AXA XL secures construction and engineering head

AXA XL has announced the appointment of Francesca De Rosa (pictured) as head of construction and engineering, reinsurance, effective June 1.

In her new role, De Rosa will lead AXA XL’s construction and engineering treaty and facultative portfolio for international and US clients. She succeeds Toni Vukadinovic in the role. De Rosa will be based in Zurich.

“We would like to thank Toni for his valuable contributions to the business and wish him well for the future,” said Bertrand Romagne, AXA XL chief executive for Europe and chief underwriting officer for property and casualty, reinsurance.

De Rosa has more than 15 years of underwriting experience in downstream energy, property and engineering in both insurance and reinsurance across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America. Most recently, she served as AXA XL deputy head of construction/engineering treaty and facultative and underwriting manager. She has held a variety of progressively senior roles since joining the company in 2011. Prior to joining AXA XL, De Rosa held underwriting positions at companies including Infrassure, Munich Re Italia Spa, and Zurich Insurance Company.

De Rosa is a member of the executive committee of the International Association of Engineering Insurance and leader of the Statistics Permanent Working Group.

“The construction industry has faced huge disruption due to the global pandemic,” Romagne said. “Delays to projects, shortages of materials and a lack of skilled workers has brought and continues to bring new challenges to this industry. Ensuring we remain at the forefront of these evolving risks is key to us delivering on our ‘payer to partner’ strategy for our clients. Having the right talent in place is central to our strategy, and I believe that Francesca’s strong underwriting experience and knowledge positions her ideally to deliver for our clients.”