AXA targets 22% income growth in 2019

MANILA, Philippines — Global insurer AXA remains bullish on its Philippine operations as it targets a 22 percent growth in income this year, driven by its move to ramp up its sales force.

In an interview, AXA Philippines president and CEO Rahul Hora said the firm grew its income by 13 percent last year despite challenges for the Philippine economy.

“In 2018, the Philippine economy was hit quite significantly, also the currency depreciated. So it was one of the most challenging years,” Hora said.

He added that for this year, the company remains cautiously optimistic of the Philippine market, but is still aiming to hit a 22 percent rise in income.

“We have increased our sales force in 2018 by 34 percent. So we’re starting the year with 34 percent more people than we had in the beginning of 2018. With that in itself, we will continue to grow,” Hora said.

AXA Group chairman Denis Duverne said one of the company’s strategies is to focus on hiring the best people.

“We try to make sure that we hire the best, train the best because our main access (to the market) is people,” Duverne said.

AXA Philippines said its life business grew 16 percent as of November 2018 compared to the year before in terms of annual premium equivalent (APE) and hit a 17 percent increase in total premium income (TPI).

This was prompted by the growth in sales agents, reaching a record-breaking 4,987 agents.

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

It cited its solid partnership with the Metrobank Group as a factor that allows it 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,” the company said.

Apart from the Philippines, Duverne emphasized that Asia remains a major source of growth for the company globally, fueled by the rise of the health and commercial business.

AXA Asia CEO Gordon Watson said the company expects the Asia market to further grow and expand.

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

“To ride on the crest of this unprecedented growth in the region, AXA is developing infrastructure in Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai,” he added.

AXA said it 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,” the company said.

“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,” the company emphasized.