(Bloomberg) — Allstate Corp. Chief Executive Officer Tom Wilson is looking for more than a bond buyer as he seeks an investment manager to run the insurer's $79 billion portfolio.

"We need somebody who knows deals," Wilson, who is also chairman of the largest publicly traded U.S. home and auto insurer, said in an interview this week at the company's headquarters in Northbrook, Ill. "You've got to know which way the market is moving, fund flows and deals. So you have to be both a macro- and micro-investor, but you don't necessarily need to be an insurance investor."

Wilson, 58, is working to fill the chief investment officer seat vacated by Judy Greffin, who was promoted to the post in 2008 and departed the firm this year after overseeing about 300 professionals. To diversify the portfolio, Allstate this year hired Mick Solimene from Macquarie Group Ltd. for opportunistic investments, and ex-UBS Group AG banker Russ Mayerfeld in 2014 to concentrate on alternatives.