Dual hire for AXA XL's group captives business in the Americas

AXA XL's primary casualty business has appointed Mark Benz and Joseph Davina to lead the newly created group captives unit. Based in New York, they will report to Chris Kopser, president and CUO primary casualty, Americas.

As head of group captives for primary casualty, Mr. Benz's  main responsibility is to lead the group captive portfolio including oversight of the underwriting, operations, distribution and overall performance of the unit.

Mr. Davina, who takes on the role of underwriting manager for the unit is charged with managing the day-to-day underwriting of the team and will focus on maximizing the underwriting and operations expertise within both casualty and the group captive business.

Mr. Kopser said "As we continue to grow and diversify our US Risk Management portfolio, we see great opportunity in underwriting open broker multi-line group captives. Mark and Joe's combined experience in the captives space will be an exceptional asset to the broader primary casualty and captives teams who are currently supporting our growing list of clients in the space."

Steve Bauman, global programs and captives director, Americas added "The new unit and appointments recognize AXA XL's continued support for our clients who desire utilization of captive insurance companies and further enhances our leadership in the captive industry."

Mr. Benz joins AXA XL from AIG where they most recently served as head of captive solutions. He brings nearly two decades of experience leading operations across a variety of sectors including transportation, energy insurance and captives solutions.

With sixteen years in the insurance industry, Mr. Davina has lead the captives and multinational underwriting teams and has served as lead underwriter for energy and casualty lines at AIG.

AXA XL's  Primary Casualty insurance team provides global primary insurance programs for US, Canadian and global companies, designing casualty programs that fit customers' operations and footprint. Available coverages for multinational businesses include general liability, excess commercial auto, foreign voluntary workers compensation and employers' liability.