Allianz Partners names new CEO

Elena Edwards will lead the travel insurer's Henrico-based U.S. business unit

Published June 17, 2020 by Sydney Lake

Elena Edwards. Photo courtesy Allianz Partners

Henrico County-based travel insurance company Allianz Partners announced Wednesday that Elena Edwards has been promoted to CEO of the German company’s United States business unit. The company employs approximately 1,000 people in the Richmond region.

She succeeds Michael J. Nelson, who left the company for another travel industry job opportunity. In her new role, she will report to Dan Assouline, Allianz Partners Group chief markets officer.

She joined Allianz Partners in 2019 as the general manager of the U.S. business unit. Before her time at the company, she held executive positions at Richmond-based insurance company Genworth Financial and had a 30-year career at General Electric companies, including 17 in the insurance industry.

Allianz Partners has operations centers in 35 countries and has 45 million customers annually in the U.S. The company also offers tuition insurance, event ticket protection, registration protection and travel assistance services. Allianz Partners is a subsidiary of Munich, Germany-based insurance company Allianz SE, which had the equivalent of more than $2.5 trillion assets under management in 2019.