NEW YORK, Jan. 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --AXA Equitable Life
Insurance Company today named two new members to the executive
management team – Nick Lane as head
of the Retirement Savings division and Rino
Piazzolla as head of Human Resources. Both will become
senior executive vice presidents, subject to board approval, and
will report to Mark Pearson,
recently named to become chairman and chief executive officer of
AXA Equitable effective February
11.
"With these new appointments, our top management is set and we
can turn all of our attention to aggressively executing our 2011
strategy," said Pearson, 52, who is transitioning from his role as
CEO of AXA Japan. "That strategy includes broadening and deepening
our focus on the retirement savings business, including the
individual annuity business, where we have an enviable record of
innovation. At the same time, we are also bringing a renewed
strategic focus on our life insurance business, which we expect to
be a significant contributor to our growth targets in 2011 and
beyond."
Lane's appointment marks his return to AXA Equitable from the
parent company in Paris, where he
has served as head of AXA Group Strategy since 2008. Prior to his
stint in Paris, he was a director
of AXA Advisors, LLC and vice chairman of AXA Network, LLC, AXA
Equitable's retail broker dealer and insurance general agency,
respectively. In AXA's asset management business, Lane, 37, has
played a key role as a member of the boards that oversee
AllianceBernstein, AXA Investment Managers and AXA Private Equity.
Previously, Lane was a leader in the sales and marketing practice
of the strategic consulting firm McKinsey & Co. He holds a B.A.
from Princeton University and an M.B.A.
from Harvard Business School and served
as a captain in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Lane succeeds retiring senior executive vice president
James Shepherdson, 58, who will
become chairman emeritus of AXA Distributors, LLC, AXA Equitable's
wholesale broker dealer, and serve as an advisor to Pearson.
Shepherdson is also expected to join the board of AXA Equitable
later this year as a non-executive director. Andrew McMahon, 43, AXA Equitable's president
and the head of its Financial Protection & Wealth Management
division, will also join the AXA Equitable board.
Piazzolla, 57, most recently was the head of Human Resources in
Italy for UniCredit. Before
joining UniCredit in 2005, he held various human resources
management positions in the U.S. and abroad at General Electric
Co., PepsiCo and S.C. Johnson Wax. He succeeds Jennifer Blevins, 53, who has decided to retire
after nine years as the company's Chief Human Resources Officer,
during which she played a significant role in the development and
launch of a number of global HR initiatives.
Lane is expected to join AXA Equitable in February, and
Piazzolla is expected to join soon thereafter once he has secured
the necessary authorizations. As a result of these changes, the AXA
Equitable Executive Committee will consist of Pearson, McMahon,
Lane and Piazzolla, along with senior executive vice presidents
Richard Dziadzio, 47, chief
financial officer, and Richard
Silver, 55, chief administrative officer and chief legal
officer.
About AXA Equitable
In business since 1859, AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company
(NY, NY) is a leading financial protection company and one of the
nation's premier providers of life insurance and annuity products,
as well as investment products and services through its affiliates,
including, AXA Advisors, LLC. The company's products and services
are distributed to individuals and business owners through its
retail distribution channel, AXA Advisors and to the financial
services market through its wholesale distribution channel, AXA
Distributors, LLC.
AXA Equitable, a subsidiary of AXA Financial, Inc., is part of
the global AXA Group, a worldwide leader in financial protection
strategies and wealth management. "AXA Group" refers to AXA, a
French holding company for an international group of insurance and
financial services companies together with its direct and indirect
consolidated subsidiaries. For more information, visit
www.axa-equitable.com.
SOURCE AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company