In a surprise move, the chairman and chief executive of a major global insurer has announced his resignation.
AXA SA announced Monday that CEO Henri de Castries will step down September 1. He served as the head of
AXA for 16 years.
De Castries will be replaced by Thomas Buberl, the company’s top executive in Germany. Buberl was named deputy CEO on the same day of the announcement. AXA’s previous deputy CEO, Denis Duverne, is set to serve as a nonexecutive chairman from September 1.
“I wanted a new team to present and carry out the company’s new strategic plan,” de Castries said. He also remarked that his exit was the result of a “long, rigorous and exhaustive process,” which started as far back as the fourth quarter of 2013.
“I don’t intend to move into a retirement home or start playing golf,” de Castries said when asked about what he would do after leaving the company.
The announcement of de Castries’s departure comes just three days after HSBC Holdings declared that it was looking for a new chairman, the Wall Street Journal reports.
“There is no link between the fact that I’m announcing today my departure from AXA and the fact that HSBC has started a process to renew its top management team,” de Castries pointed out.
De Castries joined HSBC’s board March 1.
De Castries joined AXA initially as part of the corporate finance division in 1989. He was later named corporate secretary in 1991. He oversaw the reorganization and merger of Compagnie du Midi with AXA.
He was then promoted to senior executive vice president for the group’s asset management, financial and real estate businesses in 1993. While senior vice president, he also oversaw the company’s operations in North America and the United Kingdom.
In 1996, he helped organize the merger between AXA and Union des Assurances de Paris. He was then appointed Chairman of The Equitable Companies, later known as AXA Financial, in 1997.
De Castries has been chairman of the company’s board since May 2000.
