The Swiss business of Axa has had a very prosperous 2017 thanks to strong returns on investments. The life insurance business didn’t perform quite as well.
Axa Winterthur had net income of 880 million Swiss francs in 2017, up 10 percent from 2016, the insurer said in a statement today. And that’s even as the core business wasn’t performing at its best.
The business volume of the Swiss unit of Axa declined 1.3 percent to 10.9 billion francs, weighed down by the performance of the life insurance business. Life premiums dropped 2.4 percent and the new business reclined by a whopping 18 percent.
Good Start of Health Care Business
Axa Winterthur managed to increase its profit thanks not least to the strong investment result, in particular on alternative capital investments.
Axa Winterthur last year launched a new portfolio of health insurance policies. The company said the business had started well with 11,000 contracts signed.
The Digital Age
The Swiss business has almost 4,000 members of staff and has its headquarters in Winterthur. The company is currently undergoing a major investment program designed to move the insurer into the digital age and to expand into new business fields (including health care).
Axa Winterthur increased the budget for the investment program to 160 million francs for the years through 2020, up from a previous 100 million, the company said in the statement.
