Portrait of Dr Christopher Lohmann: ”I’m a market guy through and through”

Treading water is not Dr Christopher Lohmann’s style at all. “I love discovering new things, both personally and professionally”, he says. And he’s showing that things are moving: on 1 August, Lohmann will become a member of Talanx AG’s Board of Management and on 1 September he will assume responsibility on that body for the Retail Germany Division, as well as becoming CIO for Primary Insurance in Germany. He succeeds Dr Jan Wicke, who has been appointed CFO of Talanx AG.

“I’m attracted by the spirit of entrepreneurship at the HDI Group, its decentralized structure, the separate balance sheet that I and my colleagues on the Board will jointly be responsible for”, he says. Lohmann comes from Gothaer, where he was the member of the group management board responsible for the property insurance business. In 2019 he and his team – which he turned into a “together team” – recorded the best financial year in the past decade. Now he’s coming to Talanx and its core HDI brand: “I think the cultural change that the Talanx Group is currently going through is extremely positive. The same goes for HDI’s roots in the industrial line business and its strong reputation among these customers. I find this very exciting.”

Lohmann’s successful career in the insurance business stretches back more than 20 years. After receiving his doctorate from the University of Freiburg he started work in 1999 as an assistant to Allianz AG’s Board of Management. Later he headed up Allianz Deutschland AG’s Cologne operations and then its Munich sales office, where he was also responsible for relationships with Germany’s Volks- und Raiffeisenbanken (cooperative banks). From 2013 onwards he was managing director for Central and Eastern Europe and Germany at Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty. The came his move to Gothaer’s management board.

“Life insurance is a major growth market”

“I’m a market guy through and through”, says the 51-year old father of three children. His career has focused around property insurance, although as head of sales he naturally came into contact with all areas. “We want to continue our growth with small and medium-sized enterprises.” And what about life insurance? “I see it as a major growth market which we must continue to occupy.”

The call to join Talanx Group comes during the coronavirus period. “The pandemic is an extremely serious crisis. I have a great deal of sympathy for everyone who has suffered from it – either physically or financially. We need to react to the impacts but also seize the opportunities that the pandemic brings along the entire value chain, from operations to sales. And we need to adapt both our management style and our working conditions. It is clear that the process of digital transformation that has begun will become even more important – and above all accelerate – now”, says Lohmann.

Soccer fan and HSV supporter

Strong family ties to Hamburg have made the football enthusiast a natural HSV supporter. “Once a HSV fan, always a HSV fan”, he says. But Lohmann is open to new experiences with football, too: “I enjoy 1. FC Köln as well – and not just because I live near the stadium.” So it’s a good thing that HDI has a box there. And he’s also crossing his fingers that Hannover 96 will soon be promoted again to the Bundesliga – “that’s where they belong.”

Current photographs are available at media library