AXA XL has appointed Paul Greensmith as chief executive officer of its legal entities, Catlin Underwriting Agencies Ltd and XL Catlin Insurance Company UK Limited.

Greensmith takes over the role of Paul Jardine, who is due to leave XL Catlin later this year. In his new position, Greensmith will be in charge of developing the strategy of the two operations and helping to redefine the activities of AXA XL in the UK.

Prior to his appointment, Greensmith was UK country leader and director of London Market Whole for Catlin. He first joined the firm in 2014 as co-chief underwriting officer for the firm’s London underwriting hub. Prior to that he started his career as a property underwriter at RSA in 1997, where he later became group strategy manager. He also held managerial roles at Lloyds’s strategy and planning department and at RSA’s UK commercial division strategy & marketing and multinational & specialty lines division.

“Paul has a proven track record and the ability to balance both the long-term strategic view with the day-to-day requirements needed to fulfil the role of CEO for these entities,” AXA XL client and country management chief executive Kelly Lyles said.