Mike Kellard, the chief executive and founder of Axa Wealth, is to leave the company once the Phoenix group has completed its acquisition.
Back in May, French insurer Axa revealed it had agreed to sell its British investment, pensions and protection businesses for £375m as it looked to pull out of the UK insurance market.
The sale of the business, which is due to be complete by the end of this year, is expected to add an extra £12.3bn of assets to the Phoenix book and 910,000 policies.
Chief executive of Phoenix Life Andy Moss told FTAdviser a “large chunk” of the Axa Wealth business will no longer accept new customers once the deal is completed.
Mr Kellard formed Axa Wealth back in 2010 following the sale of Axa’s life company to Resolution, but the business struggled to deliver sustainable profits.
This prompted Axa to sell its insurance-related business to Phoenix, while its platform offering Elevate is to be taken over by Standard Life.
However, Axa’s multi-manager investment arm, Architas, which manages £20bn in assets, will remain part of the company’s offering going forward.
In a statement, Axa said: “From 2010, Mike and his team have made a significant contribution to the business, leading a strategy that saw its assets triple in the space of five years, now standing at nearly £50bn.”
