AXA XL has set up an exclusive business unit for prevention, which reflects the increasing significance of risk mitigation and services in the commercial as well as the speciality insurance market.
The new unit is AXA XL’s fifth business unit, joining Americas, APAC & Europe, UK & Lloyd’s and Reinsurance, and puts prevention and risk insight as well as the client relationship right at the heart of its strategy.
Exclusive Business Unit for Prevention to grow risk services
The unit, which is headed by Libby Benet, who is the current global chief underwriting officer of the company, is aimed at accelerating the growth and scope of AXA XL’s risk consulting capabilities along with prevention services.
The goal is to create solutions which assist companies in coping with a variety of intricate and changing risks, such as climate-related risks, cyber risks, supply chain disruption, and operational resilience issues.
The 2025 Future Risks Report from AXA demonstrates that 86% of the experts who were interviewed said that the biggest worrying risks could be mitigated, at least partly, by taking preventative measures. As risks become more intricate and interrelated, prevention is becoming increasingly considered by large corporates and risk managers as an essential tool to foresee and control risk exposures, as opposed to depending solely on traditional indemnity coverage.
Scott Gunter, CEO of AXA XL, says that “prevention must be at the heart of how we support our clients. That is why we are making services a core part of our offering. The launch of this business unit marks an important step. By expanding our services capabilities, we are strengthening how we support our clients and positioning AXA XL for the future.”
Managing intricate and systemic risks
The strategic move comes as carriers that operate across both the commercial and speciality markets keep investing in loss mitigation, real-time risk tracking, and value-added services as a way of distinguishing and improving portfolio results.
Prevention and data-driven risk management have grown into key themes for the AXA Group in recent years. The group posted growth in commercial lines as well as an improving combined ratio, helped by tighter underwriting discipline along with risk selection.
The establishment of Exclusive Business Unit for Prevention suggests that AXA XL strives to further enhance not solely rate and capacity management but also by minimising loss severity and frequency by way of risk engineering and advisory support. In execution, this could also mean more integrated service offerings for big and multinational clients, which include sensor-based monitoring, modelling of natural catastrophe exposures and improved advisory services involving cyber and supply chain as well as operational resilience.
AXA is also bringing to the fore digital prevention tools throughout its commercial portfolio. Its work on global B2B risk management as well as prevention platforms hints at a broader approach of integrating analytics into risk management programmes for clients.
AXA XL’s new prevention unit appears poised to be a key link for these capabilities in the broad corporate and speciality end of the market.
Benet to head the new division
Benet joined AXA XL in 2020 as chief underwriting officer, cyber, and was designated global chief underwriting officer in 2022. Before AXA XL she was in charge of her own consultancy and was holding senior positions at Beazley, General Insurance as well as Zurich.
Her background in cyber underwriting is notably relevant as cyber continues to be one of the most closely monitored fields for capability, pricing, and wordings as well as claims trends.
Demand for cover has gone up, but so too has the need for more aggressive, prevention-led assistance from insurers. Ransomware and data breaches as well as the use of artificial intelligence are all having an impact on the risk landscape.
Benet says that “Our clients are looking for more than risk transfer – they want partners who can help them anticipate, prevent and mitigate risk. This business unit allows us to build on what we already do well, deepen our engagement with clients, and better integrate prevention and risk insights into how we serve them globally.”