AXIS reveals organisational changes
AXIS Capital Holdings has unveiled a series of organisational changes that it says will strengthen its operating model, announcing that this will make the Company “future-ready” and further positions it for long-term profitable growth.
The company said that the enhancements are part of an ongoing strategy by AXIS to be a global leader in specialty insurance and reinsurance, with a focus on being a partner of choice for key clients and partners in distribution.
AXIS is creating an enterprise-wide Global Underwriting and Analytics unit (GUA), with Eric Gesick named as its group chief underwriting officer. GUA will partner with AXIS’ underwriting, claims, and actuarial teams within the business segments, arming them with greater insights, resources, and tools to deliver even more value and services to clients and distribution partners. This will include leveraging enhanced data and analytics capabilities to help inform decision-making, intelligently applying InsurTech, as well as optimising group portfolio management and capital allocation.
“Through our Global Underwriting and Analytics unit, we are creating a data and analytics centre of excellence that builds upon our philosophy of coupling human ingenuity with powerful tools and insights. GUA will enhance our ability to deliver disciplined underwriting and offer even more value to our clients and partners,” said Albert Benchimol, president and chief executive officer of AXIS Capital. “Eric is the ideal candidate to lead GUA. A proven leader within AXIS, he brings deep knowledge of our business and the market, and a keen understanding of the transformations that are reshaping our industry.”
Gesick, who currently serves as chief risk and actuarial officer, will continue to report to Benchimol and serve on the company’s executive committee. He has been a member of AXIS’ management team since joining the Company in 2012. His current responsibilities will be handled by Daniel Draper, who has been promoted to chief actuary, and Carol Collins, who has been appointed chief risk officer. Both will report to Peter Vogt, chief financial officer.
AXIS also announced that Meghan Anzelc has been promoted to chief analytics officer, reporting to Gesick. Dr. Anzelc, who is currently head of data and analytics for the Company’s insurance business, has expanded her role to include guiding the growth of a global data and analytics centre of excellence.
“These actions to strengthen our operating model set AXIS on a powerful path forward as we accelerate our strategy to be a leader in specialty insurance and reinsurance, while increasing our efficiency and enhancing our profitability. Customer-centricity is paramount to our thinking, and these changes will also allow us to improve the fitness of our company, making AXIS more agile and ready for the future so it can capitalise on an evolving market—all while providing greater value to our clients and delivering stronger returns to our shareholders,” said Benchimol. “Our goal is to further differentiate AXIS in the market by putting in place the tools and means to empower our underwriters, claims, and actuarial teams, ultimately unleashing the power of our people to benefit all our stakeholders.”
In addition AXIS is realigning its accident & health business, merging the units into its core insurance and reinsurance segments. The move is expected to enable AXIS to continue focusing on client needs and to deliver synergies in combination with AXIS’ P&C insurance and reinsurance businesses.
According to the company the realignment is also expected to create more opportunities for AXIS’ A&H teams to leverage customer and partner relationships across the business, better tap into existing client networks, and help ensure seamless delivery of A&H and more traditional P&C (re)insurance products to AXIS’ international clients. Further, the move is expected to help AXIS’ P&C reinsurance team leverage the geographic expansion and client relationships achieved by its A&H teams.
Current AXIS A&H chief executive officer Chris DiSipio will serve as an advisor to help guide the transition and will depart from AXIS in April 2018.
AXIS will also combine Ceded Re and its Third Party Capital business into a single strategic risk-funding department. AXIS expects that the combined team will enable the company to optimise risk-funding activities and deliver greater capacity to clients and partners in distribution. Ceded Re will report in to Ben Rubin, head of AXIS Ventures, who reports to Benchimol.
AXIS said that these changes will be put into in place during the second quarter of 2018.
