AXA XL Makes Americas, UK and Lloyd’s Exec Appointments in Ongoing Restructuring

AXA XL’s plan to revamp the structure and focus of its Insurance unit continues with a number of new leadership promotions and new hires in the Americas and also the UK/Lloyd’s market.

AXA XL’s new Americas leadership team will report to Joe Tocco, chief executive officer for the Americas. The appointments include:

• Donna Nadeau, chief underwriting officer. Nadeau steps into this new role from her current position as AXA XL’s chief operating officer in North America, a position she has held since 2014. Since joining AXA XL in 2003, she’s held several senior-level positions including serving as chief actuary for AXA XL’s North America property/casualty insurance operations. Her previous employers include Kemper and Liberty Mutual. Jerome Itty, who joins AXA XL from AXA Partners where he recently served as Head of Asia, assumes Nadeau’s former role as chief operating officer.
• Bob Peretti, chief distribution officer. Since 2015, Peretti has led AXA XL’s North America Client and Distribution Management team. In his new role, he will continue to lead client and broker distribution but also expands his responsibilities to include global management of key broker relationships. He also assumes management of the Americas marketing function in close collaboration with the global marketing function. Earlier in his career, Peretti worked at Zurich for more than five years and spent almost 19 years at Marsh.
• Jim DiVirgilio, chief claims officer. Since joining AXA XL in 2008, DiVirgilio has held senior claims management positions, most recently leading AXA XL’s claims management activity across North America. He brings 35 years of experience handling the complex claims across property, casualty, professional and specialty insurance lines. Prior to joining XL, he was with Travelers for 24 years.

U.S. Team

AXA XL’s new regional structure also included the creation of three zones in the U.S. – East, Central and West – and the appointments of three executives to lead business activity in each zone. The new zonal appointments include:

• Matt O’Malley, head of the East U.S. zone, based in New York. During his 25-year tenure in the insurance industry, O’Malley has held numerous underwriting and management positions, most recently managing AXA XL’s Casualty E&S and Environmental business in the U.S.
• Todd Sutherland, head of the Central U.S. Zone, based in Chicago. Sutherland joined AXA XL in 2018 as North Central Regional leader. He brings more than 27 years of insurance industry experience to this new role. During his career, he has also worked at Allied World and AIG.
• Mike Soper as head of the West U.S. Zone, based in San Francisco. Since 2016, when he joined as Western Regional leader, Soper has led AXA XL’s Client and Distribution Management team and its regional growth throughout the western states. Soper has 25+ years in the insurance industry. He joined AXA from Zurich Insurance.

These newly created roles join Tocco’s Americas country management team which also includes Patrick Tannock as country manager, Bermuda; Urs Uhlmann as country manager, Canada; and Renato Rodrigues as regional manager, Latin America.

The Americas region includes AXA XL’s collective property, casualty, professional and specialty insurance and risk management resources in the U.S., Canada, Bermuda and Latin America, including Brazil and Mexico.

UK/Lloyd’s

AXA XL’s new leadership team for its UK and Lloyd’s region includes:

• Elie Hanna, chief distribution officer, UK & Lloyd’s. Hanna will develop and lead the execution of AXA XL’s go-to market, trading and external marketing and communication strategies. These will be aligned to the regional portfolio underwriting and legal entity platform strategies, to support AXA XL’s underwriters in delivering profitable growth and enhancing the division’s identity and reputation.

• Luis Prato, chief underwriting officer, UK & Lloyd’s. Prato will define the underwriting strategy and risk appetite for the UK & Lloyd’s Market in conjunction with the global chief underwriting officer, while leading the UK & Lloyd’s business unit to deliver the underwriting profitability target for the region.

• Martin Turner, chief claims officer, UK & Lloyd’s. Turner will be responsible for the day-to-day leadership of the claims handling teams, including overseeing technical expertise and local market knowledge in the region.

Hanna has extensive experience in the industry, spending more than a decade at AIG in underwriting, country management and senior distribution roles in London and across the Middle East. In 2016, he joined the AXA Group, where he worked as global head of Mid-Market and Broker Engagement. Most recently, Hanna was the global head of Broker Management at AXA XL, responsible for managing the division’s strategic broker relationships for the insurance segment.

Prato began his career as a Risk Engineering Consultant. In 1998, he became senior underwriter for Energy and managing director, Latin American Division at Zurich Global Energy. He held senior positions at Allied World Insurance and AEGIS London, before joining AXA XL (then Catlin) in 2008 as head of Downstream Energy, UK & Ireland. He was promoted to head of UK Energy and Regional Product leader for the UK & Ireland in 2016, before being made CUO for the UK region and legal entities in September 2019.

Turner has been in the London Insurance Market for more than 30 years. He began his career in 1986 with Reinsurance Broker Alwen Hough & Johnson, before joining AXA XL (formerly Brockbank Syndicate Management) in 1988, where he has remained through various mergers and acquisitions. Turner has held a series of senior positions during that time, most recently, he was head of UK and Global Specialty Claims.

Source: AXA XL