’What I’m really looking forward to do is creating edge through insight,’ says new appointee
Alex Ktenidis was only appointed Allianz Commercial’s new chief distribution officer at the end of April 2026, but he already has a clear vision for the insurer’s “big growth ambitions” in specific regions.
Ktenidis had previously been director of digital trading and Allianz Legal Protect, but following the news that Nick Hobbs would step down from his role as chief distribution officer, Ktenidis was seen as a natural successor.
Speaking to Insurance Times just two weeks into his role during the 2026 Biba Conference in Manchester on 13 May, Ktenidis says he is “really getting my feet under the table as we speak”.
And one of his priorities is ensuring strong strategic relationships with partners, as well as doing more in some regions where he feels more visibility is needed.
“For me, we have really good strategic relationships across the market and we have some really rockstar relationships across some of our regions,” he says.
“There are others where we know we need to do more, be more visible [and there are] some areas where we want to accelerate our service offering.”
Two key parts for growth
There are two key parts to this plan – with the first being to bring propositions and marketing closer to the front end of the business.
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“What I’m most excited about with the change is propositions and marketing are two areas that have historically not sat within distribution, they have sat more centrally,” Ktenidis says.
“We saw, as part of this change to leadership, an opportunity to bring that in as part of the leadership team [and] keep it really close to the front end of the business, our regional distribution teams.
“What I’m really looking forward to do is creating edge through insight – how do we translate broker needs into something that makes us really stand out in a crowded marketplace?
“So, having propositions and marketing now within the fold is something new for us and will help to accelerate our ambitions to be the easiest insurer to deal with, which is what we’re really focused on.”
The second area of focus for Ktenidis is how Allianz shows its personality to the market.
He explains: “Across our teams, I’m asking myself ‘what do we want to be? How do we want to be perceived?’
“We want to be really hard to say no to [and] we want to be really easy to work with. That means super strong trading relationships at all levels.”
Change of guard
As Ktenidis cracks on with his plans, Hobbs will remain with the business for a transition period to ensure continuity for broker partners and customers.
Hobbs has been with the insurer for 25 years and held a variety of roles at Allianz Global Corporate and Specialty in the UK, Europe and North America, before joining Allianz UK in 2011 as head of strategic account management. He became chief distribution officer in 2023.
“Hobbs leaves the distribution teams in really good shape,” Ktenidis says.
“We’ve got highest engagement across the commercial business and a team that’s raring to go in a market that’s really tough.”
Ktenidis has been with Allianz since 2014 and held a number of leadership roles across distribution, corporate strategy and transformation for both domestic and global business units.
He took up his most recent role as director of digital trading and Allianz Legal Protection in 2024.
“Ktenidis is extraordinarily accessible and is always in front of the team,” Hobbs tells Insurance Times.
“He doesn’t hide behind a desk, he doesn’t hide behind an email and that’s a big difference to leadership generally.”
Broker ‘roadshow’
Ktenidis is currently out and about meeting brokers up and down the UK and, while he is yet to visit all of Allianz’ locations, he explains that there are “big growth ambitions” – including up in the north.
“My roadshow has so far extended to Manchester – I’ve been into the Manchester branch down into the Maidstone branch,” he says.
“I still go and meet the brokers, see and hear that we have some big growth ambitions in specific regions.
“So, up in the north, we want to do more in the likes of Scotland and Northern Ireland. We’re expanding our digital footprint into Northern Ireland as we speak.”
Hobbs adds that over the last few weeks, he and Ktenidis have been identifying what is working and what needs attention.
“We do have areas of geographical weakness,” Hobbs continues.
“We did go through a process about two years ago of realising that other people were trying to eat our lunch by opening branches in places where we already had a problem.
“The best way to deal with that is to expand your own geographic footprint in other ways.”
Hobbs highlights a new broker hub at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium as one example of getting new trading hubs out. Based at the home of Welsh rugby, the new hub will provide brokers with access to local Allianz underwriters and support faster decision making.
“They’re all about providing presence and profile in key markets that other people like to play,” Hobbs says.
Vision for the year
While it is still early days for Ktenidis in his new role, it is clear he has a vision for what Allianz Commercial should be achieving during his tenure.
And when asked about his message for brokers, Ktenidis says: “My success and the team’s success will be defined by our relationships with brokers and responding to broker needs.
“I want brokers on speed dial with that feedback that helps us to be the very best and stand out in the market.
“We’re not going to make rash decisions, but I want to bring real pace into the business, in terms of the changes, that help us achieve our ambition of being the easiest insurer to deal with.”
And highlighting what he wants to get done this year, Ktenidis says it is key that Allianz “productionise product enhancements and improvements” and for there to be a “faster cadence of that”.
He also want the insurer to bolster its net promoter scores (NPS), which measures customer loyalty by asking how likely a client is to recommend the insurer.
Ktenidis says: “We have to maintain our loyalty leadership on NPS by the end of the year, so making sure that I see by the end of the year higher satisfaction rates where we get those information touch points.
“But ultimately [also] more visibility from our underwriters and business developers versus where it stands today. It shows we’re more relevant and more supportive of the market.”
Finally, Ktenidis says he would like to see Allianz Commercial enhancing its distribution, highlighting Simply Business adding the insurer as the latest addition to the digital broker’s panel of insurers as an example.
The new partnership aims to expand Simply Business’s insurance offering for its small and micro business customers.
Ktenidis says: “We announced the Simply Business product launch on contractors. I would like by the end of the year to see three or four additional distribution channel enhancements.
“We’ve got them in the making to accelerate those through. And that means we continue to grow the pie and we continue to support our ambitions for growth.”
His career began in 2019, when he joined a local north London newspaper after graduating from the University of Sheffield with a first-class honours degree in journalism.
He took up the position of deputy news editor at Insurance Times in March 2023, before being promoted to his current role in May 2024.View full Profile
Since joining Insurance Times, Katie has successfully obtained a number of industry accolades. Most recently, at Biba's 2025 Journalist and Media Awards, Katie was named the overall winner and received the Journalist of the Year trophy, alongside the Best Thought Leadership Award for her briefing article on reproductive health MGA Juniper and how insurance can be used to positively impact taboo subjects.View full Profile
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