AXA XL has promoted Paul Gardner to head of the underwriter’s political risk, credit and bond (PRCB) division in Asia.
Gardner, a former longtime banker who joined the insurer as a senior underwriter in 2024 after an “early retirement from the world of finance”, started in the new role on October 1.
He is based in Singapore and reports to Todd Wilhelm, head of specialty for Asia at AXA XL.
As part of the PRCB team, “I discovered a huge variety of transactions and rewarding challenges, together with a great team spirit and culture,” Gardner told GTR. “When the opportunity arose to lead, it was an offer I couldn’t refuse.”
Gardner brings more than 35 years of experience in structured finance and cross-border solutions, with a career spanning project finance, commodity finance, tax, leasing and export credit agencies, as well as advisory and workout solutions.
Earlier in his career, he held structured trade and project finance roles at Bank of America in New York and San Francisco, and led ABN AMRO’s export, project and commodity finance team in Asia.
Gardner went on to become managing director and head of structured trade, commodity and export finance at Deutsche Bank in Singapore between 2010 and 2013.
He later joined Westpac for seven years, where he served as global head of structured commodity finance before becoming head of corporate and institutional sales for Asia.
Gardner left finance in 2020 to teach business and economics at the British International School of Marbella in Spain.
“But I missed Singapore and the excitement of the world of finance,” he said. “So in 2024 it was off to Singapore again, where I received an opportunity from AXA XL.”
In his new role, Gardner will lead a team that is “involved in insuring short-term trade flows through to 20-plus-year renewable energy transactions”, also working with export credit agencies and multilaterals, “bringing additional liquidity to development projects”.
“AXA plays a vital role in supporting the transition to renewable energy and our customers across the renewable energy value chain,” he added. “We enhance the liquidity that keeps the wheels of trade turning.”
Gardner replaces Jack Hullah, who is heading to global specialty re/insurer Canopius to become its new head of credit and political risk for the Asia-Pacific region.
