AXA plans 1-billion euro global acquisitions next year

The company has also set aside 100 million euros for risk-research and education projects.

Davis Duverne, deputy CEO in charge of finance, strategy and operations for AXA, said yesterday that the company will look for more joint ventures next year after spending 485 million euros to buy 50 per cent of Tian Ping, a Chinese auto insurance company, and 259 million euros to buy 51 per cent of the life insurance operations of Colpatria, the fourth biggest insurer in Colombia. AXA now has a presence in 57 countries worldwide.

The insurance market in Asia is one of the largest in terms of growth. The company desires to be the No 1 brand in this part of the world. Thailand is the “stronghold” for the company’s market in Asia since it is its second largest. It is also looking to expand to neighbouring countries using Thailand as a hub for its main operations on this side of the world. 

“The insurance market in Asia and Thailand is promising because of the ongoing economic growth, which raised the income of the people in the past years. Many governments in this region including Thailand also do not provide adequate insurance for their citizens, which makes people look for insurance from private companies more. These factors increase the demand for insurance and make this region and this country the right market for insurance right now,” he said.

David Korunic, CEO of Krungthai-AXA Life, said growth for his company this year is in “double digit” territory at 28 per cent and the joint venture is maintaining its target of more than 30-per-cent growth by next year. Ordinary first-year premiums from January-September reached Bt7.46 billion and total ordinary premiums Bt23.05 billion. 

Competition in the insurance market here is “very high” with more than 60 companies looking to provide insurance to customers. 

The financial status of an insurance company is important for customers to consider because an insurance company “should be here to stay”. Sometimes the market here can behave irrationally due to unsustainable prices that have been introduced by companies. 

On the corporate responsibility front, AXA has set aside 100 million euros to fund the company’s risk-research and education projects around the world in order to educate people about new risks that emerge from the increasingly uncertain world because it can help build a safer society for its customers.