A time of change: a conversation between Insurance Europe’s president, Frédéric de Courtois, and director general, Thea Utoft Høj Jensen
In this bite-sized webinar, Frédéric de Courtois, Insurance Europe’s president and deputy CEO of AXA Group, sat down on camera for the first time with Insurance Europe’s recently appointed director general, Thea Utoft Høj Jensen. Together, they explored some of the biggest challenges and opportunities facing the insurance industry today, including protection gaps, climate change, digitalisation and investment. The industry leaders also shared their hopes for the European Union just as it begins a new five-year political cycle.
Speakers
Thea Utoft Høj Jensen is director general of Insurance Europe, the European insurance and reinsurance federation. Previously, she served as senior managing director and head of financial services in Brussels at FTI Consulting, where she provided strategic advice on financial services policy. Thea held the position of financial services counsellor for the Danish Permanent Representation to the European Union, where she led Council negotiations at attaché-level for Denmark at the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) and represented Denmark's interests on key financial services issues.
Her experience also includes serving as a special advisor on EU affairs at the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority and as a policy officer at the European Commission. Thea holds a Master of Arts in Law from the University of Copenhagen. She is also a passionate advocate for women's rights, diversity and equality in the workplace, championing equal opportunities within the financial sector.
Mr. Frédéric de Courtois is AXA Group Deputy CEO and a member of the Group Management Committee. In this capacity, he is in charge of Group Finance, Operations, Strategy, Risk and Underwriting.
Prior to being named Group Deputy CEO in August 2021, Mr. Frédéric de Courtois worked at Generali for five years, where he held a number of senior positions, including General Manager of the Group overseeing most central functions and the implementation of strategy. Before that, he held a variety of positions in AXA in finance and in the business for 23 years. He was Deputy CEO of AXA Re and AXA Corporate Solutions (200 2003), Chief Financial Officer then Deputy CEO of AXA Japan (2003 2007), and CEO of AXA Italy, Greece and Serbia (2007 2016). Mr. Frédéric de Courtois began his career in 1990 at CGI before joining UAP as an M&A expert in 1993.
Mr. Frédéric de Courtois graduated from Telecom ParisTech in 1990 and Collège des Ingénieurs in 1991. He is an actuary.