AXA UK&I appoints David Baker as Chief Risk Officer

David Baker, AXA UK and Ireland Chief Risk Officer

David Baker is appointed as AXA UK and Ireland Chief Risk Officer
Baker joins from Direct Line Group where he has been Director of Group Compliance since 2012
He will replace Evan Waks who is leaving AXA to pursue new challenges

AXA UK and Ireland has today announced that David Baker will join the company as Chief Risk Officer after the summer, subject to regulatory approval. He joins AXA from Direct Line Group, where he has been the Director of Group Compliance: Regulatory and Conduct Risk for the past seven years.

An economist by background, Baker has been instrumental in shaping Direct Line Group’s journey from an insurance division of the RBS Group to a standalone listed FTSE 100 insurance group, having previously also held regulatory focused roles at Prudential, the Financial Ombudsman Service and Phoenix Group.

Baker will join the AXA UK and Ireland Management Committee, replacing outgoing CRO Evan Waks. The continued importance of the insurer’s relationship with the regulator will be a significant focus of his role, as AXA moves to finalising and implementing its 'Beyond 2020' strategy.

“I am very excited to be joining AXA at this time. It is a great opportunity for me personally and I look forward to working with my colleagues across the company to help the business deliver against its ambitious plans for the rest of this year and for the future.”

—David Baker, incoming Chief Risk Officer, AXA UK and Ireland

“I am delighted that David is coming on board, bringing with him an impressive track record through his years of experience in the industry. Having held senior risk and compliance roles across the Life and General Insurance sectors, he will be a great asset to the Management Committee and to AXA UK. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Evan for his work and commitment to AXA over the past 17 years and I wish him the very best for the next stage of his career.”

—Claudio Gienal, Chief Executive, AXA UK & Ireland

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About AXA UK

AXA Insurance UK plc registered in England and Wales under registered number 078950 and authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority under Financial Conduct Authority registration number 202312. Registered office is 20 Gracechurch Street, London, EC3V 0BG.

AXA UK is part of the AXA Group, a worldwide leader in insurance and asset management, with 147,000 employees serving 94 million clients in 50 countries. In 2023, IFRS revenues amounted to Euro 102.7 billion and underlying earnings to Euro 7.6 billion. AXA had Euro 844 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2023.

In the UK & Ireland, AXA operates through a number of business units including: AXA Insurance, AXA Health and AXA Ireland. AXA UK & Ireland employs around 10,000 staff.

Important legal information and cautionary statements concerning forward-looking statements

Certain statements contained herein may be forward-looking statements including, but not limited to, statements that are predictions of or indicate future events, trends, plans, expectations or objectives. Undue reliance should not be placed on such statements because, by their nature, they are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties and can be affected by other factors that could cause AXA’s actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward looking statements. Please refer to Part 5: “Risk Factors and Risk Management” of AXA’s Universal Registration Document 2022, for a description of certain important factors, risks and uncertainties that may affect AXA’s business and / or results of operations. AXA undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any of these forward-looking statements, whether to reflect new information, future events or circumstances or otherwise, except as required by applicable laws and regulations.