AXA XL announces appointments to Americas leadership team
AXA XL’s new regional structure includes the creation of three zones in the United States.
AXA XL announced its new Americas leadership team as part of the proposed changes to its insurance operating model announced in April.
The appointments will report to Joe Tocco, CEO for the Americas, and include:
- Donna Nadeau to 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. 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 to chief distribution officer. Since 2015, Peretti has led AXA XL’s North America Client and Distribution Management team. He also assumes management of the Americas Marketing function in close collaboration with the global Marketing function.
- Jim DiVirgilio as 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.
“In this new regional structure, we’re looking to simplify our operations, empower our teams in their decision-making and optimally deliver the insurance and risk management products and services our clients & brokers need. I couldn’t have picked a more skilled team to make this shift,” Tocco said in a statement.
AXA XL’s new regional structure also includes the creation of three zones in the United States — 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 as 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 as head of the Central U.S. zone, based in Chicago. Sutherland joined AXA XL in 2018 as North Central regional leader.
- 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.
- 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.
“Given the vast size of the US geographically and the insurance market here, our new zone structure gives our teams a sharper, more laser-focused area to deliver to our brokers and clients and drive our profitable growth plans in the U.S. This approach is intent on putting multiline teams closer to where our brokers and clients operate and empowers them to work together, across product lines, to more thoroughly address our clients’ insurance needs and stronger alignment with our distribution partners; better client experience, local,” Tocco said in a statement.
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