AXA UK Commercial appoints Caroline Dunn as CUO

Caroline Dunn to join AXA UK Commercial on 1 July as Chief Underwriting Officer
She replaces David Ovenden, who announced his retirement at the end of 2025
Caroline was most recently Chief Underwriting Officer at Zurich UK

AXA UK Commercial has appointed Caroline Dunn as Chief Underwriting Officer following the announced retirement of David Ovenden, who has been in post since December 2021.

Most recently Caroline was Chief Underwriting Officer at Zurich UK and will join AXA UK Commercial on 1 July. David will stay with the business until the summer to ensure a smooth transition.

At Zurich, Caroline led underwriting strategy, with a strong focus on technical discipline, portfolio performance and sustainable growth. Prior to Zurich, she spent seven years at Lloyd’s of London in senior underwriting roles, with responsibility for underwriting oversight and performance across the Lloyd’s market business.

Caroline’s technical capability, strategic judgement, people focus and commitment to underwriting excellence will be a huge asset to our business as we continue to evolve, transform and deliver profitable growth. I am delighted to welcome her to AXA and look forward to the significant contribution I know she will make.

I am grateful to David for agreeing to stay on in the business until the summer, when we’ll formally mark his retirement.

Jon Walker, CEO at AXA UK Commercial

I’m really excited to be joining AXA at such a pivotal time. AXA has an impressive underwriting culture and a clear direction of travel. I’m looking forward to getting to know the teams and working closely together to build on the great foundations already in place. I’m passionate about underwriting excellence and transformation, and I’m excited about what we can achieve together for our customers and partners.

Caroline Dunn

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Legal notes

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.

AXA UK Commercial appoints Caroline Dunn as Chief Underwriting Officer