AXA appoints Gordon Watson CEO of Asia

AXA announces the appointment of Gordon Watson as Chief Executive Officer of Asia, which includes Japan, and a Member of the Management Committee of the AXA Group. He will assume the role on Jan. 1, 2018 and will report to Thomas Buberl, Chief Executive Officer AXA.

“I would like to welcome Gordon to AXA and look forward to working with him to expand our Asian Markets business, a key growth generator for the AXA Group. Gordon is an experienced and energetic leader who has a strong track record of delivering results,” said Buberl.

Watson has more than 30 years of experience in the insurance industry, the majority of which was spent with AIG/AIA. From 2011 to 2017, he was Regional Chief Executive of AIA Group’s operations in Hong Kong and Macau, Australia, the Philippines, Vietnam and New Zealand. During this time, he also led the Group’s Corporate Solutions, Healthcare, Partnership, and AIA Vitality businesses.

Between 2008 and 2010, he was the Regional President for AIG Life Companies in Japan and Korea, and was also Global Executive Vice Chairman for ALICO responsible for the Japan business and overseeing 50 other countries for strategy, distribution, corporate solutions, product and marketing.

His career with AIG/AIA included several other key senior roles based out of London, New York, Nairobi, Dubai, Tokyo, Seoul and Hong Kong. He holds an MBA and is both a Fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute and the Society of Marketing.