The AXA Group announced today the appointment of Jean-Laurent Granier as CEO of the Mediterranean-Latin America Region (MedLA), which encompasses AXA’s operations in Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Turkey, Morocco, Mexico, the Gulf countries and Lebanon, effective January 1st, 2010.
He will succeed Jean-Raymond Abat, who is retiring from the AXA Group. Jean-Laurent Granier will become a member of the Group’s Executive Committee from this date.
“AXA’s Management Board joins me to warmly thank Jean-Raymond Abat for his commitment and his contribution to the growth of AXA. He has successfully built our business platform in the Mediterranean Region since 2003, recently achieving the integration of Winterthur in Spain and AXA Seguros’ operations1 in Mexico” said Henri de Castries, Chairman of the Management Board of AXA.
“I am confident that Jean-Laurent, after successfully completing major projects at AXA France and developing our business in personal lines, will be able to build on Jean-Raymond’s achievements, and I welcome him to the Group’s executive committee on behalf of our entire team”.
With revenues of Euro 11 billion in 2008, the MedLA region accounts for 12% of AXA Group revenues. Today, 13,000 employees provide Life & Savings and Property & Casualty products, services and advice to more than 15 million clients across the region.
Since its foundation in 2003 under the management of Jean-Raymond Abat, the MedLA region has grown its underlying earnings four-fold (to Euro 665 million in 2008) while significantly improving its clients’ satisfaction2, notably thanks to a growing engagement of its employees3.
Jean-Laurent Granier joined UAP in 1990 until its merger with AXA in 1997. He worked in various positions at AXA France, where he was appointed head of Life Insurance in 2000 and CEO of AXA particuliers/professionnels in 2002.
Jean-Laurent Granier is a graduate of Ecole Polytechnique and ENSAE and is a member of the Institut des Actuaires Français (French Institute of Actuaries).
Jean-Raymond Abat spent most of his career with UAP, until its merger with AXA in 1997, when he was appointed CEO of AXA Seguros in Spain. In 2002, he added Portugal and South America to his portfolio. Since 2003, he has been CEO of the Mediterranean-Latin America region.
