AXA cuts back U.S. reinsurance exposure

Paris, France-based AXA says it will withdraw from certain segments of the U.S. reinsurance market. Namely, financial guarantee reinsurance by AXA Re Finance and all life and non-life reinsurance written by AXA Corporate Solutions in the U.S. This amounts to a total of about EUR741 million (Cdn$1.2 billion) in business (based on 2001 yearend figures).Paris subsidiary AXA Re will still write U.S. reinsurance business, focused on property-catastrophe non-proportional coverage. Also, non-life primary business will continue to be written, including marine, aviation, reverse-flow and space coverage, through AXA Corporate Solutions Assurance. Run-off management will be handled through AXA Liabilities Managers.”These actions will help AXA to optimize the return of AXA Corporate Solutions activities as soon as 2003 while concentrating its reinsurance activities on markets that it considers as being the most profitable ones,” states a company release.