Repositioning a global financial business

“Axa has made a good start to its new strategic plan: ‘Unlock the Future’,” the company proudly states in its most recent financial report.

The numbers tell a compelling story for the business, with the first half of the year granting 7% organic revenue growth and a 4% increase in underlying earnings per share.

Chief executive officer, Thomas Buberl, accredited this growth to “the strength of our business model” which has been balanced between “commercial and retail lines, and diversified across geographies.”

But that business model is about to change.

In the same set of disclosures, Axa outlined its plans to sell its Investment Managers division to BNP Paribas.

“In the context of a rapidly consolidating and highly competitive asset management industry, the group has considered different options to further simplify its business profile and grow its insurance business.” Buberl said.

The decision stimulated much discussion from analysts who opined over the ongoing pressure on margins for traditional active managers, and the strong numbers that the insurance part of Axa’s business has been witnessing in recent months.

What next?

Axa diversified into asset management in 1994 with the establishment of Axa Investment Managers.

The company also had the subsidiary brand of Axa Framlington on some its funds. While the proposed sale will see Axa dispose of its asset management operations to BNP Paribas for an estimated transaction value of 5.4 billion euros, it will benefit from a substantial cash injection.

For the company’s marketers this simplification presents both boundless possibilities and challenges.

In the comms accompanying the proposed transaction much was made of “a long-term strategic partnership” where BNP Paribas will continue to provide investment management services to the business.

Axa is no stranger to partnerships, particularly in its marketing. The most high profile example of this is the ongoing relationship with Premier League football club, Liverpool, which originated in 2018 when the group became the club’s official insurance partner.

Since 2018, the relationship between the two has grown exponentially with Axa expanding to become training kit partner and securing naming rights for the training centre. 2024 was no different, with Axa agreeing a five-year extension of the deal until at least 2029.

“Following our previous dedication to the women’s teams by lending our name to their new training centre seven months ago, becoming the sole and exclusive Global Training Partner of the club is a significant milestone for us, reaffirming our strategy of a fruitful and purposeful collaboration around our brand priorities,” said Virginie Berçot, the company’s global brand director.

Off the pitch, partnerships play a significant role in promoting the company’s travel insurance offering too. In 2024, it has already extended its global distribution partnership with digital travel booking platform Trip.com, launching a new product available uniquely to Trip.com customers.

“This ongoing collaboration enables us to leverage our collective expertise to offer advanced travel product solutions and elevate the service experience for travellers.” Adelane Mecellem, regional chief executive officer at Axa Partners, explained.

Inclusive marketing

“Partnerships” isn’t necessarily one of the seven marketing mix “ps” taught to students, and nor is “purpose” – but, at the start of the year, Axa set out a strategic plan which underscored the importance of embracing purpose to achieve its commercial goals.

By partnering with the Universal Postal Union, Axa has targeted inclusive insurance through postal networks this year.

The UPU is a dedicated agency of the United Nations set up to coordinate postal policies among UN member nations. Joint research between Axa and UPU revealed that over 1.5 billion people worldwide – approximately 28% of the global adult population – access financial services through postal networks with 53% of post offices in the world providing insurance.

Through Axa’s Emerging Customers entity, the Group’s inclusive insurance business, it has attracted customers seeking “affordable” and “accessible” insurance solutions.

At the time of writing, the business has more than 14 million people and micro-businesses insured, by leveraging physical and digital distribution channels that target lower income classes.

Inclusive insurance was at the heart of Axa’s new Unlock the Future strategic plan, which set out ambitions to protect over 20 million customers around the world by 2026.

Building on the partnership, UPU and Axa have continued working together to establish the Postal Insurance Technical Assistance Facility (PITAF).

PITAF aims to provide local posts with both technical and financial support to avail, expand or diversify inclusive insurance schemes.

Capitalising on the UPU’s postal network and Axa’s insurance expertise, PITAF helps to promote financial inclusion and risk mitigation amongst underserved populations.

Insuring on purpose

With an aim of sustaining both financial inclusion and climate transition this year, inclusive insurance was not the only purpose focused initiative delivered by the group.

To be seen as a responsible player in the face of environmental challenges, Axa rolled out training to shareholders about the challenges of climate change.

After having trained 96% of its employees in the challenges of climate change through a training program created by Axa Climate, the group extended the training, ‘The Climate School’, to its individual shareholders. “Axa has always placed science at the heart of its actions.” said Ulrike Decoene, group chief communication, brand & sustainability officer.

“This training course, which we have opened to our individual shareholders, is one of the ways in which we are demonstrating this.

“By educating as many people as possible, we are continuing and persevering in our commitment to a more virtuous, low-carbon world.”

Axa’s Climate School has been produced with contributions from over 120 scientists, experts and researchers around the world and is the most comprehensive 100% digital micro-learning catalogue on environmental and sustainable transition issues to date.

The development of extra financial knowledge is an important focus for Axa as it aims to achieve an effective and sustainable transition of its business.

A helping hand

Aligned with its corporate purpose, the insurer has significantly increased its marketing focus on SMEs and mid-market activity in recent months.

As outlined in its strategic objectives, Axa committed to investing for the long term, notably in technology and growth initiatives.

This year it announced its support for the Insurance Development Forum’s Infrastructure Resilience Development Blueprint.

This initiative aims to mobilise and facilitate insurance sector investments in infrastructure that enhance the resilience of vulnerable communities.

Through its support of the initiative Axa can invest in a diversified range of greenfield and brownfield commercial infrastructure projects in sectors such as renewable energy, water, waste, transportation, social, digital infrastructure and telecommunication.

“Our involvement in the Infrastructure Resilience Development Blueprint reflects our commitment to leveraging insurance sector capabilities to support resilient infrastructure development and protect vulnerable communities in addition to maintaining our usual investments’ objectives including risk selection and returns,” said Jean-Baptiste Tricot, group chief investment officer.

Going sky high

Partnerships, charity campaigning and an inclusive focus has not been all for the group’s marketing department this year, however. In fact, their ambitions have been sky high.

The Hong Kong and Macau division of the global insurer signed an embedded distribution and branding deal that has seen Axa’s logo featured on the side of the airline’s first A321 neo aircraft.

In Hong Kong this was the first time a brand had featured on an aircraft livery.

“We collaborate with leading partners from different industries and strive to offer more personalised and tailored coverage,” said Kenneth Lai, chief general insurance officer, Axa Hong Kong and Macau.

“We understand that the demand for travel insurance has become more diverse. We have aimed to bring a seamless travel experience to our customers.”

Customers booking flights through the HK Express website have since enjoyed the choice to add an Axa travel insurance product to their booking in a single click.

Axa has a shared interest in target markets that sit within HK Express’s route network including Mainland China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan China, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines.

Ultimately, innovation, trial and error, and purpose have been the key tools in Axa’s marketing toolbox so far in 2024.

What remains to be seen now is how the newly available funds from its sale of the asset management arm will be deployed in the years that follow.