Jacqueline Hunt

Jacqueline ("Jackie") Hunt (born April 27, 1968 in Johannesburg) is a British[1] financial services manager. Since 2016 she has been on the management board of Allianz SE, overseeing the group’s asset management and US life insurance divisions. She is responsible for managing assets worth more than $2 trillion, leading Bloomberg News to describe her as “one of the most important people in global finance”.[2]

Jacqueline Hunt
Born (1968-04-27) April 27, 1968
Johannesburg, South Africa
NationalitySouth Africa
Alma materUniversity of Witwatersrand
OccupationBoard of Management, Allianz
Children2

Early life

Hunt, who holds British and New Zealand citizenship,[1] was born in Johannesburg. Her father died when she was very young, and she has described her mother, who brought her up alone, as an inspiring influence.[3]

Education

At school she was a gifted pupil, with particular passions for geology and English literature.[3] Her higher education, at the University of the Witwatersrand,[4] was funded by a bursary from a mining company, for which she worked during vacations;[3] but she was put off the idea of a career in mining by the fact that, as a woman, she would not be allowed into any ore mines but would be restricted to laboratory work.[5][3] After graduating in commerce and accountancy,[1] she bought herself out of her obligations to work for the company that had sponsored her.[3]

Career

Hunt began her career at Deloitte & Touche, qualified as a chartered accountant at the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants, and was sent to New Zealand,[3] where she began to get involved in corporate finance before moving to PricewaterhouseCoopers[3] as senior audit manager.[6] Here she gained experience in financial services, including spells in New York and Zürich, eventually becoming director, global capital markets.[6] She then joined Royal & Sun Alliance, in 1999, as deputy director, capital management.[6]

In 2003 she joined Aviva, the UK life assurance group, where she spent four years, becoming group finance director of Hibernian Group, its Ireland business, in 2005.[3]

In 2007 she returned to the UK to become finance director at Norwich Union, Aviva’s general insurance business.[3] She was then headhunted to become deputy chief finance officer at Standard Life, also in the UK,[3] joining in 2009.[1] In 2010 she was promoted to chief financial officer, after the previous CFO, David Nish, became chief executive.[3] In this capacity she helped transform the life insurer into a diverse savings, pensions and asset management business.[7]

In 2013, she was recruited to be chief executive of Prudential UK and Europe,[7] and a board member of Prudential plc. Some saw her as a potential successor to Prudential’s group chief executive, Tidjane Thiam.[7] Instead, a few months after Thiam was succeeded by Mike Wells, Hunt left suddenly, in October 2015.[7] It was suggested that a clash of personalities might have been involved.[7]

In March 2016, Hunt was appointed to the management board of Allianz SE, the Munich-based multinational financial services company,[8] with responsibility for asset management and US life insurance.[1] Starting in the role that July,[1] she took over a division that includes Allianz Global Investors (which manages €338bn of third-party assets[9]); Allianz’s US life insurance business;[10] and California-based asset management business PIMCO, which was struggling when she joined, but which she was credited with turning around.[11][12] Altogether, the division has around $2.25 trillion under management.[8][9]

Since July 2016, Hunt has been chairman of Allianz Life Insurance Co NA, and of Allianz Asset Management GmbH.[13]

She is also a Member of the Board of Trustees, American Institute of Contemporary German Studies at Johns Hopkins University,[14] and a former Commissioner for the UK's Independent Dormant Assets Commission.[15] She sits on the Executive Committee of the US Council on Competitiveness;[16] and is a member of the Women In Africa Club.[17]

Since joining Allianz, Hunt has spoken about her “personal crusade” to bring more diversity into the companies she manages,[18] and has been described as “passionate about supporting diversity and inclusion initiatives”.[17] She argues that “diverse groups make much better decisions”[19] and believes that, although “some organisations are making real progress on diversity” in financial services, “some others are not making progress or are going backwards”.[20]

She has also spoken about the importance of responsible capitalism and sustainable growth, arguing that companies like Allianz are stewards of our society with a responsibility to help “build a more equal world”[19] and that business leaders should accept “that they have to deal with climate change”.[21]

