AXA XL has announced it will be making a significant investment in its SME division, with plans to double the team at Brooklyn Underwriting.
Robin Johnson, country head for AXA XL’s Australian operations, confirmed that the company is in the process of recruiting more than two dozen additional underwriters and claims staff.
“This major investment in the Brooklyn team is a testament to their tremendous hard work and success since acquisition in 2016,” said Johnson, who added that the new positions will be based across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
Speaking to Insurance Business about whether the company has any plans to expand its geographical footprint, Johnson wouldn’t rule anything out.
“Currently eastern seaboard but we visit WA and SA constantly and have a lot of brokers over there,” he said. “As a lot of our business is done via an online portal, we service brokers from all over the country.”
Johnson also noted that, while Brooklyn currently writes financial lines, casualty and hard-to-place property such as expanded polystyrene (EPS) and tropical strata, it is set to move into the cyber space.
“We’re launching what we consider to be a world class cyber product at the moment and that’ll be available on the online portal as well as via underwriters; we’re looking at bringing some of our other AXA XL specialty capabilities to Brooklyn in the coming months so watch this space,” he said.
