Déborah Shire

Deputy Head of AXA IM Alts


Member of AXA IM Management Board
Member of CAPZA Board

Deborah is the Deputy Head of AXA IM Alts, AXA IM’s €190+bn alternative business unit, which employs over 980 people located in 17 offices, serving the needs of more than 640 clients globally. She has been in this role since 2020, in charge of alternative credit and impact private equity. In 2025, she expanded her responsibilities to lead the Client Group functions of AXA IM Alts, which includes the Sales and Product Management teams, as well as Marketing and Communications.

AXA IM Alts is a global leader in alternatives asset management, putting ESG at the heart of its investment approach, with an established position in real estate (#1 real estate investment manager in Europe, #10 worldwide)[1], infrastructure (#3 global infrastructure debt capital raiser),[2] private debt (#1 CRE debt capital raiser globally)[3], alternative credit and private equity.  

Since 2014 Deborah had the responsibility of the alternative credit, impact and private equity businesses She joined the Management Board of CAPZA, a leading European Private Debt and Private Equity firm, in 2019, where she successfully guided the partnership through various stages until the full acquisition was completed in 2024.  

Between 2011 to 2014, Deborah served as a Global Head of Business Development within the Real Assets team at AXA IM, in this role she was responsible for Corporate Finance, Investor Relations, Marketing & Communication and Business Development. Deborah was also a member of the Management Board of AXA IM – Real Assets and was instrumental in the creation of the CRE debt platform, now firmly established as a global leader in its field today.

In 2000, Deborah founded the Alternative Credit platform, growing it from a €3.5bn business to one of the largest managers of alternative credit assets in Europe today. In her role, Deborah led the development and launch of a performing and diversified product range including leveraged loans, ABS, CLOs, ILS, Mortgages, Regulatory Capital and Impact investment.

Deborah joined AXA in 1996 and held various positions both in the AXA Group Corporate Finance, in charge of AXA Group M&A and Treasury and AXA IM Quantitative Management departments before moving to AXA IM Structured Finance in 2000.

She has over 29 years of experience.  

    Sources:

    [1] Highest-ranked Real Estate Manager in the European Union according to IPE’s Global Top 150 Real Estate Investment Managers, based on total value of real estate assets under management, November/December 2024. Ranked 10 globally. 

    [2] Infrastructure Investor Debt 30, May 2025. Ranking based on capital raised between 1 January 2019 and 31 August 2024.

    [3] PERE Real Estate Debt (RED) 50, May 2025. Ranking based on capital raised for the purpose of real estate debt issuance between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2024.

    The references to league tables and awards are not an indicator of future performance or places in league tables or awards.