Four years after opening its University City offices, global insurance company AXA announced on Tuesday, May 9, that it will add 550 jobs over the next five years to make Innovation Park its largest operations center in the U.S.

“With this announcement, AXA affirmed that University City is a superior business center with the highest quality and value,” said Darlene Heater, executive director of University City Partners. “We are proud that AXA said yes to Ucity and are honored to have their 1,000+ employees’ contributions to our community.”

A statement from N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper said that the company plans to invest approximately $18 million to expand its current location in University City’s Innovation Park, making it AXA’s largest location in the U.S. The U.S. Corporate Headquarters for the company will remain in New York City.

Healthy environment for businesses and their employees

“Financial services companies like AXA have found a fertile environment for their operations in the Charlotte region, where they can attract talent and grow their business,” said Gov. Cooper. “We’re glad that this global financial protection company will be expanding again and establishing a regional headquarters in our state.”

Heater also emphasized the high priority that both UNC Charlotte and University City Partners put on attracting and developing a highly skilled workforce and nurturing a vibrant community for businesses and their employees.

“We look forward to continuing to serve AXA and all of our businesses in University City by strengthening partnerships with UNC Charlotte, ensuring that talent is accessible and qualified, and planning and advocating for infrastructure investments that support our community’s growth and well-being,” Heater said.

“We appreciate the support from the state of North Carolina, the city of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County,” said Mark Pearson, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of AXA US. “We know from our experience that Charlotte is a great place to attract a talented workforce, allowing us to grow our business and better serve our customers.”

Wide variety of jobs to be added

The announced expansion will bring a variety of jobs to Charlotte, including IT, finance, legal, accounting, customer service, HR and other functions that will support growth of the company’s business.

Salaries will vary by position, but the annual payroll for the new jobs will exceed $60 million. Mecklenburg County’s overall average wage is currently $62,741 per year.

AXA currently employs about 575 people at its Charlotte operations center, primarily in life operations, customer service, new business, sales, marketing, training, human resources, underwriting, finance and technology.

AXA serves 107 million clients in 64 countries

Based in France, AXA provides life insurance, annuity and financial products and services. Globally, AXA has approximately 107 million clients in 64 countries.

AXA’s expansion in Mecklenburg County will be facilitated, in part, by a Job Development Investment Grant approved by the state’s Economic Investment Committee earlier today. Under the terms of the investment grant, AXA is eligible to receive up to $11.8 million in total reimbursements over the next 10 years.

Partnering with N.C. Commerce and the NC Economic Development Partnership on this project were the General Assembly, the state Community College System, Mecklenburg County, the City of Charlotte and the Charlotte Chamber.

AXA opened its Life Operations Headquarters in Innovation Park in 2013, relocating many of its employees from offices in Charlotte’s Ballantyne area. About 575 people work in the Innovation Park facility now. That will grow to about 1,100 over the next five years.