Axa unveils shake up of top team ahead of chief exec’s start
Axa has revealed a major shake up of its senior team – including a new chief executive of its UK business – ahead of the arrival of incoming boss Thomas Buberl later this year.
From 1 July the group will boast a new management committee that will "reinforce the role of large countries and global business lines, while the group’s regions will be repositioned to focus on the development of emerging and smaller markets in Asia and in the rest of the world".
The 10-strong committee will comprise current members including Jean-Louis Laurent Josi, who becomes chief executive of Axa Asia, Mark Pearson, who will be chief executive of Axa US,and Véronique Weill who will become group chief customer officer and chief executive of a newly created business line, Axa Global Asset Management.
Joining them will be six internally-appointed new members, including the current UK boss Paul Evans, who is moving up to become chief executive of Axa Global Life & Savings.
Alongside him is Benoît Claveranne as group chief transformation officer, Gérald Harlin as group chief financial officer, Gaëlle Olivier who will head up Axa Global P&C, Axa France boss Jacques de Peretti and George Stansfield, who moves up to group general secretary, responsible for HR.
Peter Kraus, chairman and chief executive AB, "will continue to be a resource to Thomas Buberl and executives throughout the group on a wide variety of strategic matters", Axa said.
Buberl, who officially joins in September, said: "The breadth of global experience, the leadership qualities and values of this renewed management committee give me a high degree of confidence in our ability to lead Axa through the next phase of our strategic journey, thanks to a stronger focus on our customers and our transformation.
"I have shaped this management committee – both in terms of the executives and the allocation of responsibilities – with a view to ensuring that we will work and act collectively as one team to define and execute the group's priorities, together with our 166,000 employees and distributors worldwide.
As a result of the internal promotions, Amanda Blanc will take over as chief executive of Axa UK and Ireland, Nick Lane will take on responsibility for Japan, Wilm Langenbach will head up Axa's emerging markets arm and Hassan El Shabrawishi has been appointed group chief innovation officer.
This is a newly created position, responsible for business model innovation, including designing, piloting and implementing new insurance and service proposals.