AXIS Re plots path to top 10

AXIS Re plans to fundamentally change its offering by becoming more client-focused, offering bespoke, structured, reinsurance deals and expanding its footprint in Asia. By doing this, and making other changes, it is targeting becoming a top 10 reinsurer, Steve Arora, chief executive of AXIS Re, told Monte Carlo Today.

Arora said that, since joining the business in January from Swiss Re, he had conducted an extensive fact-finding exercise to establish what clients wanted and what its employees thought.

“The message I can now give is that we are changing into a new AXIS Re,” he said. “The industry can expect more from us.”

He said the firm would listen more to clients and be “bolder” in its approach to the products it offers. A nod to this approach was unveiled earlier this year when it launched AXIS Re Strategic Partners, which is appointing dedicated sales executives to focus on its top relationships and their requirements.

The new unit this week unveiled three new strategic account executives for EMEA, including Herndon Stokes, who joins from Munich Re where he was executive manager, global accounts. Simon Stirnemann and Juan Manuel Martín Leon were promoted internally.

Arora now wants to build out the company’s capability to offer customised, structured reinsurance solutions for its clients.

“There is a shrinking need for commoditised business,” he said.

Arora is targeting growth in Asia, where he feels the company is underweight. It will start by targeting the more mature markets of Australia and Japan and run its operations in the region out of Singapore. It is seeking hires in this region, he said.

AXIS also plans to expand the capabilities of its Lloyd’s platform, which it took on board when it acquired Novae Group.

“Lloyd’s is a great platform to operate from; we want to write more London Market business and participate in this market in a more meaningful way,” he said.

“We are looking at this process with a five-year horizon,” Arora explained. “In that time, we want to rise to the top of our peer group.

“We will measure ourselves by our profitability and the satisfaction of our clients but we are triggering a movement and instigating real change. We will not set superficial targets, but that should also mean securing a top 10 position in the market.”

Arora added that he believes the industry is too preoccupied with its short-term pricing equilibrium based on supply and demand. He said that bemoaning the fact that there is too much capital in the industry misses the point that a strong and well capitalised reinsurance industry is a good thing.

“Consider the opposite scenario of not having enough capital,” he said. “We should be happy that there is so much capital available.”

He added that, long term, there are many reasons for the industry to be optimistic. He said the economy is growing, which would lead to more demand; the protection gap is widening; geopolitical uncertainty will translate into risk; and technology will generate new risks.

“Overall our prospects are very healthy,” he said. “There are so many ways in which we can look forward to strong growth.”