Michel Lamie (Achmea): ‘The Role of CFO Has Become Broader’
In his spare time, Michel Lamie loves to get out into the countryside. He enjoys walking in the moor with his wife and their brown labrador. And the Achmea CFO regularly goes running in the green. Lamie also headed out with his son to hike a part of the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela this year. Lamie can sometimes also be found in nature for work purposes. Indeed, he prefers to have a ‘bila’ with one of his financial directors during a walk. ‘This way I can get a better sense of how a colleague feels, both at work and at home. And what kind of challenges he or she is facing.’
Lamie became CFO of Achmea in 2017, following nearly a decade as CEO of De Goudse insurance company, where he previously also held the CFO position. Lamie began his career as an accountant at KPMG but made the switch to the world of insurance in 1999, a world he has been working in ever since. Before being appointed CFO, Lamie worked at Achmea for several years, amongst others as Financial Director.
He talks with Jan-Wouter Bloos, Deloitte partner, about the increasing responsibilities in the role of CFO. And about what he experiences as the most demanding challenge now: finding the right balance between managing the company's core business on the one hand and keeping important transitions on track on the other. In sustainability and digitalization, for example. ‘It requires new ways of measuring, steering and reporting.’
Lamie feels at home at Achmea. ‘With so many different business units and brands, being a CFO feels like being a kid in a sweet shop. Not only are we the largest health and non-life insurer in the Netherlands, but also a major life and pension insurer, asset manager and real estate investor. We also offer mortgages, savings products and investment services through Achmea Bank and Centraal Beheer. We sell our products online, bancassurance and through intermediaries. Achmea has an international growth strategy and branches in Australia, Greece, Slovakia and Turkey. We do a lot.’
How would you describe your leadership style?
‘As CFO, I obviously pay attention to content - how we as a team fulfil the strategy and create value and ensure we are on track and adjust where necessary. But I also consciously strive for connection with and amongst the teams I manage. The final financial responsibility lies with me, ultimately, but I work with the financial directors of the various divisions within Achmea. Together, we set the agenda for the finance function. To stay informed on all levels of the company, not only a connection to content is essential, but personal connection too. We have invested considerably in developing the team in recent years and we will continue to do so.’
You have several years of experience as a CFO. How has your role changed?
‘The role has become broader. First and foremost, together with our CEO Bianca Tetteroo, I spend a lot of time working on the strategy. The world has become more complex and volatile and international financial markets are crucial to our business. We therefore run long-term analyses and possible scenarios more frequently. M&A is also part of my portfolio, so I am closely involved in major transactions, such as the recent acquisition of Blue Sky Group.
A second development is a more explicit focus on long-term value creation. Not only in finance but also in social returns. We have been focusing – due to our cooperative roots –on social value for 200 years, but this is evolving, partly driven by social developments and related laws and regulations. As a result, our sustainability objectives, policies and reports are also evolving. And we also communicate these more clearly to stakeholders. Sustainability reporting and accountability are the responsibility of finance, which makes perfect sense.
The third change involves our attention to large transformation programs. In 2016, insurers were faced with the Solvency II legislation and new reporting obligations concerning capital positions. An intensive process. This was followed by the implementation of IFRS 17, a new international reporting standard for insurers. Another far-reaching process. Currently, we are busy implementing the CSRD. Managing such major processes in the finance division has become the norm rather than the exception.
The fourth change is the increasing importance of technology. Digitalization allows us to optimize financial processes. Nowadays, data analysis is done within the various business units and this is reported digitally as far as possible. We are also exploring and leveraging the opportunities of artificial intelligence. Not just within the finance function, but also across the broader organization. Like the other directors, I really had to delve into this. In finance, AI can add value in developing explanations for numbers and graphs, or in drawing comparisons with peers.’
What impact do all these developments have on the finance team at Achmea?
