Allianz asset management head Jacqueline Hunt stepping down from board

BERLIN (Reuters) - Allianz's head of asset management Jacqueline Hunt is stepping down from the board, the company said in a statement on Thursday, after a scandal over billions of dollars in hedge fund losses prompted a restructuring of the firm's management.

The executive, who joined the company in 2016 and was due to stay until 2022, has been appointed as a strategic consultant to CEO Oliver Bate. "Jackie had signalled her openness for a change some time ago," Bate said in the statement.

Hunt will be replaced by Allianz's chief executive of the life insurance business in Germany, Andreas Wimmer.

The insurer is facing a slew of investor lawsuits over its Structured Alpha Funds and related investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Germany's Bafin.

It said earlier in September it was speeding up succession planning for its management board, including for Hunt, following the closure of some of its U.S. investment funds last year.

The changes in leadership will come into effect from Oct. 1, the statement said.

(Reporting by Victoria Waldersee; editing by David Evans)