AXA Launches U.S. Employee Benefits Business

AXA S.A., a global financial protection and retirement savings leader, is further extending its footprint into the United States with the launch of its U.S. Employee Benefits business, through subsidiaries AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company and MONY Life Insurance Company of America.  This market entry builds on AXA S.A.’s expertise as a leading employee benefits insurer around the world, where it protects more than a million employees. AXA S.A. will apply this knowledge and experience as it develops its U.S. offering – a suite of benefits products scheduled to begin rollout in mid-2015, including group life insurance, dental and vision, short- and long-term disability, gap medical and hospital indemnity, and critical illness.

The company has assembled a highly experienced leadership team led by Hervé Balzano, a 15-year veteran of AXA S.A. and AXA France, who has a proven track record of founding and growing employee benefits businesses in markets around the world. Balzano was previously head of AXA S.A.’s International Employee Benefits business and president of the MAXIS Global Benefits Network.

AXA extensively researched the U.S. market opportunity and found that one segment – small- to medium-sized businesses with 20 to 500 employees – remains underserved. These businesses and their employees comprise roughly half of the expanding U.S. employee benefits market, which is undergoing transformation following the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

“AXA is entering the U.S. employee benefits market at a time of great opportunity to help business owners navigate new regulations and obtain affordable and flexible coverage for their employees,” said Balzano. “While competitors struggle to adapt their legacy services and technology to the present, we have the advantage of building, from the ground up, a seamless platform that is unencumbered by the past and ready for the future.”