Innovate to accumulate

After some major firefighting, Axa chief executive Peter Hubbard is contemplating "bold and innovative" moves to achieve its 2012 ambitions. Richard Adams talked to him about going direct, broker acquisitions and asked when he is going to fix Axa's broker service

You could easily be forgiven for thinking that the common stereotypes about insurer chief executives as austere, measured characters fits Peter Hubbard more neatly than his counterparts. However, as he will later reveal, this is a veneer behind which the severity of internal panic can be measured by the degree of outer calm on display. And, given that Axa was haemorrhaging £200m a year when he joined five years ago, the foil has certainly had its uses. Having taken the company through some major