AXA UK veteran Dougie Barnett (pictured) is retiring, following a career spanning more than four decades across underwriting, risk management and loss prevention.
Barnett most recently served as the company's director of mid-market and customer risk management. He began his insurance career in 1982 with Sun Alliance's underwriting team in Glasgow. Five years later, he moved to New Zealand Insurance, where he specialised in risk management.
Early challenges
Barnett joined AXA UK in July 2001 as a risk surveyor in Glasgow and was promoted later that year to UK property risk technical manager. One of his earliest and most significant challenges in the role came in the aftermath of the collapse of Independent Insurance, which triggered a severe capacity shortage in the food manufacturing sector. Barnett led AXA UK’s response, developing a structured risk matrix that enabled the insurer to re-enter the market and support brokers placing complex food sector risks at a time of widespread disruption.
Barnett also represented AXA UK on a number of Association of British Insurers (ABI) strategic programmes. Through this work, he engaged with government departments and regulators on issues including the use of composite panels in food risks, as well as the broader economic impact of fire and flood losses and their knock-on effects on mortgage availability and property lending.
Building partnerships
In 2004, Barnett launched AXA UK's first building valuation service in partnership with Cunningham Lindsay, responding to persistent underinsurance issues in larger commercial property portfolios. He was promoted to lead AXA UK's risk management team in 2006, where he oversaw the development of technical standards and broker-facing risk support.
In later years, Barnett established the company's global loss prevention board and helped develop the insurer's approach to emerging risks, including green buildings, sustainability-related property exposures, electric vehicles and sustainable transport. He also became a founder member of the AXA Group Global Risk Management Board, contributing to global strategy, policy development and talent programmes across Europe and Asia.
Barnett also served as a regular media spokesperson for AXA UK, providing industry commentary across trade and national outlets on property risk, loss prevention and emerging risk issues.
