Insurer confirms appointment of Paul Meehan as customer experience director.

AXA has announced the appointment of Paul Meehan as Customer Experience Director, part of a raft of changes to the Executive Leadership Team.

The insurer has also unveiled plans to roll its Underwriting function into its Strategic Business Units (SBUs). In a statement the insurer said the changes would ensure the company had the structure, the customer experience and the business partnerships to deliver outstanding customer service and profitability despite challenging market conditions.

Meehan, the former co-chief of broker arm Venture Preference, will take up the position in September reporting directly to UK chief, Philippe Maso. AXA said that the Customer Experience Director, a newly created role, would take a holistic view of AXA Insurance and work with every department to help shape the business.

Carol Richmond and the Customer & Community team as well as Ian Ormerod, Director of New Markets Trading Relationships, will now report directly to Meehan.

In a related move the insurer has realigned its SBUs to boost profitability and strategic focus. The statement said: "Eighteen months ago AXA introduced four SBUs to focus our operations on our customers, to enhance profitability and increase accountability. We followed AXA’s principles of decentralising when appropriate, maintaining a strong governance framework, and keeping central functions when it is the right thing to do.

"In line with these principles, our underwriting function will move into the SBUs to give the [them] more control over the profitability of their businesses."

As a result, AXA outlined the following changes:

  • Roy Watkinson, Technical & Commercial Insurance Director, and his team will report to Anthony Middle, Managing Director of Commercial Lines Intermediary and will oversee commercial underwriting.
  • Ed Dutton will report to Gary Stott, Managing Director of Corporate Partnerships as Head of Underwriting for this SBU.
  • A Private Motor underwriting hub has been created to service both AXA Insurance and Swiftcover, reporting to Stephen Hardy, Chief Executive of Swiftcover.

Mike Keating, Anthony Middle and Gary Stott will continue to lead their SBUs, now as Managing Directors rather than General Managers and join the Executive Committee.

Guy Stouls, Managing Director Insurance, has been appointed to a role as the AXA shareholders representative in the insurer's new joint venture, Reso-Garantia, in Russia.

The statement continued: "We will continue to use the expertise and economies of scale we have in Claims with one team working across the SBUs. Claims will work to share best practice with the SBUs and the Customer Experience Director to develop our claims offering. David Williams, Managing Director of Claims, will report directly to Maso."

In a related move, Axa has made a number of appointments to its Executive Leadership Team, as follows:

  • Jean Drouffe, Finance Director for AXA Insurance
  • James Freeston, Risk & Compliance Director for AXA Insurance
  • Morgan Spillane, P&C Solution Delivery & Change Management Director
  • Corrin Kaye, who becomes Head of HR for AXA Insurance
  • Stephen Hardy, Chief Executive of Swiftcover, will lead the Direct strategy for AXA Insurance as well as having the responsibly for the Private Motor underwriting hub

The insurer added that given the growing emphasis on IT and Change, it would no longer require a Chief Operating Officer. As a result, Ian Johnson is now exploring other opportunities within AXA Group.

Peter Farr and the Strategic Opportunities & Innovation Team, currently within the COO function will now report into Waseem Malik, Head of Executive Office & Corporate Development. Axa said the move would move strategy closer to the Executive Leadership Team.

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