He has held various general management and chief underwriting officer roles with Gerling Global Re, Zurich Insurance Group, Aviva plc and Argo Group, where he was based in Germany, Brazil, Switzerland, London and Bermuda. Axel joins Eliot from his most recent position as Group Chief Underwriting Officer and Chairman of the Group Underwriting and Group Reinsurance Committee of Argo Group, Bermuda. He has also held a number of Board of Director positions in capitalised companies of his employers.
In this newly created position, Axel will be based in the Zurich office, led by Markus Zanola, Partner, and will support the strategic growth of the EMEA platform. In addition, Axel will work with the firm's global and regional management teams in the Bermuda, London, New York, Singapore and Zurich offices to serve the wider client base.
Commenting on the appointment Andrew Eliot, Founder and Managing Partner of Eliot Partnership said: ''We are delighted to have attracted Axel Schmidt to our business. His calibre and reach within the global insurance and reinsurance world make him a perfect addition to our expanding enterprise globally and across EMEA. With his wealth of relationships, experience and expertise across sectors, geographies and lines of business, he will help us identify the best way for our clients to build world-class business and leadership teams to match their profitable growth ambitions. We are all looking forward to working with Axel.”
Axel Schmidt added: ''I am delighted to be joining Andrew, Markus and the global team at Eliot. The business has an impressive track record as a highly specialised and professional firm with a strong and expanding client base. The company's global footprint paired with a unique culture, entrepreneurship and talent are vital to adding the necessary value to the clients' business and talent needs. I very much look forward to working with the Eliot team in taking the company's profile to the next level.''
Eliot is unique in being the only global insurance sector specialist executive search business in the world. Eliot has a wide range of clients from insurance companies, reinsurers, brokers, run-off companies, loss adjusters, insurtechs, medium-sized Specialty businesses, smaller ''boutique'' companies and entrepreneurial start-ups. Eliot works with boards, CEOs and their executive teams, including business and functional heads, to fill senior roles across the insurance, reinsurance, legacy and claims management sectors, and leads domestic and global assignments from its five offices worldwide.
