AXA Life Insurance to invest EUR 13.8 mln in Romania

Newsroom 22/06/2012 | 17:26

The Romanian arm of the French insurer AXA Group will invest RON 61 million (EUR 13.8 million) this year to open new offices, recruit consultants and increase their brand value, in the same time aiming to double the volume of gross written premiums to RON 49 million (EUR 10.9 million).

Since launching in Romania last May, the insurer reached 52 offices and 566 consultants and it plans to expand to 58 offices and 800 consultants by year end.

The volume of gross written premiums grew by 22 percent year-on-year to RON 25 million (EUR 5.6 million) last year, while the vole of new business soared by 116 percent. AXA registered a loss of RON 39 million (EUR 8.7 million) last year, as it’s trying to gain a significant foothold in the local market.

“The expansion process is in full swing, and this is why I believe we will register losses in the next three years. Although we are conditioned by the market, we pursue a fast increase of the market share, so as to become one of the top players in the life insurance market on the acquisition of new clients by 2015,” said Violeta Ciurel, CEO AXA Life Insurance.

Ciurel said the life insurance market stood around EUR 370 million last year and will probably remain flat this year.

French AXA Group entered the Romanian market in 2010, when it acquired Omniasig Asigurari de Viata from Vienna Insurance Group, which later became AXA Life Insurance.

AXA launched earlier this week the first unit-linked insurance product in its portfolio, with a controllable investment component, called Start Invest.