AXA announces evolutions within its leadership team to prepare the launch of its next strategic plan

The AXA Group has announced evolutions within its Management Committee for the launch of its next strategic plan, which will be presented during the first quarter of 2024.

“2023 is a pivotal year for AXA as it marks the end of our plan Driving Progress and the start of a new strategic cycle for the coming three years. We are on track to exceed the objectives of our current plan and I would like to thank all my leadership team for this remarkable performance, despite an often uncertain and difficult environment. I would like to thank in particular, for their crucial contributions, Georges Desvaux, Antimo Perretta, and Gordon Watson, who have played an important role in the transformation of the Group and will step down from AXA’s Management Committee.

This renewed team confirms the strength and diversity of AXA’s internal talent pool. It also gives us the opportunity to evolve the perimeters of some of our markets and central functions, to prepare the Group for the implementation of our new strategic ambition and our long-term priorities,” said Thomas Buberl, CEO of AXA.

❖ Changes in key geographies of the Group:

• Patrick Cohen, member of AXA’s Management Committee and CEO of AXA France is appointed CEO European Markets and Health. In addition to supervising AXA’s European entities, he is tasked with the creation and development of a new business unit which will gather and accelerate the Group’s key international Health operations. He will continue to report to Thomas Buberl.
• Guillaume Borie, Deputy CEO of AXA France is appointed CEO of AXA France and joins the Management Committee reporting to Thomas Buberl.
• Hassan El-Shabrawishi, CEO of AXA Africa is appointed CEO International Markets, and will oversee AXA’s operations in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, Turkey, India and South-East Asia. Hassan El-Shabrawishi joins AXA’s Management Committee reporting to Thomas Buberl.
• AXA Japan and AXA Greater China (Hong Kong and China) will report directly to George Stansfield, Group Deputy CEO and General Secretary. Gordon Watson is appointed non-executive Chairman for Asia.

“I would like to warmly thank Antimo Perretta who has led our European and Latin American operations these past years. He will continue supporting me and some of our business units in an advisory role before his retirement in 2024. I have had the privilege to work closely with Antimo since I joined AXA. I know how much his professionalism, his leadership and his generosity have been, and will continue to be valued by his teams and agents.

I am very happy that Patrick Cohen is taking on oversight of our European operations and the development of our international Health business. Patrick has successfully led AXA France, both in terms of transformation and performance. I am also delighted to announce the appointment of Guillaume Borie as CEO of AXA France. Guillaume has done a great job leading all our distribution networks in France since 2019 and is perfectly positioned to pursue the development of this core entity. I am also very happy that Hassan El-Shabrawishi, who has successfully led our operations in Egypt and Africa during these past years, will now be in charge of developing our operations in some of our most promising markets and growing them to their full potential.

I would also like to thank Gordon Watson for his decisive contribution to the transformation of our business in Asia, which allows us to evolve towards a geographical organization adapted to the different profiles and needs of our entities in the region. As Non-Executive Chairman for Asia, he will support the implementation of this new phase and continue to help the teams with his unique experience,” said Thomas Buberl.

❖ New members of the Management Committee in central functions:

• Nancy Bewlay, CEO of AXA XL Reinsurance, is appointed Chief Underwriting Officer for the Group and joins the Management Committee. She will report to Frédéric de Courtois, Group Deputy CEO in charge of Finance, Operations, Strategy, Risk, Underwriting.
• Françoise Gilles, Chief Strategic Development Officer for AXA Asia, is appointed Chief Risk Officer for the Group and joins the Management Committee. She will report to Frédéric de Courtois.
• Anu Venkataraman is appointed Chief Strategy Officer for the Group in addition to her current role as Group Head of Investor Relations. She will join the Management Committee reporting to Frédéric de Courtois and Alban de Mailly Nesle, Group Chief Financial Officer and member of the Management Committee.

“The creation of a Chief Underwriting Officer function for the Group will be key for the implementation of our growth and technical excellence ambition for the next strategic plan. Nancy Bewlay, who has had a decisive contribution in the turnaround of AXA XL and AXA XL Re, has the perfect experience and track record to lead this new function. I am delighted to appoint Françoise Gilles as new Group Chief Risk Officer. She will bring her leadership and her previous experiences as Chief Risk Officer across different entities and regions. As Group Head of Investor Relations, Anu Venkataraman has proven her strategic vision and excellent knowledge of the industry. In her capacity as Chief Strategy Officer, she will succeed Georges Desvaux, who has decided to retire at the end of the year and whom I would like to thank for his key contribution to the success of our Driving Progress plan as well as for the preparation of our next strategic cycle.
look forward to working with all members of my leadership team in finalizing and launching our next strategic plan,” said Thomas Buberl.

❖ The new Management Committee around Thomas Buberl will start working together as of July 1st and will be composed of:

• Frédéric de Courtois, Group Deputy CEO, Finance, Operations, Strategy, Risk, Underwriting
• George Stansfield, Group Deputy CEO, General Secretary, oversight of AXA Japan, AXA Greater China (China and Hong Kong)
• Nancy Bewlay, Group Chief Underwriting Officer
• Guillaume Borie, CEO AXA France
• Helen Browne, Group General Counsel
• Patrick Cohen, CEO European Markets & Health
• Ulrike Decoene, Group Chief Communication, Brand & Sustainability Officer
• Hassan El-Shabrawishi, CEO International Markets (Africa, Turkey, Middle East, Latin America, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, India Life)
• Françoise Gilles, Group Chief Risk Officer
• Scott Gunter, CEO AXA XL
• Alban de Mailly Nesle, Group Chief Financial Officer
• Marco Morelli, Executive Chairman AXA Investment Managers
• Karima Silvent, Group Chief Human Resources Officer
• Anu Venkataraman, Group Chief Strategy Officer, Head of Investor Relations
• Alexander Vollert, Group Chief Operating Officer, CEO AXA Group Operations

Renaud Guidée is appointed CEO AXA XL Reinsurance

Renaud Guidée, who has held the role of Group Chief Risk Officer since 2019 is appointed CEO of AXA XL Reinsurance, succeeding to Nancy Bewlay. He will report to Scott Gunter, CEO of AXA XL, and member of AXA’s Management Committee.