Underwriter II – Mergers & Acquisitions
London, UK
In a world of fast-paced and competitive transactional activity, professionals need every tool at their disposal in order to manage risks arising from deals, whilst facilitating execution as quickly and efficiently as possible.With both M&A and title insurance solutions becoming increasingly commonplace, now more than ever our clients need to be confident that they have a credible, experienced, and service-oriented insurance partner.
AXA XL provides transactional risk solutions for mergers and acquisitions, investments, real estate and other asset purchases and disposals and many other commercial transactions.To provide a seamless service and better respond to our clients’ needs, we have recently taken the market-leading step of bringing together our M&A and title teams under one umbrella, enabling us to provide a truly joined-up and comprehensive approach to transactional risks.
Our combined offering now encompasses a broad suite of products, each of which can be used in different ways to facilitate transactions (primarily through warranty and indemnity or title insurance) or to manage other corporate risk (through tax, contingent or litigation liability insurance).Furthermore, we have the capability to underwrite transactions globally thanks to our growing team of underwriters based across London, Paris and New York.
DISCOVER your opportunity
Our M&A practice has a great opportunity for an experienced underwriter to join their successful team and support the expansion of the practice.
As a M&A Underwriter, you will play a critical role within the team, where you will focus on assessing and quoting potential deals, underwriting the underlying transactions, processing deal documentation, managing workflow, establishing strong relationships internally and externally and acting as the critical interface between the broker/clients and AXA XL. You are expected to generate profitable premium and develop broker and client relationships, as we continue to build our underwriting capability.
What will your essential responsibilities include?
1. Managing deal workflow (including triage of enquiries) and the underwriting process across ongoing active transactions.
2. Processing and negotiating deal documentation, including NDAs and non-release letters, and liaising with our colleagues in AXA XL’s legal and compliance teams where required.
3. Drafting and submitting custom-tailored quotes for proposed policies and following up with brokers to win new business.
4. Reviewing and analysing transaction documentation, due diligence reports and disclosure documentation in order to assess submissions and identify deal risks.
5. Interacting with and supporting other team members on day-to-day business issues and throughout the underwriting process, including performing detailed analysis of issues raised on underwriting calls and in due diligence reports.
6. Negotiating and drafting insurance policy terms and language specifically addressing the risk and issues in each transaction.
7. Collaborating with and helping to instruct and supervise external legal counsel hired to represent AXA XL on each transaction.
8. Developing and cultivating relationships with M&A insurance brokers, lawyers, private equity firms, deal principals and internal AXA XL colleagues.
9. Contribution towards the running of the accounts, including monitoring and managing status/progress of accounts implementation from quote processing to policy issuance, premium collection and policy maintenance (certificates, endorsements etc.)
10. Working with our colleagues in AXA XL’s claims team to deal with policy notifications and claims.
You will report to the Head of M&A and Title, UK and Lloyd's.
SHARE your talent
We’re looking for someone who has these abilities and skills:
·Some experience of transactional liability insurance (either as a broker/underwriter or from a client or advisor perspective).
·Qualified lawyer with experience of M&A or other corporate transactional work.
·Some alternative corporate experience working in a transaction-oriented role – including:
otransaction advisory services role at an accounting firm;
oacting in an investment banking, private equity or other financial services advisory capacity;
oin-house corporate legal team; or
ointernal corporate development team at a strategic acquirer.
·Basic knowledge of transactional legal matters (ideally including nature of warranties, customary wordings, price adjustment mechanisms and measure of damages).
·Some experience of reviewing financial statements, tax issues and other commercial matters.
·Experience underwriting, procuring, broking or negotiating transactional risk or other commercial/financial lines insurance on behalf of deal clients is highly beneficial.
·Excellent written and oral communication skills.
·Negotiating skills and comfort working with legal documents.
·Interpersonal skills and ability to work collaboratively within a team environment is essential.
·Organized, reliable and able to work in a fast-paced environment with tight deadlines and deal-time pressures.
·A degree (or similar) in law, accounting, economics or business required.
FIND your future
AXA XL, the P&C and specialty risk division of AXA, is known for solving complex risks. For mid-sized companies, multinationals and even some inspirational individuals we don’t just provide re/insurance, we reinvent it.
How? By combining a comprehensive and efficient capital platform, data-driven insights, leading technology, and the best talent in an agile and inclusive workspace, empowered to deliver top client service across all our lines of business − property, casualty, professional, financial lines and specialty.
With an innovative and flexible approach to risk solutions, we partner with those who move the world forward.
Inclusion & Diversity