AXA Equitable Names Two New Executive Vice Presidents

NEW YORK, Sept. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company announced that David O'Leary has been elected to the position of executive vice president, Financial Protection, and Robert "Bucky" Wright has been elected to the position of executive vice president, Wealth Management. The appointments were confirmed during a Board of Directors meeting.

"David and Bucky both have had stellar careers in the insurance industry with proven track records of success," said Christopher M. "Kip" Condron, chairman and CEO of AXA Equitable, and head of the global Life & Savings and Health businesses for AXA Group. "They bring the right balance of product manufacturing, wealth management and distribution experience to our Financial Protection and Wealth Management business. We value their leadership and innovation in creating and delivering products and services that help our customers build and protect their assets."

As previously announced, David O'Leary joined AXA Equitable in July as head of the Financial Protection division. He is responsible for the four major units of Financial Protection: Business Management & Operations; Product Life Cycle Management; Product Design & Manufacturing; and Distribution Management. He was most recently executive vice president and chief operating officer of American General Life Insurance Cos., a unit of American International Group. Before joining American General in 2006, Mr. O'Leary headed up the annuity business at Mass Mutual Financial Group. He reports to Andrew McMahon, president of Financial Protection and Wealth Management.

Bucky Wright is head of sales for AXA Advisors, LLC, the company's retail distribution channel. He is responsible for management oversight of AXA Advisors' 45 branch offices and nearly 6,000 financial professionals, and leads the communications, marketing and merchandising functions for the channel. He also oversees field operations as well as the training and education programs for financial professionals. Mr. Wright was named chief sales officer for AXA Advisors in 2009 after serving as divisional president for three years. He joined the company in 2004 as part of the merger with The MONY Group (MONY). Mr. Wright began his career with MONY in 1976 as a financial professional. He held a variety of field management positions throughout his tenure with the company, serving as senior vice president and chief agency officer of Retail Distribution at the time of the merger. He also reports to Mr. McMahon.

AXA Equitable also announced that H. Scott Long, Steven Rosenthal and Todd Solash have been elected to the position of senior vice president. Their appointments were also confirmed during the same board meeting.

H. Scott Long has joined AXA Equitable as a national sales manager and senior vice president in the Financial Protection division. He leads the wholesale distribution of AXA Equitable life insurance products to AXA Advisors, LLC, and is responsible for wholesale sales and business development in that channel. His responsibilities also include the management, recruiting and coaching of the company's life wholesaler team. Mr. Long was most recently a divisional sales manager for Lincoln Financial Distributors' Managing General Agent (MGA) and Financial Institution channel. Previously, he served as national sales manager of Lincoln's MGA channel, notably helping to successfully manage the company through its merger in 2006 with Jefferson Pilot Financial. Mr. Long reports to David O'Leary.

Steven Rosenthal is responsible for strategy, operations and communications for Human Resources. He joined the company in 2000 as a vice president of Finance and Administration in the Corporate Development Group. Prior to joining AXA Equitable, he held management roles at Sun Life Financial and First Charter Life Insurance. Mr. Rosenthal reports to Jennifer Blevins, executive vice president and chief human resources officer, and also serves as her chief of staff.

Todd Solash has joined the company as a senior vice president and head of its Retirement Savings Product Life Cycle Management unit. He is responsible for optimizing the value and performance of the company's in-force annuity business. Mr. Solash comes to AXA Equitable from Oliver Wyman, where he had been partner in the North American Insurance Practice since 2005. Prior to that, he worked at Jefferson National, serving in a variety of senior management roles in sales, marketing, pricing and risk management. Mr. Solash reports to James Shepherdson, president of Retirement Savings.

"Strong leadership is essential to our remaining an industry leader in providing financial advice and solutions to our customers," added Mr. Condron. "I congratulate Scott, Steven and Todd on their respective appointments to senior vice president."

About AXA Equitable

In business since 1859, AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company (NY, NY) is a leading financial protection company and one of the nation's premier providers of life insurance and annuity products, as well as investment products and services through its affiliates, including AXA Advisors, LLC. The company's products and services are distributed to individuals and business owners through its retail distribution channel, AXA Advisors and to the financial services market through its wholesale distribution channel, AXA Distributors, LLC.

AXA Equitable, a subsidiary of AXA Financial, Inc., is part of the global AXA Group, a worldwide leader in financial protection strategies and wealth management. "AXA Group" refers to AXA, a French holding company for an international group of insurance and financial services companies together with its direct and indirect consolidated subsidiaries. For more information, visit www.axa-equitable.com.

SOURCE AXA