AXA Investment Managers appoints new UK CEO

AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) has appointed Ouajnat Karim as CEO of AXA IM UK Ltd, and AXA IM GS Ltd, subject to regulatory approval.

Ouajnat will become UK CEO whilst retaining some of her current responsibilities as Global Head of Oversight and COO UK, AXA IM Core. She will have a dual reporting line to Jean-Chistophe Ménioux, General Secretary and CFO at AXA IM, and Geoffroy Reiss, COO & Global Head of Transversal Services for AXA IM Core.

The role will be effective as at 11 December 2024, when Ouajnat takes over from current UK CEO Marcello Arona, who is pursuing an opportunity outside of the business.

Ouajnat has 20 years of experience in financial services across alternatives, impact investing and traditional asset classes, and joined AXA IM in 2007. She was appointed Deputy COO of Core Investments (later AXA IM Core) in 2019, assuming her present role earlier this year. A member of the UK Executive Committee since 2019, she is also a Non-Executive Director for two of AXA IM’s ICAVs (Irish Collective Asset-management Vehicle).

Commenting on the appointment, Jean-Chistophe Menioux, General Secretary and CFO at AXA IM, said: “I am delighted that Ouajnat will be taking on this new professional endeavour within AXA IM and I trust that her extensive knowledge of the business, significant control and governance oversight experience, as well as her strong focus on people and clients, will be instrumental to her success in the role. ”

“I would like to warmly thank Marcello Arona for the significant contribution he has made to AXA IM over the last 20 years and wish him every success for the future.”

Biography:

Ouajnat began her financial services career in 2005 at BNP Paribas where she was Head of Hedge Funds Operations. In 2007, she moved to AXA IM UK, where she has remained for 17 years in various leadership roles.

Ouajnat became Deputy Chief Operating Officer of AXA IM Core in 2019 and was further promoted to the position of UK COO and Global Head of Oversight for AXA IM Core in 2023. In November 2024, she was appointed CEO of AXA IM UK & GS.

Ouajnat holds a Master’s degree in Accounting & Finance from Leeds University Business School, and has completed the University of Oxford, Saïd Business School’s Executive Leadership Programme.