AXA GROUP CHAIRMAN AND ASIA CEOOUTLINE GROWTH STRATEGY IN VISIT TO MANILA

·    Denis Duverne, Chairman of the Board of AXA Group, and Gordon Watson, AXA Asia CEO, underscore AXA’s leadership position globally, serving 105 million customers in 62 countries with €99B revenue and €6B earnings.

·   They outline growth strategy, by continuing to diversify AXA’s geographical footprint and business mix, while accelerating innovation and developing new partnerships.

AXA Group chairman Denis Duverne and Asia CEO Gordon Watson flew to Manila for a fruitful two-day visit, wherein they reported on the key strategies AXA has taken to maintain its leadership position in the global insurance market. At the same time, they also provided a rundown of their growth strategy and strategic direction going forward. Beyond Europe, AXA continues its global expansion and has identified Asia as one of the growth drivers, along with the growth of health and commercial Business.

AXA, leading global insurer

 “AXA once again maintained its enviable position as the global leader in insurance, serving 105 million customers worldwide with a presence in 62 countries," said Duverne. "In 2017, AXA delivered an excellent performance: €99B revenue and €6B earnings. AXA is also looking ahead in continuing to diversify its geographical footprint and business mix outside Europe."

For 10 consecutive years now, AXA has been named by Interbrand as the #1 global insurance brand (2009-2018). In April 2017, AXA was named as the leading insurance company in terms of climate risk management, a reflection of the Group’s belief in the positive role insurance can play in society, a significant part of its vision of empowering people to live better lives.

Moreover, the growth outlook and development prospects of the insurance industry in Asia, versus other parts of the world, remain positive.  AXA looks forward to an exciting multi-year partnership with

 English Premier League legends Liverpool Football Club (“Liverpool FC”) as they become the club’s Official Global Insurance Partner.

Building on their shared values, AXA and Liverpool FC will create innovative experiences for clients, partners and fans in Asia, as well as making meaningful contributions to the local communities in which they both operate. Working closely with Liverpool FC’s players, manager, coaches and health professionals, AXA will also create unique and relevant content that will help support the shared goal of promoting a healthy lifestyle, delivering on the AXA brand purpose of empowering people to live a better life.

Asia as growth segment

For his part, Watson explained their growth strategy for the Asia region, a market that is seen to further expand and develop.

 “We aim to further improve our operational efficiency and perform well even in a potential low interest rate environment,” says Watson.

With this, AXA has identified the Asia region as one of its key growth drivers, fueled by the rise of the health and commercial business. To ride on the crest of this unprecedented growth in the region, AXA is developing infrastructure in Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Concurrently, AXA is also accelerating the transformation of its operations by utilizing innovation and developing new partnerships to serve customers even better. This comes on the back of new digital trends sweeping the insurance industry in the region today.

Additionally, AXA Philippines remains to be a formidable presence in Asia, hence the choice of the Philippines as location of one of two Shared Service Centers in Asia.

Philippines is ready to address opportunities for growth in the local insurance market

"As of the end of November 2018, versus our 2017 performance, our life business grew by 16% in terms of annual premium equivalent (APE) and hit a 17% increase in total premium income (TPI),” shared AXA Philippines president and CEO Rahul Hora. “This was driven in part by the stellar performance of agency business which surged by 34%, prompting the growth in sales, reaching a record breaking 4,987 agents.”

Specifically, the protection and health category contributed 15% to this growth with both agency and bancassurance new business soaring by more than 40% –  which aligns with AXA’s 2019 thrust on health. GI business also grew by 1% in gross written premium (GWP).

The solid partnership between AXA and the Metrobank Group continues to allow AXA Philippines to build a strong presence in this high-growth market, creating new opportunities for further growth, while providing the local insurance sector with a wider range of offerings.

With the acquisition of Charter Ping An, AXA Philippines is poised for exponential growth as it takes advantage of its status as the only leading financial service company to provide a full suite of both life and non-life products that can help protect all that is valuable to its customers — their family, home, business, lifestyle — empowering them to live the life they choose.