AXA XL has announced the appointment of David Brooks to the new role of chief underwriting officer, programs and delegated arrangements for the Americas, effective June 1. The appointment supports AXA XL’s American program insurance business. Brooks will report to Donna Nadeau, AXA XL chief underwriting officer for the Americas.
“The program insurance market is a center for innovation, creativity, and specialization,” Nadeau said. “It continues to mature and is becoming a home to some of the most experienced underwriting talent in the industry. With David’s new role, we’re putting some of our most experienced talent to work so that we can best support our program partners’ growth strategies. David brings nearly 40 years of industry experience as an underwriter, broker, and more recently as a risk manager to his new role.”
The latest survey by the Target Markets Program Administrators Association found that US program premium volume grew 32.8% to $53.8 billion between 2018 and 2020, with momentum expected to continue, AXA XL said. That makes program business the fastest-growing P&C sector.
Brooks currently serves as AXA XL’s chief risk officer for the Americas. He joined AXA XL in 1998 to help with the initial launch of its aerospace operation. Since then, he has held numerous roles in underwriting, management and head of ceded re. Prior to joining AXA XL, Brooks spent 16 years working in the insurance brokerage community.
“I am excited to work with David as he aligns strategy and operational synergies across multiple delegated businesses,” said Chris Bressette, chief underwriting officer for North America P&C programs at AXA XL. “From his diverse experiences, I know he will add unique and valuable insights to our P&C space as we work together to execute profitable growth within this business model.”
“AXA XL has a long history of supporting niche program business with partnerships that go back decades,” Brooks said. “We’re looking forward to boosting our support as growth and increasing demands of the sector become more sophisticated every day. Under Chris Bressette’s leadership, AXA XL has built a robust and growing program business.
“With our financial strength, creativity of coverage, access to multiple coverage lines, actuarial experience, analytical data science capabilities, and knowledge of regulatory issues, we have a lot to offer our program partners. We’re looking forward to extending our expertise, capacity and appetite to build more long-term program partnerships.”
