Axis Re CEO Jay Nichols resigns; claims 'good time for transition'

Jay Nichols has resigned from his position of CEO of AXIS Re, a subsidiary of Bermuda-based AXIS Capital Holdings. He has been replaced by Jan Ekberg on interim basis.

Nichols will remain with the company in a transitional role until March 31. Prior to joining Axis in April 2012, he served as the president of RenaissanceRe Ventures.

Ekberg, who currently serves as the president and chief underwriting officer of AXIS Re Europe, will report directly to AXIS Capital president and CEO Albert Benchimol in the role.

Ekberg has more than 40 years of re/insurance industry experience. He joined AXIS Re Europe in 2004 shortly after its formation.

Nichols said: "I've very deeply enjoyed working with my team, my colleagues across AXIS, and being a part of the company's leadership. While there is still more work to be done, now is a good time for a transition and I leave with the confidence that AXIS Re is well-positioned to succeed and in very capable hands."

"When I joined AXIS Re, we set a plan to profitably grow the reinsurance business, improve our analytical capabilities and expand into strategic capital partnerships to match the right risk with the right capital. I am grateful for what we have accomplished in all areas of the reinsurance business and I have been honoured to lead such a talented and committed group for the past five years.

Benchimol commented: "On behalf of AXIS, we would like to thank Jay for all he has done for our company. When Jay joined AXIS, we introduced a plan to strengthen our reinsurance business and broaden our risk-funding sources through high-quality partnerships.

"Over the past five years we have made significant progress and AXIS Re is a global reinsurance leader, well-positioned against the backdrop of a structural shift in the reinsurance industry. We have also established AXIS as a strategic partner to respected third party capital providers. With this solid foundation in place, Jay has decided that he would like to leave to take on new challenges. We are deeply appreciative of Jay’s leadership and wish him the absolute best."

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