To our valued AXA policyholder,

Investing in today’s times seems like a daunting proposition. The impact of the sub-prime crisis in the U.S. has caused the downfall of financial “giants” and has sent shockwaves across the global markets. Stock market indices across the world have dropped significantly in such a short period of time.

This has created an investment environment that is full of fear, doubt, and uncertainty. With such well-respected investment banks and institutions declaring bankruptcy or needing a bail-out plan, it is no surprise that today’s ordinary investors are afraid that their own investments will fail.

“In my adult lifetime, I don’t think I’ve ever seen people as fearful economically as they are right now,” said the richest man in the world, 78-year old Warren Buffet, Chairman & CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, and considered to be the world’s greatest investor, in an exclusive interview with broadcast journalist Charlie Rose earlier this month.

“They have seen the credit markets seize up. They’ve gotten worried about money-market funds,” he explains further. “They’ve seen 8% of the bank deposits of the United States get moved within the last couple of weeks from institutions that they thought were fine a few months ago to other institutions.”

“They’re not wrong to be worried,” he concluded.

The ordinary Filipino investor has not been spared from the effects of this global financial crisis. Traditionally considered to be risk-averse, Filipinos now have become more cautious than ever when it comes to their hard-earned money. Driven by fear, more Filipinos have opted to --- as Warren Buffet termed it --- “put their money under the mattress” rather than investing it for fear of losing their hard-earned money to the current market downturn.

As such, Filipinos right now are looking for an investment instrument that will give them the chance to substantially grow their hard-earned money but without the risk of having that money dwindle to nothing, especially in these market conditions. In short, Filipinos want to protect their investment while making their money grow.

What Filipino investors need right now is an investment that is “Locked & Loaded.”

To help address the current needs of the Filipino investor, AXA Philippines, one of the largest and the fastest-growing life insurer in the country today, is offering its Locked & Loaded capital-protected investment for a limited time only.

Locked & Loaded is an investment-linked insurance product offer that protects 100% of the capital or principal invested, regardless of how difficult market conditions can get. For only a short holding period of 5 years, this gives Filipino investors the freedom and confidence to grow their money worry-free, knowing that they cannot lose a single peso of their investment!

And since this will be invested in AXA’s specially designed Locked & Loaded Fund, investors get the chance to grow their money through high-grade government bonds, money-market instruments, and blue-chip stocks!

Moreover, unlike similar principal-protected offers in the market, Locked & Loaded gives investors the full maximum earning potential of their investment --- no caps, no limits, no boundaries! Locked & Loaded also has no surrender charges, assuring investors that they will get the full amount of their account value at the time of withdrawal!

Most of all, Locked & Loaded provides life insurance protection of at least 125% of your investment capital so that your loved ones can benefit from your investment as well and will always be financially secure, no matter what.

For a minimum single investment of as low as only P200,000, Locked & Loaded offers investors the secure and rare opportunity to protect their assets while enjoying unlimited growth potential. This limited offer from AXA Philippines is available from October 6 to 29, 2008 only.

Protect your investments today --- get Locked & Loaded! For more information on Locked & Loaded, call the AXA Philippines Customer Care Hotlines at (02) 5815-AXA (292) or (02) 3231-AXA (292), or visit the AXA Philippines website at www.axa.com.ph. You may also ask about Locked & Loaded from a Financial Advisor/Executive in any of the AXA or Metrobank branches near you.

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.