Based on an assessment that employers with between 20-200 employees are un-served with respect to employee benefit services, the French global financial services giant AXA S.A. is entering that market.
The company will offer a panoply of insurance products including dental, short-and long-term disability, life, hospital indemnity critical illness and gap medical.
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 Hervé Balzano, a 15-year AXA veteran, who will lead the new unit.
The company stated that the ongoing upheaval in the benefits world attributable to the ongoing unfolding of the Affordable Care Act makes this an opportune time to jump into what is already a crowded field.
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, Balzano stated in a press release.
The new unit, expected to be operational by mid-year, will operate through AXA U.S. subsidiaries AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company and MONY Life Insurance Company of America.
Leadership team
Besides Balzano, who has launched other employee benefits units for AXA in other countries, key players in the new U.S. division include:
- James Long, head of distribution. Long leads the creation of AXAs national and regional structure for distributing AXAs suite of employee benefits products and services to independent brokers, general agents and AXAs retail network of AXA Advisors, LLC. financial professionals.
- Leann Bohner, head of operations & technology. Bohner leads the team responsible for developing AXAs differentiating digital experience serving AXAs targeted clients independent brokers and general agents, employers and employees. She also is charged with building, from the ground up, AXAs future-ready technology infrastructure and services.
- Amanda Turcotte, chief actuary and head of product, pricing & underwriting. Turcotte leads the team responsible for designing and bringing AXAs employee benefits product suite to market.
AXA S.A. is a Paris-headquartered holding company for a group of international insurance and financial services companies, including AXA Equitable Financial Services, LLC companies. AXA S.A., a global player in financial protection strategies and wealth management, has about 102 million clients in 56 countries.
