AXA UK senior exec departs amid major reshuffle at the insurer

The UK chief executive of AXA intermediated and direct will leave the business with immediate effect and not be replaced, the company has revealed. The revelation comes alongside a major management overhaul in the business.

Brendan McCafferty appears to have been the main casualty of a restructuring of the top management of AXA’s UK insurance business. AXA admitted that McCafferty arrived in the business at “a tough time with several unexpected issues hitting the insurance industry”.

As part of a wider restructuring, the managing directors of AXA Direct and AXA Commercial Intermediary (Gareth Howell and Jon Walker) have been promoted to the AXA Insurance board. Howell assumes the role of executive managing director of AXA Retail and Walker assumes the role of executive managing director of AXA Commercial.

Laurent Matras, MD of personal intermediary and corporate partners, and David Williams, technical director, will report to Howell and Walker respectively.

AXA Insurance CFO Waseem Malik will succeed Chris Voller in April 2018 and will join the AXA Insurance Board. The current claims director Voller is set to retire at the end of March after a 37-year career at the company.

AXA said the changes will improve its operational focus and support its growth strategy.

“As AXA grows in size and complexity, it is vital that we do not lose sight of why we are here – to deliver the protection and advice that our customers require. By 2020, we will be a significantly larger business than we were in 2010 and we need to remain as agile and responsive as possible as we manage that growth," said Amanda Blanc, Group CEO, AXA UK & Ireland.

“ Brendan came in at a tough time with several unexpected issues hitting the insurance industry almost simultaneously but he and the team managed them effectively. He leaves the business in good shape having weathered the storms of 2017," Blanc added. “I want to thank him sincerely for all his hard work and for the incredibly professional manner in which he has accepted the circumstances of his departure."

The company also stated that it wants to bring clarity to its reporting lines to streamline decision-making.

Blanc said: “I am convinced that by reducing layers of management and dual reporting lines we will deliver faster, more effective decision making. The priority should never be satisfying internal requirements which is why we have taken this sensible but difficult decision to simplify the management structure of AXA Insurance."

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