Hunt, who describes herself as a “pragmatist”,[19] believes that her gender brings her under special scrutiny: “On the one hand, it is an honour to take on a kind of pioneering role for women, but you are also much more closely monitored. It's a big responsibility.”[22] At Allianz, she has been noted for her “calm, reserved manner”, saying at her first official presentation that “I would rather deliver results than be known for big announcements that I can then not fulfil.”[12] She does not believe in “star” fund managers[23] and is reported to use a coffee mug that carries the word “integrity” in six languages.[12]

Manager Magazin has repeatedly named Hunt in its annual list of the most influential woman in German business,[24][25][26] while Bloomberg News described her as “one of the most important people in global finance” and dubbed her “the $2-trillion woman”.[2]

Personal life

Hunt, who is married with a son and a daughter,[27] lives mainly in Munich but spends about half of each month visiting Allianz’s other operations around the world.[2] She remains interested in geology,[5] enjoys travelling with her family,[22] and also loves opera.[27] She has paid tribute to her husband, with whom she shares housework and cooking, for helping her to maintain a work-life balance.[28][22][21]

References
  1. "Allianz Board of Management: Members". Allianz. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  2. "Meet the $2-trillion woman: the accountant who has become one of the most important people in global finance". Bloomberg News. 1 February 2017. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  3. Medland, Dina (22 March 2012). "Mining rules steered geology lover into chief finance role". Financial Times. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  4. "Jacqueline Hunt, Allianz SE: Profile and Biography". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
  5. Herz, Carsten and Schnell, Christian (22 March 2017). "Allianz's strategy in times of global insecurity". Handelsblatt. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  6. "ALIZF Company Profile & Executives - Allianz SE - Wall Street Journal". www.wsj.com. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
  7. Gray, Alistair & Wembridge, Mark (26 April 2013). "Pru poaches Standard Life executive". Financial Times. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  8. Ralph, Oliver (10 March 2016). "Allianz hires Jackie Hunt to oversee Pimco". Financial Times. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  9. Interim Report 2020 Allianz Group, p10. https://www.allianz.com/content/dam/onemarketing/azcom/Allianz_com/investor-relations/en/results/2020-2q/en-interim-report-2q-2020.pdf
  10. "Movers & shakers". Financial Times. 13 March 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  11. Storbeck, Olaf (16 February 2018). "Allianz lifts payout despite surge in catastrophe claims". Financial Times. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  12. Kaiser, Arvid (31 January 2017). "Die Billionen-Dollar-Lady der Alianz". Manager Magazin. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  13. MarketScreener. "Jacqueline Hunt - Biography". www.marketscreener.com. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
  14. "Board of Trustees". AICGS. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
  15. "Jackie Hunt". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
  16. "Members & Affiliates - Council on Competitiveness". www.compete.org. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
  17. "Managing Assets for Insurers Europe 2018 organised by FT Live". FT Live. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
  18. Crosby, Jackie (18 March 2019). "Allianz executive Jackie Hunt says diversity is key to smart organization". Star Tribune. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  19. Discussion panel at the 2019 Women Leaders Global Forum in Reykjavik, 20 November 2019 (5:10). https://www.cbsnews.com/video/what-are-the-key-challenges-leaders-face-as-we-approach-the-third-decade-of-the-21st-century/
  20. Noonan, Laura; Ralph, Oliver; & Thompson, Jennifer (12 September 2018). "Financial insiders speak out on gender diversity". Financial Times. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  21. Kremer, Dennis (23 February 2020). "Auch Klimasünder dürfen ins Depot". Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  22. "Allianz | Zweite Frau im Allianz Vorstand". Allianz.com (in German). Retrieved 2020-10-21.
  23. "Allianz-AM-Chefin Hunt: "Wir brauchen keinen Starkult"". Fonds Online. 23 May 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  24. "Spitzenfrauen der deutschen Wirtschaft". Manager Magazin. 4 January 2017. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  25. "Deutschlands Top-Managerinnen". Manager Magazin. 2 January 2018. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  26. Buchhorn, Eva (19 December 2019). "Die 100 einflussreichsten Frauen der deutschen Wirtschaft". Manager Magazin. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  27. Kunz, Anne (13 March 2016). "Kopf der Woche: Jacqueline Hunt". Welt. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  28. "Jackie Hunt, eine Aufräumerin ohne Allüren". ARD Mediathek – Boerse ARD. 17 February 2017. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
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