AXA premiums balloon to P18.3B

MANILA, Philippines - AXA Philippines recorded total premium income of P18.3 billion in 2013, 49 percent higher than the P12.27 billion it registered in 2012.

AXA Philippines is a joint venture bancassurance company between Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank) and the AXA Group (France).

Weighted first-year or new business amounted to P3.6 billion, roughly 32 percent higher than the P2.734 billion in 2012.

New businesses are premiums sold in a given year, composed of single (pay) premiums and regular pay premiums. Weighted new business is 10-percent of single premiums sold, and the full value of regular premiums.

AXA Philippines president and chief executive officer Rien Hermans said sale of regular premiums continued to move upwards, while single and variable unit linked (VUL) weakened slightly.

Hermans explained that there were several reasons for the slowing down of the sale for single and VULs.

The key factors were more life insurers introducing like products, the overall correction of the country’s equities market, and certain regulatory disruptions.

The second semester of 2013 saw the country’s bourse dramatically wipe out all gains since 2012, which forced domestic investors to the sidelines.

The review of the cross-selling regulations of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) likewise reduced sale of bancassurance products.

Meanwhile, both bancassurance and agency distribution channels continued to contribute positively to premium sales.

The sales agency channel accounted for 47 percent of total, while the bank channel contributed to 41 percent of premium sales.

The direct marketing segment was temporarily scrapped in the first semester.

“We will be doing something starting this April in the on-line channels to capture the direct marketing channel,” Hermans said the sidelines of the formal launching of its health insurance products.

It insures almost 500,000 Filipinos, while AXA insures 102 million worldwide.

It operates nearly 2,000 sales agents and fields financial advisers in 500 of the nearly 900 branches of Metrobank nationwide.

In 2012, AXA Philippines ranked fourth overall among the country’s 32 life insurers.