Prior to joining Coller Capital in 2000, Axel was Chief Executive of Hansing Associates, a corporate finance boutique, which he founded in 1994. He was previously Managing Director of Equitable Capital Management, New York and London, a US firm managing investments in senior debt, mezzanine and private equity. During this time, he sat on the advisory committees of Apax European Buy-In Fund and European White Knight Fund.

Before this, Axel spent seven years heading the International Division of Bayerische Hypotheken und Wechsel-Bank in Munich and New York, and four years with Merrill Lynch International Banking in London and Hong Kong, rising to Executive Director.

Axel's early career was in corporate banking at Marine Midland Bank in London and Continental Finance Corporation in Johannesburg. He attended the Advanced Management Programme at Harvard Business School and is currently on the advisory committee of Annex Capital. Axel is fluent in German, English and French.