Filip Vandeputte to join AXIS to lead its speciality aviation business in Europe

AXIS Insurance has hired Filip Vandeputte to lead the AXIS specialty Europe aviation re/insurer in continental Europe, Aviabel.

Vandeputte will serve as branch manager and Brussels office lead for Aviabel, and branch manager and Amsterdam office lead for Aviabel’s Dutch brand Nederlandse Luchtvaartpool (NLP). He will report to Terry Wood, global head of Aviation at AXIS.

Both branch manager appointments are subject to regulatory approval.

Vandeputte has more than 30 years’ insurance industry experience and was most recently executive director of Nuytten Verzekeringen, a boutique brokerage in Belgium.

He began his career as a non-life claims handler at Royale Belge, before joining Aviabel as an underwriter in 1989. At Aviabel, he held a series of senior management roles, eventually assuming responsibility for the underwriting operation, taking on the role of chief underwriting officer before departing in 2016.

Wood said: “Hiring an experienced aviation business leader of [Vandeputte’s] caliber will help us extend our influence and lead market capability as we focus on building the optimal European specialty aviation insurance business.”