AXA SA, the holding company of the AXA Group, is a worldwide leader in insurance with assets of €805 billion for the year ending December 31, 2020. AXA operates primarily in five hubs: France, Europe, Asia, AXA XL, and International (including the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa).
AXA has five operating businesses: Life and Savings, Property and Casualty, Health, Asset Management, and Banking. In addition, various holding companies within the group perform certain non-operational activities.
History of AXA Group Insurance
AXA originated from several French regional mutual insurance companies: “Les Mutuelles Unies”.
- 1982 – Acquisition of Groupe Drouot.
- 1986 – Acquisition of Groupe Présence.
- 1988 – Transfer of insurance business to Compagnie du Midi (subsequently renamed AXA Midi and then AXA).
- 1992 – Acquisition of a controlling stake in The Equitable Companies Incorporated (USA), which subsequently changed its name to AXA Financial, Inc. (“AXA Financial” changed).
- 1995 – Acquisition of majority shares in National Mutual Holding ( Australia ) which subsequently changed its name to AXA Asia Pacific Holdings Ltd. (“AXA APH”) changed.
- 1997 – Merger with Compagnie UAP.
- 2000 – Acquisition of (i) Sanford C. Bernstein (US) by AXA’s asset management subsidiary Alliance Capital, which subsequently changed its name to AllianceBernstein (now AB).
(ii) minority interests in AXA Financial; And
(iii) Japanese Life Insurance Company,
Nippon Dantai Life Insurance Company; and
the sale of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (USA) to Credit Suisse Group.
- 2004 – Purchase of the American insurance group MONY.
- 2005 – FINAXA (the main shareholder of AXA at that date) merged into AXA.
- 2006 – Purchase of Winterthur Group.
- 2008 – Purchase of Seguros ING (Mexico).
- 2010 – Voluntary delisting of AXA SA from the New York Stock Exchange and deregistration with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). and AXA UK’s sale of its traditional life and pensions businesses to Resolution Ltd.
- 2011 – Sale of (i) AXA Life & Savings operations in Australia and New Zealand and acquisition of AXA APH Life & Savings operations in Asia. And
(ii) AXA Canada to Intact Canadian Insurance Group;
- 2012 – Launch of ICBC-AXA Life, a life insurance joint venture in China with ICBC. and the acquisition of HSBC’s property and casualty operations in Hong Kong and Singapore.
- 2013 – Acquisition of HSBC property and casualty operations in Mexico.
- 2014 – Acquisition of (i) 50% of TianPing, a Chinese property and casualty insurance company; (ii) 51% of Grupo Mercantile Colpatria’s insurance operations in Colombia. and (iii) 77% shares of Mansard Insurance Company in Nigeria.
- 2015 – Acquisition of Genworth Lifestyle Protection Insurance. and the launch of (i) AXA Strategic Ventures, a venture capital fund dedicated to emerging strategic innovations in insurance and financial services; and (ii) Kamet, an InsurTech incubator dedicated to conceptualizing, launching, and partnering disruptive InsurTech products and services.
- 2016 – Sale of AXA’s investment and pensions businesses in the UK (non-platform) and its direct protection businesses to Phoenix Group Holdings.
- 2017 – Announcing the intention to list a minority stake in AXA’s US operations (which is expected to include the US Life & Savings business and AXA Group’s interests in AB), a strategic decision to create flexibility given market conditions More finance to accelerate at AXA. Transformation, according to Ambition 2020; and the launch of AXA Global Parametrics, a new entity dedicated to accelerating the development of parametric insurance solutions, expanding the range of solutions to better serve existing customers, and expanding its reach to SMEs and individuals.
- 2018 – Acquired (i) XL Group, creating the #1 global P&C commercial lines insurance platform and (ii) Maestro Health, a US digital health benefits management company; Initial Public Offering (“IPO”) of US subsidiary Equitable Holdings, Inc. (1), on the New York Stock Exchange; and entered into an exclusive agreement with Cinven for the potential disposal of AXA Life Europe (“ALE”), a specialist platform that designs, manufactures and distributes AXA’s variable annuity products across Europe.
- 2019 – Agreement to sell AXA Bank Belgium and conclude a long-term insurance distribution partnership with Kerlan Bank. Sale of AXA’s remaining stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (EQH) (2); and finalizing the purchase of the remaining 50% of AXA Tianping shares.
- 2020 – Agreement to combine non-life insurance operations in India of Bharti AXA General Insurance Company with ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited. Sale of AXA’s life and savings, property and casualty, and pension businesses in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia to UNIQA Insurance Group AG. Agreement with Persian Gulf Insurance Group to sell AXA insurance operations in the Persian Gulf region; and an agreement with Generali to sell AXA insurance operations in Greece.
Products and Services
AXA in France offers a full range of insurance products including life and savings, property and casualty, and health.
It offers a wide range of products including motor, home, property, and general liability insurance, banking, savings vehicles, and other investment-based products for personal/individual and business/group customers, as well as health, protection, and Covers retirement. Individual or professional clients
In addition, AXA France is developing a product using its product and distribution expertise to offer employee benefits internationally for individuals, companies, and other institutions.
New product initiatives
As part of the implementation of the Ambition 2020 program, AXA France has launched several new product initiatives in 2020, focusing on the life and savings sector. At Savings, a new Unit-Linked Infrastructure Fund “AXA Avenir Infrastructure” was created to offer clients more portfolio diversification options.
Previously only available to institutional investors, the fund gives retail investors – through their life insurance policies – the opportunity to invest in infrastructure projects undertaken
by listed and unlisted companies.
These projects include but are not limited to, transportation, digital infrastructure, and renewable and conventional energy. All projects subject to corporate social responsibility, such as the coal industry and tar sands, are excluded from the fund’s investment scope.
In addition, AXA France has launched a new online service called “Ma Retraite 360”, which allows customers to monitor their level of income during retirement, which is generated through a variety of pension plans.
The digital solution also offers clients the ability to integrate other retirement plans held at other financial institutions as well as other income streams such as real estate income. In Protection, AXA France has developed a simple and competitive personal accident product “Ma Protection” to protect customers against bodily injuries that occur in everyday private life.
In addition, AXA partners with Western Union’s Credit & Lifestyle Protection business to launch Transfer Protect, which offers Western Union customers the opportunity to subscribe to insurance coverage in the event of death and disability.
Distribution channels
AXA France distributes its insurance products through exclusive and non-exclusive channels including exclusive agents, a salaried sales force, and direct sales. Banks as well as brokers, independent financial advisors, aligned distributors or wholesale distributors, and partnerships.