Management Changes in Japan - Asia Pacific
April 25 2008 - 4:17AM
PR Newswire (US)
- Mark Pearson to become President & CEO of AXA Life Japan and
AXA Japan Holding PARIS, April 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
Following the decision by Paul Sampson to resign from his current
duties as President and CEO of AXA Life Japan and AXA Japan Holding
to rejoin his family in Australia, AXA announces a management
changes in the AXA Japan - Asia Pacific Region. -- Paul Sampson
(aged 51) will resign from his current positions in Japan effective
June 30, 2008 and will relocate to Australia. AXA is pleased that
Paul has agreed to continue to serve as a non-executive on the
Board of AXA Asia Pacific Holdings. -- Mark Pearson (aged 49),
currently CEO of AXA Asia Life -- the regional platform for life
insurance in Asia (ex-Japan) -- will subsequently become President
& CEO of AXA Life Japan and AXA Japan Holding, replacing of
Paul Sampson in these roles. -- This change will not slow the
successful execution of Ambition J, AXA's strategic initiative to
continue to outperform its competitors in the Japanese market. --
The appointment of a new CEO of AXA Asia Life will be announced in
due course. "I have enjoyed immensely my career with AXA, but after
being away from Australia for so long I am now looking forward to
being with my family and exploring new opportunities there," Paul
Sampson said. "We all thank Paul for his commitment to AXA Group
and to AXA's insurance operations in Japan since 2000. During this
time he played a key role in the integration and successful
turnaround of the Japanese operations where he led many operational
and strategic initiatives. We understand the family reasons why he
wishes to return home to Australia after 12 years. We are fortunate
to have a strong set of experienced leaders at AXA and we are
convinced that Mark Pearson will excel in his new role in Japan.
His recognized leadership skills as well as his thorough knowledge
of the challenges our business is facing to adequately serve our
customers will prove essential to continue the positive
developments of our Japanese operations," said John Dacey, Group
Regional CEO for Japan Asia Pacific Region. Mark Pearson -- short
biography: Mark Pearson, 49, joined the AXA Group in 1995 when AXA
acquired a controlling interest in National Mutual (today AXA Asia
Pacific Holdings). He was then CEO of National Mutual Asia, and
became thanks to this operation CEO of AXA China Region, AXA-based
subsidiary in Hong Kong. In 2001, he was appointed CEO of AXA Asia
Life, the platform of AXA life activities in Asia. Mark Pearson had
previously spent more than 20 years in the insurance sector,
assuming many senior manager positions at National Mutual and
Friends Provident. This press release is available on the AXA Group
web site http://www.axa.com/ About AXA AXA Group is a worldwide
leader in Financial Protection. AXA's operations are diverse
geographically, with major operations in Europe, North America and
the Asia/Pacific area. Full year 2007 IFRS revenues amounted to
Euro 94 billion and adjusted earnings to Euro 6,138 million. The
AXA ordinary share is listed on compartment A of Euronext Paris
under the ticker symbol CS (ISIN FR0000120628 - Bloomberg: CS FP -
Reuters: AXAF.PA). The American Depository Share is also listed on
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otherwise. DATASOURCE: AXA Group CONTACT: AXA Investor Relations,
Etienne Bouas-Laurent, +33-1-40-75-46-85, or Paul-Antoine
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