AXA XL appoints Grace Xu as senior underwriter for captives within its alternative risk solutions team, based in Los Angeles. Xu takes up the role in July 2026 on a hybrid basis. In the position, Xu focuses on developing solutions for clients with complex risks through the use of single parent captives. Her experience covers building and servicing alternative risk financing structures that combine reinsurance and risk transfer strategies. Xu joins from Starr Insurance, where she spent three years and two months. She served as underwriter for captive reinsurance fronting in Los Angeles from July 2025 to July 2026, assessing complex risks across multiple industries to determine appropriate reinsurance structures, designing and pricing reinsurance agreements aligned with regulatory requirements and capital objectives, and working with captive managers, brokers and actuaries on alternative risk transfer solutions. Prior to that she held the position of associate underwriter at Starr Insurance in Chicago from June 2024 to July 2025, specialising in captive reinsurance fronting and risk management. She joined the firm in June 2023 as an intern in global operations technology. Xu holds a bachelor of science degree in computer science from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
