Corporate Finance Associate – Paris Or Madrid - (M/F)

Whatever their stage of life, we provide over 108 million customers with the products and services they need to progress. From insurance to personal protection, and savings to wealth management, no matter the need we’re always there for them. And we’re always there for our employees. In 50 countries, we work hard to inspire pride and a sense of belonging in our people. To provide opportunities that challenge them, inspire them, and reward them. And to create a culture that’s open, supportive, and empowering. Because we know that’s the real secret to success – and the best way for us to keep building a better world for both our customers and the talented people who put them first.

Your work environment:

The headquarters of the AXA Group (GIE AXA) brings together our corporate activities. It provides guidance and support to subsidiaries around the world, to ensure the coordination and monitoring of the Group's global strategy, the application of its standards, the consistency of commercial approaches and the sharing of best practices. The headquarters gathers approximately 1000 employees and is distinguished by its strong international culture (45 nationalities), which makes it a rich and stimulating place to work.

Within the Group, you will join theCorporate Finance department.

 The Corporate Finance team within DCFG, organized in geographic areas, is in charge of two main areas of activities:

• Coordinating and executing AXA Group's mergers and acquisitions (M&A) projects, also including review of disposals, greenfield projects, long-term distribution agreements, internal restructurings, etc.
• Coordinating the capital management activities. Cash generation has been defined as one of the key strategic priorities of the new Driving Progress 2023 plan

Job purpose

The Associate Corporate Finance, attached to an Area Manager, actively contributes to, and gradually takes the responsibility over the execution of M&A transactions and the monitoring of capital management activities, in liaison with the Group legal, financial and operational teams, as well as at times external consultants.

Dimensions

• An M&A transaction contributes to accelerating the transformation strategy of the group.
• M&A transaction stakeholders are very broad, incl. AXA internal teams (financial planning, legal, tax, operations, IT, etc.), and external consultants (financial, actuarial, tax, legal advisors, etc.). Project teams often surpass 25 individuals across various functions and in different countries.
• Capital management activities contribute to optimize the level of capital and remittance of a number of operating entities of AXA Group, including through reinsurance and in-force transactions, organizing the capital allocation meetings and discuss the performance and strategy of the entities in terms of capital management throughout the year.
• Each Corporate Finance project is specific to the scenario at hand (i.e., acquisition, disposal, reinsurance, etc.) and has its own cultural and people dimension.
• Communication of recommendations to DCFG and AXA’s top management, and day-to-day interactions with the entities, including their top management.

Context & Major Challenges

This position, often exposed to complex situations and tight deadlines, has the following key challenges: 

• Ability to quickly identify issues as they arise and solve them in an optimized manner.
• Ability to demonstrate leadership skills and build trust with both internal & external teams with their own sometimes competing priorities, to achieve the common objective.
• Ability to deliver complex tasks under high time pressure and to make initiatives.
• Ability to handle high exposure on sensitive topics.
• Ability to grasp the technical and structuring requirements of a transaction, including financial, valuation, and operational aspects.
• Ability to step back on business plans in a critical manner.
• Ability to understand AXA’s markets and competitor dynamics.
• Ability to communicate effectively and influence.

Key accountabilities

• Financial & Strategic Analysis
  • Analyze AXA operating entities and potential targets and their economic and competitive environment.
  • Preparation and review of business plans, financial analysis and valuation.
  • Evaluation of tactical considerations on transaction structure, and impacts for AXA Group.
  • Feasibility studies, analyses and implementation of structures to improve use of capital and balance sheet optimization.
• Project Management
  • Organize the capital allocation meetings on a biannual basis.
  • Co-ordinate efforts of various internal stakeholders and external consultants on a given M&A or inforce project.
  • Participate in the drafting / negotiation of contractual documents.
• Communication
  • Explain the conclusions of the analysis to facilitate the decision-making process.
  • Draft summary documents adapted to top management.
  • Explain objectives and constraints in order to achieve the desired outcome.

• Good quantitative and analytical skills.
• Knowledge of Corporate Finance.
• Knowledge of insurance as well as major concepts within actuarial science.
• Knowledge in accounting, taxation, law and regulation.
• Project management skills including the capability to handle several projects at once.
• Strong motivation.
• Team spirit.
• Ability to interact optimally with stakeholders of different seniority levels.
• Synthetic spirit and good communication and presentation skills.
• Around 3 to 5 years of experience.

Would you like to wake up every day driven and inspired by our noble mission and to work together as one global team to empower people to live a better life?

Here at AXA we strive to lead the transformation of our industry. We are looking for talented individuals who come from varied backgrounds, think differently and want to be part of this exciting transformation by challenging the status quo so we can push AXA - a leading global brand and one of the most innovative companies in our industry - onto even greater things.

The headquarters of the AXA Group is based in Paris - La Défense (Majunga Tower) and brings together the Group's corporate activities. It is distinguished by its strong international culture.

You will join:

• A responsible company, towards people, including its employees and customers, and towards the planet 
• A company with strong values
• A company promoting internal mobility and the training of its employees
• A company offering many benefits (learn more here: Reward & Benefits | AXA Group)
• A flexible company, allowing hybrid work, in the office and from home.

The information provided by applicants will be treated as strictly confidential and used for recruitment purposes only.