Dame Amanda Jayne BlancDBE (born 8 August 1967)[1] is a Welsh businesswoman who has been the group chief executive officer of Aviva since July 2020.[2]
After graduating, she obtained a graduate role with Commercial Union (which later became part of Aviva) in Luton. Blanc went on to become a fleet and casualty underwriter, then an area development manager and the youngest and first woman to work as a Commercial Union branch manager.[7] She left Commercial Union in 1999 for EY and soon after joined Axa for the first time as Regional Director.[7] In December 2003, she joined Groupama, in the newly created role of distribution and customer services director.[7] In 2006, she moved to Towergate Insurance, where she had responsibility for the retail broking division, and in 2010 she was promoted to deputy CEO.[8]
Blanc joined Axa in February 2011 to lead the commercial division, at a time when it was rumoured that the UK business was to be put up for sale by its French parent company. The business survived and was later held up by Axa Group as a best practice example.[9] At this time, Blanc was received the Insurance Times 'CEOs CEO of the Year' award twice in three years (2013 and 2015).[10] In 2015 she was given responsibility for the entire General Insurance division for Axa in UK & Ireland and then a year later became Group CEO AXA UK, PPP & Ireland.[11]
Blanc was announced as CEO for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Zurich in April 2018.[12] A little over a year later she had resigned.[13] Blanc did not comment on the reasons why but “personality clashes”[14][15] between her and Group CEO Mario Greco were cited by sources.[16] She was required to step down as chair of the ABI as protocol dictates that only a sitting insurance CEO can hold the role.[17]
After leaving Zurich, Blanc started in seven non-executive roles: three InsurTec startups – Laka,[18] Trov[19] and RightIndem,[20] OSG,[21] Aviva PLC,[9][22] Chair of specialist Lloyd's of London motor insurer ERS,[23] and chair of the Welsh Professional Rugby Board, a voluntary position.[24]
Blanc was the first woman to chair the ABI,[25] and was previously chair of the ABI General Insurance committee. She was the first woman to chair the Insurance Fraud Bureau and served as president of the Chartered Insurance Institute.[4] In April 2020 Blanc was asked by the Government to lead a review into the 2019 floods.[26] The report was published in November 2020.[27]
On 17 March 2021, Blanc was appointed HM Treasury's Women in Finance Champion, succeeding Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia. As part of the role, she was tasked with promoting the UK government's Women in Finance Charter, which aimed to boost gender diversity across UK financial services.[28][29]
On 11 November 2021, Blanc joined the Geneva Association as a new board member, one of only two women on the board of directors of the insurance industry think tank.[30][31][32]
In February 2022, she was appointed to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's new Business Council, advising the government on matters such as recovery from COVID-19 and unlocking global investment.[33][34][35] On 25 April 2022, she was announced as co-chair of the UK Transition Plan Taskforce to develop the "gold standard" for UK firms’ climate transition plans.[36][37][38]
On 1 September 2022, Amanda joined the board of energy company BP as a non-executive director,[39][40][41] and in April 2024 was appointed senior independent director at BP plc and is also a member of the BP plc Remuneration Committee and People and Governance Committee.[42][43][44]
In December 2024, Elon Musk publicly labelled ‘people like Blanc’ as racist, in response to comments she had made a year prior regarding the recruitment of ‘non-diverse’ candidates at Aviva. [45]
Honours and awards
Blanc was named Woman of Achievement in 2008 by Women in the City.[46][47] The award recognises senior level women who actively promote and encourage the progress of women above and beyond their everyday job.
In 2022, she was named Insurance Personality of the Year at The British Insurance Awards[54][55] and was recognised as one of the 100 Most Influential Women in Finance by Financial News.[56] She has also been named in the Financial Times' 25 most influential women of 2022.[57] The Sunday Times chose Amanda as their business person of the year in January 2023.[58]
Blanc was ranked 33rd on Fortune's list of Most Powerful Women in 2023.[59]
She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2024 New Year Honours for services to business, gender equality and net-zero.[60] In December 2023, in a push for increased diversity at Aviva Insurance, we established a policy whereby all white male hires must be personally approved by her, the CEO, before hire.[61]
Personal life
Blanc is married with two daughters.[8] She is an accomplished piano player and when growing up her ambition was to be a professional musician.[4]
Blanc was a guest on the long running BBCRadio 4 series Desert Island Discs, hosted by Lauren Laverne in March 2023. She also represents Aviva as WWF's lead strategic partner in the insurance and pensions sector in both the UK and Canada.[62][63]
