AXA Equitable Life Insurance has continued the expansion of its staff roster with a series of appointments over the past week.

Joining the financial services firm as senior vice presidents are Mary Bates, Nicholas Liolis and John Rivett.

Bates serves as head of life underwriting and reports to Joanne Pietrini-Smith, the senior vice president and head of business management and operations for the financial protection and wealth management business. She previously was the vice president of underwriting operations for the third-party distribution channel for AXA Equitable and, prior to that, took up senior roles as Mass Mutual and ING. In her new post, Bates will be responsible for developing underwriting guidelines and procedures according to the company's risk management policies.

Liolis is working as chief credit officer for the company, reporting to Kevin Byrne, executive vice president and chief investment officer. Liolis has been with AXA Equitable for the last 15 years and has served leadership positions in the areas of investment analysis, fixed income, alternative portfolio management, and asset liability management.

Rivett is now the senior information officer for the financial protection and wealth management division. He reports to Michael Healy, the firm's senior vice president and chief information officer. Rivett joined AXA Equitable in 2007 and worked for Marsh Inc prior to that.

Healy was also just recently appointed as COO and now reports to Richard Silver, senior executive vice president and chief administrative officer.

AXA Equitable is a subsidiary of the French holding company AXA Group, which specialises in financial protection strategies and wealth management.