Ageas Re Reshapes Operations into Three Regional Units to Boost Client Proximity

Ageas Re's New Regional Structure: What Changes on September 1

Brussels-based reinsurer Ageas Re will switch to a regional organisational structure on September 1, 2026, a move CEO Joachim Racz says is designed to bring the company closer to its clients and make its services more accessible. The announcement, made today, touches most of the firm's senior underwriting and management ranks.

Under the new structure the reinsurer will run three regional divisions alongside its Products & Practices unit. EMEA P&C will be led by Anne Deister, supported by Gilles Marchal as Lead Underwriter for Property South/West and Noël Ammann as Lead Underwriter for Casualty EMEA. Jeremy Walker, the company's Chief Underwriting Officer, will head the Americas P&C region, working with Vincent Rensonnet on Latam & Iberia and, from November 1, 2026, with Christian Marx, who takes over the North America leadership role. The International & Specialty region will be led by Christoph Spichtig, drawing on Matthew Tong's expertise as Regional Director Asia and on the specialty lines heads: Shahrokh Shahpoori (Engineering), Michael Rüegger (Agriculture) and Sylvie Hirn and Jeremy Lilburn (Credit & Bond).

The management layer is also being reshaped. The current combined Chief Financial and Risk Officer (CFRO) role will be split into a dedicated and enlarged CFO function led by Jerome Carré and a separate CRO function led by Dimitri Terryn, whose start is tied to the closing of the sale of Ageas Re's stake in Maybank Ageas Holdings Berhad, where he is currently CRO and Country Manager. Walker will join the Management Committee as CUO, Petra Vynckier remains responsible for Group Business and Retro, and Stephan Rappaz continues as CUO Casualty, reporting directly to the CEO. In the product pillar, Pierre-Yves Dalimier becomes Head of Innovation, Structured Reinsurance and Parametric, while Stéphane Nadjar remains Head of Business Development, including MGA partnerships.

Racz framed the change as preparation for a demanding market: "As we go into a challenging renewal season with a new organization, the teams will ensure a seamless transition to further strengthen client and partner services." All regional heads and the head of Products & Practices will report to Walker; one role, International Casualty, remains unfilled.

Why Ageas Re Is Reorganising Around Regions, Not Products

Ageas Re's announcement sets out the new structure but not the reasoning behind it in full. The following separates what the company confirmed from our reading of why it is reorganising now.

The Strategy: Regional Desks Rather Than Product Silos

The design choice itself is the clearest signal. Instead of organising solely around product lines, Ageas Re is creating three geographic underwriting hubs — EMEA, the Americas, and International & Specialty — with a central Products & Practices division alongside them. The stated goal is client proximity, and the practical effect is that a ceding insurer in Latin America, Asia or Europe now has a named regional desk handling its business rather than a centralised product team. That is consistent with a broader reinsurance-industry push to embed underwriters closer to local markets, though Ageas Re has not confirmed any specific client demand driving the change.

Underwriting Oversight Now Converges on Walker

A notable detail is that every regional head and the head of Products & Practices will report to CUO Jeremy Walker. That concentrates coordination of regional underwriting, product development and portfolio standards in one executive. Rappaz's continuing role as CUO Casualty, reporting directly to CEO Racz rather than through Walker, creates a separate line of control for casualty risks. The reasonable interpretation is that Ageas Re wants consistent portfolio development across regions while localising client contact — discipline at the centre, proximity at the edges.

Governance Change Timed to a Divestment

Splitting the combined CFRO role into a CFO and a CRO separates financial management from independent risk oversight, a structure increasingly common in insurance governance. The scheduling is just as telling: Dimitri Terryn's onboarding as CRO is aligned with the closing of Ageas Re's sale of its stake in Maybank Ageas Holdings Berhad, where he is currently CRO and Country Manager. The company is sequencing an internal governance transition around an external deal it has already committed to, which should make the handover cleaner for both transactions.

Entering a Renewal Season the CEO Calls Challenging

The most candid part of the announcement is Racz's own framing: the new organisation arrives "as we go into a challenging renewal season." Reorganising just before renewals is a calculated risk. New regional desks and reporting lines have to work under pressure from day one, and the open International Casualty vacancy shows the build-out is not complete. Several executives are also carrying combined roles during the transition — Deister, for example, holds the EMEA regional lead, the Zurich Branch manager position and the Lead Underwriter North/East Property role for now. The counter-argument is that a more regional, client-facing structure is precisely the kind of advantage that matters in a competitive renewal market. Whether the trade-off pays off will show in the coming renewal cycle.

What Brokers and Ceding Insurers Should Know About the Transition

For brokers and ceding insurers placing business with Ageas Re, the September 1 switch changes the practical address book. Specific points:

• Route EMEA P&C business to Anne Deister's regional team from September 1, 2026; note she also remains Zurich Branch manager and Lead Underwriter North/East Property, so interim workload pressure is a real risk.
• Direct Americas P&C business to Jeremy Walker's desk. Christian Marx takes over the North America leadership role only on November 1, 2026, so North American clients deal with Walker and Vincent Rensonnet (Latam & Iberia) in the meantime.
• Channel International & Specialty risks to Christoph Spichtig's region, with Matthew Tong for Asia and specialty heads for Engineering (Shahrokh Shahpoori), Agriculture (Michael Rüegger) and Credit & Bond (Sylvie Hirn and Jeremy Lilburn).
• Clarify underwriting authority for International Casualty: the position is vacant, so confirm who signs off on these risks during the transition.
• For structured reinsurance, parametric covers and MGA partnerships, approach Pierre-Yves Dalimier (Innovation, Structured Reinsurance and Parametric) and Stéphane Nadjar (Business Development) respectively from September 1.
• Track the Maybank Ageas Holdings Berhad sale for the CRO transition: Dimitri Terryn's start depends on the closing, so counterparties in that region should watch the deal timeline.