Health insurer Cigna has restructured its European team, appointing Phil Austin (pictured) to an expanded leadership role as chief executive for Europe.
Austin, who joined the global health services firm in 2002, is in charge of leading Cigna’s strategic market development to drive accelerated growth in the continent. He spearheaded the growth of the company’s global individual private medical insurance business and also served as managing director of Cigna’s UK domestic healthcare unit.
Other positions Austin has held at the insurer include health, life & accident (HL&A) Europe sales and marketing director, as well as interim chief executive for HL&A Europe. He is currently part of the international health solutions leadership team.
“Europe is a very important market for Cigna as it is for our clients, customers, and broker and provider partners,” said Howard Gough, chief executive for Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). “We have a strong foundation of scale, service excellence, and innovation to build on. As such deploying one of our top talents to the region was a critical and deliberate strategic move, and with Phil he brings a depth of experience from not only within Cigna but through his many years leading the way in the health insurance industry as a whole.”
Meanwhile other internal appointments have been announced, as part of the restructure in Europe. Liam Hughes is now European sales & client management director; Will Shaw, sales effectiveness director; Frank Indestege, EU partnership and B2G (business to government) director; and Amy MacKay, EMEA head of broker relations and cross sell.
“I am excited to be leading our European businesses and to be working with such talented individuals,” said Austin. “Cigna is an ambitious company, and this is a tremendous opportunity for us to strengthen our ability to drive enhanced growth in Europe at a time when global mobility and demand for health benefits are increasing.
“This new structure will allow us to strengthen our promise to ‘go deeper’ – further expanding our customer, client, and partner relationships; ‘go local’ – providing outstanding local expertise and delivery; and ‘go beyond’ – continue to lead through innovation.”
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