‘The finance team consists of approximately 650 people in the Netherlands. Another 150 work internationally. We see the time allocation within finance gradually shifting from reporting to analyzing. This is because reporting can, increasingly, be done digitally. It requires new skills and knowledge, particularly in the areas of digitalization and sustainability. Collaboration between IT and finance has intensified. We have redefined finance roles and adjusted our training offerings accordingly. Our primary goal is to develop our current employees. We also need more individuals who are skilled in program management, coordinating various programs to guide change within the organization. Additionally, we are investing substantially in leadership development within the finance team. We have, for instance, created a roadmap for a future CFO.’
Large companies are currently busy implementing the CSRD, the European directive that requires large companies to report on sustainability for the fiscal year of 2024. How is this progressing at Achmea?
‘It is an enormous task. We are on schedule, but it is certainly not a done deal. There is still a lot of work to do. We are working on dummies to already practice the 2024 reporting. It absolutely needs to be ready on time. The biggest challenge is establishing a completely new reporting cycle, where we need to gather new forms of information from all parts of the company. Consider chain information, for example. It is quite a challenge to generate this data in a standardized, uniform and eventually digital and automated manner. We invested heavily in data definitions, data quality and data accessibility. Now, the focus is on extracting that information as automated as possible.’
How does Achmea give meaning to the theme of social value and sustainability?
‘We launched a comprehensive program called Achmea Sustainable Together, which is overseen by the Executive Board. In addition to making our own operations and investment portfolio more sustainable, we want to contribute to the significant societal challenges through our services and expertise. As the market leader in health insurance, for instance, we collaborate with healthcare providers on solutions to staff shortages in healthcare. Consider participating in a project like HartWacht, where patients can independently monitor their health at home under the remote supervision of a cardiologist. For clients, we advocate for socially sensitive debt collection and debt prevention. For example, we are closely involved in social initiatives such as SchuldenlabNL and the Dutch Debt Help Route. Additionally, we aim to bring concerning trends to the public agenda. For instance, it appears that increasingly fewer Dutch people take out life insurance with a mortgage. This makes them vulnerable. If a partner unexpectedly passes away, the remaining partner is sometimes forced to move. Our sustainability program is not a standalone policy but is closely tied to our core activities.’
Achmea has a strong societal position due to its cooperative background. Do you benefit sufficiently from that?
‘Absolutely. Creating societal impact is deeply embedded in our company. Historically, we scored high in international sustainability benchmarks. On the labor market, many young people choose Achmea precisely because of the societal relevance of our work. Moreover, we are leaders in sustainable investing, and our real estate funds invest above average in sustainability initiatives.
But there are also opportunities; we could probably be more vocal on everything we do. In the coming years, society will look more critically at what companies perform in real terms. Thanks to the CSRD, that will become transparent. It is therefore important to demonstrate solid results in this area.’
How are you responding to developments related to artificial intelligence?
‘Among other things, we went to Boston for a week to experience the developments taking place at innovative companies and renowned universities close-up. The question is what we ourselves can do with AI in our organization. There is a magnitude of opportunities, if we use it well. Two examples of applications in practice: we are experimenting with a specific version of Achmea GPT with around 1,000 colleagues. In the coming weeks, we aim to roll out this tool for all employees in the Netherlands. Additionally, our call centers utilize a deep desk tool that, based on customer inquiries, automatically provides suggestions to call center agents. This is a great example of a tool that can be widely applied across different companies within Achmea.’
How does Achmea cope with the increasing claims burden caused by extreme weather conditions, such as flooding?
‘In several ways. We focus on research where specialists translate the latest climate insights into concrete insurance products. We actively advise customers on risk prevention. When a yellow weather warning is issued, we immediately send out warnings to our customers. We offer financial products to facilitate the construction of green roofs to ensure houses become more resistant to extreme weather. Dutch people are often insured through their home insurance for damage caused by flooding of small rivers and streams. But that does not apply to damage caused by flooding from large rivers or the sea. On behalf of the industry, we are in discussion with the government to see how this can be improved. Ultimately, for Achmea, it is about maintaining the principle of solidarity that underpins insurance. A collaborative approach, together with the government, is crucial for effectively restoring and insuring against serious damage caused by climate change.’
This interview was published in Management Scope 09 2024.
This article was last changed on 22-10-2024