Despite the financial crisis that hit the global economy in 2008, AXA Philippines, one of the largest life insurance companies in the country, was able to hit over P1 billion in new business sales, proof of the resilience of the company and the continued trust of its customers.

With a total of P1.022 billion in new business sales, AXA Philippines was able to surpass the P1-billion mark, considered a milestone in the life insurance industry as only two other life insurers have reached this mark.

“Considering the market conditions that we had last year, hitting P1 billion is quite an achievement and something that we can be proud of,” says Indren S. Naidoo, Chief Financial Officer of AXA Philippines.

As in previous years, majority of its new business came from its bancassurance channel which contributes to over 70% of the business, as AXA continues to tap the expansive network of Metrobank branches nationwide. Meanwhile, its traditional agency sales force accounted for around 20% of new business, while its alternative channels sales force, which handles group and institutional business as well as direct marketing and telemarketing efforts, makes up for the balance.

AXA, who is currently the country’s undisputed market leader in variable life insurance with over 40% market share, had a total premium income of P5.4 billion, primarily due to the lesser demand for single-premium investments as brought about by the tough investment environment in 2008.

“At the start of 2007, people were feeling pretty bullish about the investment market, and hence AXA had a lot of customers who opened a lot of single-premium policies,” explains Naidoo. “However, since the sub-prime crisis, less people have had the confidence to invest lump sum amounts in any financial instrument, whether it be in insurance, mutual funds, or UITFs.”

Despite the difficult year that was 2008, AXA Philippines is looking forward to 2009 and the new challenges and opportunities it brings as they welcome their new President & CEO, Rien Hermans.

“AXA remains committed to becoming the preferred life insurance company in the Philippines and we will make sure that we grow our business in a more strategic and sustainable manner,” said the Dutchman, who officially joined AXA Philippines last February 2.

Looking forward to 2009, the new president, shared some of his thoughts on the general direction of the life insurance industry:

“In the past few years, the phenomenal upsurge in the variable life or investment-linked insurance category was the main driver of growth for the life insurance industry --- and we were happy to note that AXA led the way in the growth of that category,” said Hermans.

“The fundamentals of the business haven't changed, people still want to protect their loved ones, save for education of their children and prepare the financial resources to enjoy their retirement. And life insurance is a great solution to meet these needs"

“Given the current investment environment however, most people prefer the guarantees in traditional products over the higher expected returns of variable products,” he continues, "At the same time they choose a reliable company like AXA to deliver these products."

“The three key business drivers of AXA Philippines are: achieving optimal synergy with its bancassurance partner, Metrobank; developing new and innovative products to closely fit our customer's needs and preferences; and continuous improvement in the quality of our customer service,” shares Hermans. "These combined with our growth initiative of building a strong and professional network of financial advisors promises a great future for the company".

AXA Philippines is a joint venture between two financial giants --- the Metrobank Group and the global AXA Group. The Metrobank Group is the largest financial conglomerate in the country while the global AXA Group is ranked by the Fortune Global 500 as the world’s no.1 life insurer and the 15th largest corporation in the world, across all industries.

To our valued AXA policyholder,

After two years, AXA has finally reclaimed the top spot in the “insurance: life, health (stock)” category in the recent issue of the annual Fortune Global 500, AXA said in a statement.

With reported revenues of $162.8 billion in 2007, the France-based multinational surpassed Italy’s Assicurazoni Generali which posted global revenues of only $113.8 billion.

In the Philippines, AXA is considered one of the biggest and the fastest growing life insurer with over 22-percent market share in 2007, and is ranked as one of the 100 biggest corporations in the country. It is a joint venture of AXA Group and the Metrobank Group, the country’s largest financial conglomerate.

Elena and Anthony Copino started out as friends during their college days. Their friendship blossomed into love, and eventually married. Their 22-year marriage bore them three children – a son and two daughters – all of them now work.

“When my husband passed away, it was difficult for me. I was so depressed,” softly she says, nearly choking on her words. “It just hasn’t been the same. It’s hardest at night – it’s difficult to sleep when you’re alone in bed.”

But going into 2008, Elena has something to smile about: She received more that P2 million in free insurance coverage from AXA Philippines for having bought the policy that helped AXA reach the P2 billion mark in new business sales for 2007.

She also got a roundtrip airfair from Cebu to Manila, and overnight stay at a luxury hotel, shopping money, lunch at a five-star hotel in Makati with the AXA Philippines senior management team, lead by Andrew D. Alcid, president and CEO.

“At this stage in my life, and after having gone through the loss of a loved one myself, I truly appreciate this gesture of AXA,” relates Elena, whose new ‘P2 billion NBI’ policy was actually just one of five she has with AXA.

Elena shares her thoughts on planning ahead for the financial future: “When my husband passed away, I only got a small amount from his pension and it wasn’t even enough to cover for the estate taxes. It took me years to pay off the debts from my husband’s business. That is why I am now convinced that I should’ve prepared earlier and included life insurance in my financial planning as well.”

Elena strongly advises not to invest in just any insurance company. “I bought education plans for all three of my children,” she recalls. “Unfortunately, only two of them got their scholarship because of what happened to (my pre-need company) a few years ago.”

“That is why, nowadays, I entrust my money with a company that is really big, is known all over the world and performs well worldwide,” she shares.

“The investment funds of AXA have shown significant yields in the past year, getting investment returns of as high as 78 percent. Because of this strong performance, AXA is considered one of the fastest growing insurers in the country, having catapulted to the Top 2 (spot) in the industry in 2006.

Life Insurer AXA debuted in the annual ranking of the 100 Best Global Brands by Interbrand for 2007, the Business Week reported in its August 2007 issue.

Interbrand is the world’s leading brand consulting agency based in New York. It evaluates the best global brands on the basis of profit projections, which are then discounted to a present value, taking into account the likelihood that those earnings will actually materialize.

Headquartered in France, AXA was one of the five new global brands that made it to the Top 100 Brands for 2007 and its entry in to the list has been attributed to its aggressive strategies to raise its profile globally. Considered the second biggest insurance brand in the world, AXA was ranked no. 49 in the list overall.

In the Philippines, AXA is a relatively new and fresh brand but it steadily made its way to be the No. 2 life insurance company through aggressive sales and marketing, earning it the reputation of being the fastest-growing life insurance company. Its tie-up with Metrobank, the country’s largest commercial bank, has also helped boost its Bancassurance business.

AXA’s total premium income in 2006 closed at P9 billion, marking a 98 percent growth from the previous year’s performance. In the first half of this year, it has already surpassed last year’s makr with over P10 billion in premium income.

Interbrand takes into consideration several factors in ranking the world’s most valuable brands. To even qualify for the lsit, each brand must derive about a third of its earnings outside its home country, be recognizable outside of tis base of customers, and have publicly available marketing and financial data. The Top 100 Brands list includes such corporate giants as Coca-Cola, Microsoft, McDonald’s, Toyota, Google and Apple.