Today we are pleased to announce the appointment of two new board members.
Claudio Gienal, CEO, AXA UK & Ireland and Alan Rubenstein, chairman of NHBC, joined the board on 11 March 2021. Both will contribute their extensive expertise in commercial insurance to Pool Re at a key time for the mutual as it navigates the outcomes of the ONS classification and the HM Treasury Review. AXA UK & Ireland is a member of Pool Re.
Alan Rubenstein will also serve as chair of the Investment Committee, upon Alan Brown’s retirement after more than 12 years’ service, following the conclusion of the company’s AGM in June.
Julian Enoizi, Pool Re chief executive, said:
“It gives me great pleasure to welcome Claudio and Alan to the Pool Re board. Their combined experience will be of huge benefit to us as we chart the future direction of Pool Re. Our board members are vital as part of stimulating further innovative thinking within the organisation and the industry as we continue to meet the challenges of the evolving terrorism threat together as well as the emergence of other systemic risks. I very much look forward to working with Claudio and Alan. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Alan Brown for his many years of dedicated service to our board.”
Details of the full board membership can be found on Pool Re’s website: www.poolre.co.uk/our-people/
Claudio Gienal, CEO, AXA UK & Ireland
Claudio became chief executive officer in September 2018, with responsibility for oversight of all AXA’s business activities in the UK and Ireland. He previously served as chief strategic officer for the AXA Group.
A Swiss national, he began his career as a management consultant, working for Accenture and later McKinsey & Company. He entered the insurance industry in 2008 by joining Zurich, where he held a number of senior positions including chief strategy officer for Zurich Group and CEO of the Zurich Life Insurance Company.
Claudio has a master’s degree in environmental engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich and he speaks five languages. In addition to his role at AXA, he’ is vice chair of the board for the Swiss insurance start-up JAROWA and is a member of the Advisory Board for the AXA Research Fund. He also attends and is a member of the University of Oxford Vice-Chancellor’s Circle, as part of his work with the AXA Research Fund.
Alan Rubenstein, chairman of the board, NHBC
Alan, who is chair of the board of NHBC (the leading warranty and insurance provider for new homes in the UK), has over thirty years’ experience in pensions, insurance, asset management and investment banking. He was chief executive of the Pension Protection Fund between 2009 and 2018, protecting the pension entitlements of approximately 11 million members of Defined Benefit Schemes in the UK. Alan is also a non executive director at esure Group plc and a trustee director and chair of the Investment Sub-committee for the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme.