Jay Nichols has resigned as chief executive officer of Axis Re “to take on new challenges”.

He will remain with the Bermudian reinsurer in a “transitional role” until the end of March, the company announced today.

Jan Ekberg, Axis Re Europe president and chief underwriting officer, has been named as Nichols’ successor on an interim basis. Mr Ekberg has been with the company since 2004.

Axis Re is the reinsurance operation of Axis Capital Holdings.

Mr Nichols said: “When I joined Axis Re, we set a plan to profitably grow the reinsurance business, improve our analytical capabilities and expand into strategic capital partnerships to match the right risk with the right capital.

“I am grateful for what we have accomplished in all areas of the reinsurance business and I have been honoured to lead such a talented and committed group for the past five years.

“I’ve very deeply enjoyed working with my team, my colleagues across Axis, and being a part of the company’s leadership.”

Mr Nichols joined Axis in 2012 to take the reinsurance CEO role. He joined the company after a 15-year stint with fellow Bermudian firm RenaissanceRe, where he held several senior roles, most recently as head of the firm’s Ventures division.

Albert Benchimol, CEO of Axis Capital, said: “When Jay joined Axis, we introduced a plan to strengthen our reinsurance business and broaden our risk-funding sources through high-quality partnerships. Over the past five years we have made significant progress and Axis Re is a global reinsurance leader, well-positioned against the backdrop of a structural shift in the reinsurance industry.

“We have also established Axis as a strategic partner to respected third-party capital providers. With this solid foundation in place, Jay has decided that he would like to leave to take on new challenges. We are deeply appreciative of Jay’s leadership and wish him the absolute best.”

Mr Ekberg has more than 40 years of re/insurance industry experience and joined Axis Re Europe in 2004 shortly after its formation.

During his time at Axis, he has led the property risk team and the engineering team. Before joining Axis, Mr Ekberg served in various underwriting and management positions at Nordisk Re in Copenhagen, Employers Re and GE Frankona in Munich.