Axa, Switzerland's largest non-life insurer came through 2022 in good shape thanks to a decision made in 2018.
Axa Switzerland posted an eight percent increase in net profit to 812 million Swiss francs ($879 million) for the year ended 2022, the insurer, part of French financial group Axa, announced (in German) Thursday.
The company said key factors were good performance in its core general insurance business and lower major losses compared with those in 2021. Gross premiums increased three percent to 5.6 billion Swiss francs compared with fiscal 2021.
Lower Claims Expenses
The combined ratio in the General Insurance business improved by 2.8 percentage points year-on-year to 88.6 percent, thanks to efficiency gains and lower claims expenses.
While premium volume in Axa Switzerland's core business increased by two percent to 3.7 billion Swiss francs, volumes in the life segment, primarily with semi-autonomous collective foundations in occupational pension plans (BVG), rose by eight percent to 770 million francs. New business even climbed by 46 percent to 655 million francs.
Private Pension Milestone
This shows a strategic decision made in 2018 paid off. At the time, AXA Switzerland decided to no longer offer full insurance in BVG plans and convert the full insurance foundations into semi-autonomous ones starting in 2019.
In private pensions, premium volume grew by one percent to one billion francs. Health plans launched in 2017 with products in supplementary health insurance achieved their strongest result to date. While premium income rose 32 percent year-on-year to 66 million Swiss francs, its customer base grew by more than 37,000 policyholders.
Asset management for BVG third-party clients recorded a 7 percent increase to 41 billion francs.
