AXA XL has appointed new excess and surplus ("E&S") casualty product leads in the United States.
The company promoted Ankur Chokshi to head of E&S primary casualty and brokerage and binding authority and hired Kimberly Smid to lead its excess casualty E&S business. Both report to Matt O'Malley, head of AXA XL's E&S casualty business.
Commenting on the appointments, Mr. O'Malley said, "The E&S casualty market fills a critical void of coverage for many businesses that don't fit the standard insurance lines' mold. Throughout their careers, Ankur and Kim have developed considerable industry knowledge and underwriting skill for addressing these hard-to-place risks. We're pleased to be able to develop E&S underwriting talent like Ankur and continue to attract top market talent like Kim to our team. Their high level of expertise and commitment to the E&S market put our clients' most challenging liability exposures in very good hands."
Based in Chicago, Mr. Chokshi previously served as E&S's central regional vice president. He joined AXA XL in 2013 as an E&S underwriter with more than a decade of underwriting experience with positions at CoverX and Chubb. He is a graduate of the University of Hertfordshire.
Ms. Smid joined AXA XL's New York office from QBE, where she served as an E&S underwriting manager, leading the national excess casualty team. She has 13 years of industry experience underwriting umbrella and excess casualty accounts of various sizes with prior positions at CNA, Swiss Re, and AIG. Ms. Smid is a graduate of Farmingdale State College.
Learn more: www.axaxl.com.
Victoria Spears
Victoria Prussen Spears is senior vice president of Meyerowitz Communications Inc., a law firm marketing communications consulting company. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and Brooklyn Law School, Ms. Spears was an attorney at a leading New York City law firm before joining Meyerowitz Communications. She may be contacted at [email protected].