AXA Q1 income, premiums up

MANILA, Philippines - The AXA Philippines Inc. (AXA Philippines) has reported a seven-percent growth in total premium income in the first three months of 2012, or roughly an additional P700 million to the P9.98 billion recorded in 2011.

“Net income grew 25 percent to P164 million,” AXA Philippines reported in press statement recently.

The third largest life insurance company in the Philippines further noted a 14-percent growth of assets under management, and a 32-percent growth of sales compared to the first quarter of 2011.

Last year, AXA Philippines reported a total premium income of P9.983 billion in 2011 based on data released by the Insurance Commission (IC).

That is 19-percent higher than the P8.4 billion registered in 2010, and more than double the P4.4 billion recorded in 2009.

The affiliate of the Metrobank Group was looking at a 30-percent growth in total premium income this year.

Of the premium performance last year, new business was worth roughly P1.1 billion, and renewal business contributed nearly P2 billion.

Meanwhile, AXA Philippines chief investment officer/financial division Dexter M. Agcaoili said that the insurer hopes to increase premiums several fold with the introduction of a dollar-denominated variable life insurance product.

The AXA Dollar aXcess is a single premium variable life insurance product that maximizes financial gains and minimizes capital risk through the Global Advantage Fund, the first and only US dollar-denominated equity fund invested in the Nasdaq 100.”

Nasdaq 100 is the stock market index of the 100 largest non-financial companies from major industry groups such as biotechnology, computer hardware and software, retail/wholesale trade, and telecommunications, that are listed in the New York-based Nasdaq, the second largest stock exchange in the world.

In 2003, AXA introduced its first dollar-denominated premium variable bond fund.

The variable life product is a combination of protection and investment. Since it is a single pay premium, the acquirer or investor will shell out a minimum $20,000 one-time.

The investor likewise gets an insurance coverage equivalent to 125-percent of the premium.

The target market for the new foreign currency variable insurance product are the high net worth individuals, which initially are base clients of the Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank) and its subsidiary, the First Metro Investment Co. (FMIC).

Agcaoili said that its assets under management (AUMs) stood at $1.6 billion.

 “We hope to raise at least $10 million this year from the AXA Dollar aXcess,” he added.