John Charman, chief executive officer and president of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited, said he will retire at the end of 2008 because he is undergoing a divorce.

In a company statement, the Pembroke, Bermuda-based insurer said Mr. Charman will retire at the end of his current employment contract. AXIS said he was retiring as the “result of his divorce proceeding currently pending in the United Kingdom.” A company spokesman declined to comment further.

Mr. Charman's successor has not been named, but Michael Butt, chairman of AXIS, noted in a statement that the AXIS board reviews its senior management succession annually “and the company has developed a very strong and deep management group.”

He said that 2009 is some time away and in the interim Mr. Charman “remains totally committed to the company, our strategy remains unchanged, and I look forward to continuing to implement it with him.”

According to press accounts from Bermuda and the United Kingdom, Mr. Charman, 53, and his wife Beverly, 52, are engaged in a bitter divorce action after 27 years of marriage.

Mr. Charman has been fighting his wife over disclosure of a trust fund and other assets worth more than $150 million. He is regarded as one of the wealthiest men in Great Britain but makes his home in Bermuda. He owns a home in Palm Beach, Fla., as well, according to some reports.

News of the divorce surfaced in early December.

Special Reports /

AXIS Chief To Retire Over Divorce

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