Jay Nichols to depart AXIS, Ekberg to head reinsurance on interim basis

Jay Nichols has resigned from his position as CEO of AXIS Re, the reinsurance division of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited, a role that has seen him develop third-party capital strategies at the firm as it adapted to the changing market.

Nichols will remain with AXIS in a transitional role until the 31st March, and Jan Ekberg will succeed hims as Interim CEO of AXIS Re. Ekberg has been with AXIS since 2004, most recently in the role of President and Chief Underwriting Officer of AXIS Re Europe, will report directly to AXIS Capital President and Chief Executive Officer Albert Benchimol.

“On behalf of AXIS, we would like to thank Jay for all he has done for our company. When Jay joined AXIS, we introduced a plan to strengthen our reinsurance business and broaden our risk-funding sources through high-quality partnerships,” commented Benchimol on Nichols pending departure. “Over the past five years we have made significant progress and AXIS Re is a global reinsurance leader, well-positioned against the backdrop of a structural shift in the reinsurance industry. We have also established AXIS as a strategic partner to respected third party capital providers. With this solid foundation in place, Jay has decided that he would like to leave to take on new challenges. We are deeply appreciative of Jay’s leadership and wish him the absolute best.”

“When I joined AXIS Re, we set a plan to profitably grow the reinsurance business, improve our analytical capabilities and expand into strategic capital partnerships to match the right risk with the right capital. I am grateful for what we have accomplished in all areas of the reinsurance business and I have been honored to lead such a talented and committed group for the past five years,” Nichols added. “I’ve very deeply enjoyed working with my team, my colleagues across AXIS, and being a part of the Company’s leadership. While there is still more work to be done, now is a good time for a transition and I leave with the confidence that AXIS Re is well-positioned to succeed and in very capable hands.”

Ekberg has over 40 years of re/insurance market experience, over 20 of which involved managing underwriting businesses. in his time at AXIS he helped to establish AXIS Re Europe as a leading international reinsurance firm. Ekberg led the Property Risk team and the Engineering team as well while at AXIS.

Nichols has a track record for being open to and embracing alternative reinsurance capital sources, with the AXIS Ventures unit established during his tenure.

Total return reinsurance vehicle Harrington Re was also developed and launched during Nichols tenure and the re/insurer has a stated aim to further develop its strategic and third-party capital activities in the future.