Guidée sets out to write “new chapter” at Axa XL Re with right-sizing complete

Axa XL Reinsurance CEO Renaud Guidée has said the right-sizing of the group’s property catastrophe book is now complete, with the reinsurance unit now embarking on a new chapter focused on sustainable growth.

Speaking to The Insurer at this year’s Rendez-Vous in Monte Carlo, Guidée said the reinsurer now had a balanced portfolio.

“There is no further right-sizing in the pipeline,” Guidée said. “We are very comfortable at this stage with our book.”

Guidée joined Axa XL in 2023, having previously served as Axa’s group chief risk officer since 2019.

Axa completed its acquisition of XL in 2018, and immediately began a prolonged effort to reduce the level of cat exposure within the business.

“Our right-sizing was mostly done in 2022 and a little bit in 2023. But that is done now and we have moved on to a new chapter,” he said.

“We now have a balanced portfolio, and it is now about sustainable growth.”

This was reflected by a strong first half of the year, with Axa XL Re enjoying double-digit growth on the back of upward price movement of 5.7 percent across its portfolio.

The reinsurance unit’s GWP rose to €1.9bn in the six-month period, compared with €1.7bn during the first half of 2023.

The reinsurance growth was driven by favourable price impacts in property and casualty, alongside volume growth in its specialty business.

The profitable performance follows speculation over a potential sale of the unit in recent years.

“I joined Axa XL more than one year ago, and am fortunate enough to work with a fantastic and talented team,” Guidée said.

“We are a people business – some of us are client-facing but all of them are client-serving.

The recipes for success remain the same. We have a fantastic pipeline of internal talent, and a very selective hiring process.”

Like many at this year’s Rendez-Vous, Guidée is optimistic about the market outlook but acknowledges the world is becoming a riskier place.

“Every line of business is currently seeing elevated risk activity. In specialty, there was the Baltimore bridge loss. In cyber, there was CrowdStrike. And in property cat, we have seen floods in unexpected places such as Dubai, just as one random example,” he said.

“The challenges around casualty and social inflation are not going away – if anything it is intensifying. We do believe casualty is an area in which it is important to be discerning.”