PARIS – September 1st, 2025. Descartes Underwriting, world leader in corporate parametric insurance solutions for climate and emerging risks, has appointed Sébastien Bardy, a 20+ year insurance-market veteran, to the newly created position of Chief Financial Officer. Bardy joins today.
The addition of a fully-fledged Chief Financial Officer to Descartes’ executive committee marks a key milestone for the company. Descartes’ ambitious growth targets, the challenges of scaling, and its increasing need for financial expertise in areas including corporate structure, financial analysis, tax and international platform development demand the dedicated attention of an experienced specialist.
Bardy joins from Allianz, where he held senior positions in France and Germany, most recently as Head of Planning & Controlling in charge of Global Lines, Asia and Anglo markets. He has also worked for Deloitte, Natixis, and PwC in areas including accounting, capital management, and M&A. Sébastien Bardy will lead Descartes’ financial scale-up with a focus on the value creation for the company’s stakeholders.
Bardy will report to Descartes CEO Tanguy Touffut. He assumes executive responsibility for financial matters, building on the strong foundations the current team has been establishing over the last years:
- Chief Operating Officer Violaine Raybaud, whose scope initially included the Finance department, will now be able to focus fully on Operations and Descartes Insurance, allowing her to drive our ambitious growth and operational excellence goals in these key areas.
- Chloé Duval, who joined Descartes over four years ago and, as Head of Finance, was instrumental in building a strong team and robust infrastructure, will become Deputy CFO, with responsibility for financial projects and corporate finance. She will be a key partner to Sébastien and the entire Finance team.
Tanguy Touffut said: “I am delighted to welcome Sébastien to the management team. He will optimize our investment strategies, but also further strengthen our strong financial performance and management capabilities overall. He will be instrumental in the achievement of our long-term objectives.”
Sébastien Bardy said: “I am excited to join Descartes as they create a major new, global commercial insurer with a technology-backed approach to underwriting based on the underlying risk. The founders’ vision of a company which takes maximum advantage of new approaches to risk transfer puts me at the vanguard of the future of insurance.”
