Françoise Gilles, AXA Group Chief Risk Officer, elected Chair of the CRO Forum.

Françoise Gilles is AXA Group Chief Risk Officer and a member of the Group Management Committee, after having served in the AXA Asia Region since 2019 first as Chief Risk Officer, then as Chief Strategic Development Officer in charge of steering AXA’s strategy across the Region, based in Hong-Kong.

Françoise joined AXA in 2013, as Head of ALM and Capital Management for AXA Bank Europe, before being appointed as Board Member and Chief Risk Officer for AXA Bank Belgium. Before moving to Asia, Francoise served as AXA Belgium Head of P&C Retail. Francoise has served as non-executive board member and member of Audit and Risk Committees to several entities, incl. AXA Banque France, AXA Philippines, AXA Tianping, AXA IM Architas. She started her career in 1998 with ING and Fortis in Belgium, where she built experience in the areas of ALM, risk management and valuation. Francoise Gilles graduated as Civil Engineer from the Université Catholique de Louvain in 1998 and is an actuary.

Commenting on her new role as Chair, Françoise said: “In a world marked by increasing complexity—from climate change and geopolitical tensions to social fragmentation—strong risk management and collaboration are more vital than ever. I want to sincerely thank Carlo Ferraresi for his outstanding leadership as former Chair of the CRO Forum. Building on his legacy, I am committed to fostering best practices, addressing emerging challenges, and strengthening industry resilience. Together, we have the opportunity to turn uncertainty into progress and create a safer, more sustainable future for all. Let’s do it together.”

Fabian Uffer, Chief Risk Officer of SCOR, remains as Vice-chair.

Fabian Uffer was appointed Chief Risk Officer in September 2021. He began his career in 2003 as a life actuary in the insurance industry at Allianz Suisse. Following this, Fabian worked at a startup company named CelsiusPro and developed a weather derivative pricing engine. In 2009 Fabian Uffer joined SCOR in the P&C Risk Management department. He then transitioned to Group Financial Modelling and Risk Analysis, where he held various positions including Head of Risk Modelling.

Fabian studied at the University of Waterloo and holds a Master’s in mathematics from the ETH Zürich. He is a fully qualified actuary of the Swiss Association of Actuaries.

Christophe Vandeweghe, Chief Risk Officer of Ageas, elected Vice-chair of the CRO Forum.

Christophe Vandeweghe is the CRO of Ageas as of 1 June 2024. He holds a Degree in Applied Economics from KU Leuven where he was also a graduate in Additional Study Insurance and a Master of Financial and Actuarial Engineering. He completed his education achieving a MBA in Financial Services & Insurance at Vlerick Business School, University of St Gallen & HEC Montréal. Since January 2021 he is a Certified Management Accountant. Christophe began his career at ING Insurance, continuing at Deloitte before joining Ageas in October 2014. He was Chief Risk Officer (CRO) of Continental Europe, and he has been an Executive Board member of Ageas Portugal since February 2018, first as CRO and as from November 2019 as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) with responsibility for investments, ALM, accounting, actuarial, reinsurance & planning & control. As of April 2023, he also took up the role of chief business development officer responsible for strategy and design of verticalization and ecosystems, strategic partnerships and M&A. He also took up several Board mandates within Group companies.

 

The CRO Forum would like to thank Carlo Ferraresi, Chief Risk Officer of Generali, for chairing the CRO Forum in 2025.