London, 8 August 2019 – Assurant, Inc. (NYSE: AIZ), a leading global provider of housing and lifestyle solutions that support, protect and connect major consumer purchases, today announced the appointment of Christian Formby as its new president, Europe, subject to receipt of regulatory approval. Formby will have responsibility for developing and executing strategic priorities for Assurant’s European operations to drive profitable growth in France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and the UK. With the dedication of its 1,600 European employees, Formby will focus on delivering transformational and innovative solutions that meet the needs of clients and their customers to continually improve the customer experience.
Formby has over 17 years of experience in financial services, working for global brands including Goldman Sachs, Marsh, E&Y and Zurich Financial Services before joining Assurant. He has a proven track record in setting strategy and delivering high performance business results, demonstrated through his work with key financial services and mobile client leaders across Latin America.
During his eight-year career at Assurant, Formby has held leadership roles in both the company’s global Housing and Lifestyle business units, including country leadership, regional P&L management and business development across regions. Most recently, he was senior vice president, global property international with oversight and management of Assurant’s International Property business. Prior to that, he served as president & CEO, Assurant Puerto Rico & Caribbean, during which time the Puerto Rico business grew by significantly expanding its operations with leading mobile network operators.
In his new role, Formby will be based in the UK and report to Keith Meier, president, International.
"Christian is a highly accomplished leader, not only in terms of focus on customer experience, but also leading and engaging employees which has earned him great respect and admiration," said Meier. "With his deep auto and connected living experience, he is both a business and culture builder at Assurant, which will benefit the organisation as we continue to expand our business across Europe and our International footprint across the world.
“With our focus on helping consumers protect their mobile devices, appliances, electronics and vehicles, Christian’s depth of experience, matched with our global capabilities, will be invaluable in continuing to grow our brand and service our clients in Europe.”
Commenting on his new role, Christian Formby said, “It’s an exciting time to lead the European business through our next phase of growth, and I’m looking forward to working with the team as we continue to focus on providing excellent service and market-leading products to our clients and their customers.”
Formby succeeds Andy Morris, who has been appointed commercial officer, international markets. Morris brings a wealth of client-facing and business development experience to this new role, in which he will initially focus on continuing to drive Assurant’s growth in Europe and Asia Pacific. This appointment reflects Assurant’s expanding International business and the evolving needs of its global clients across their international footprint. Morris will bring innovative programs to drive further growth within the connected living, mobile, financial services and auto lines of business. Leveraging Assurant’s experience in diverse, global markets, Morris will work to replicate success locally for international clients, by using consumer insights that uncover new opportunities to improve the customer experience, and further business growth across the regions.
Meier added, “These changes demonstrate our continued efforts to leverage our exceptional talent to service clients and further accelerate our strong momentum across our European and International business.”