classification.”

Asked whether the merger will bring a reduction in headcount, Mr Hosking told insuranceNEWS.com.au Allianz continually reviews and changes the way it works “to meet customer and market demands”.

“This is a normal part of a global insurance business,” he said.

“The distribution leadership team will play an active role in designing and delivering the structure of the combined state commercial and corporate teams.

“As they work through this there may be further changes. For now, it’s business as usual. Importantly, there’s no change to the way brokers work with us.”

Until the new positions are filled National Strategic Relationship Manager Bill Lezes and National Manager Sales Programs and Customer Experience Alison Brough will report directly to Mr Hosking.

All other areas of the broker and agency business – including Allianz Tailored Solutions, Hunter Premium Funding, Risk and Compliance, and Distribution Finance and Planning – remain broadly unchanged.