People Moves: AXA XL Reinsurance Promotes Longbottom and Pedro; Matthias Appointed Global Head of Zurich Resilience Solutions, Succeeding De Nil
This edition of International People Moves details appointments at AXA XL Reinsurance and Zurich Insurance Group.
A summary of these new hires follows here.
AXA XL Reinsurance Promotes Longbottom and Pedro
AXA XL Reinsurance announced it has promoted Julian Longbottom to global head of Marine & Energy, Reinsurance, and Jamie Pedro to head of Specialty, Reinsurance, Bermuda, effective January 1, 2026.
Longbottom will lead AXA XL Reinsurance’s Marine & Energy business and will be responsible for developing and implementing the marine & energy reinsurance strategy globally. Longbottom has over 10 years at AXA XL, and brings sector expertise in growth, client solutions, and strategic development, including expanding AXA XL’s Japanese portfolio.
Pedro becomes the global product lead for whole account reinsurance risks and will collaborate with Longbottom to manage the Bermuda Marine & Energy reinsurance risks as well as continuing to work closely with core clients across the reinsurance Property portfolio. Pedro has 15 years’ experience working in the Bermuda Property reinsurance division at AXA XL.
AXA XL, the property/casualty and specialty risk division of AXA, provides insurance and risk management products and services for mid-sized companies through to large multinationals, and reinsurance solutions to insurance companies globally.
Matthias Appointed Global Head of Zurich Resilience Solutions, Succeeding De Nil
Zurich Insurance Group has appointed Robin Matthias as global head of Zurich Resilience Solutions, effective March 1, 2026. Matthias succeeds Dirk De Nil, who is retiring after a distinguished 35-year career in insurance, including 17 years at Zurich.
Matthias brings a strong consultancy background to the role, having worked at McKinsey for nearly 20 years, including 10 as partner, advising customers from the financial services industry and major European insurers. Most recently, he was senior vice president & client executive at State Street Bank International, managing strategic customer relationships in EMEA and driving growth across complex portfolios.
In his new role, Matthias will lead over 1,000 risk experts worldwide. He will be based in Zurich and report to Sierra Signorelli, CEO U.S. and Commercial Insurance.
“Zurich Resilience Solutions is pivotal to our customer proposition, as we remain focused on working with our customers to prevent and mitigate traditional as well as emerging risks in this evolving and complex global risk environment,” commented Signorelli.
Signorelli went on to thank De Nil for being instrumental in shaping Zurich Resilience Solutions into one of Zurich’s fastest-growing businesses and a strategic cornerstone. “Under his guidance, the business has delivered double-digit growth, expanded its market presence, and evolved with a renewed focus on advisory services and sales development. I am deeply grateful for Dirk’s energy, collaboration and many contributions to Zurich.”
With more than 1,000 risk experts, Zurich Resilience Solutions offers services that combine risk advisory and insights to help corporate customers proactively manage their risks and to offer risk management, prevention and mitigation solutions.