AXA 2022 schemes review

Authored by Gary Head, AXA Director of Schemes and Delegated Authorities

It has been a significant year for AXA Schemes, with many highlights and some magical moments to inspire us as we head into 2023. We’ve seen significant growth in our Specialty lines business and we’ve welcomed new colleagues and business partners through the Ageas UK commercial deal and we even completed a really tough, but extremely successful, fundraising event in the Peak District which helped to raise over £32,000 for our charity partners. Since 2020 the AXA Schemes team have now raised over £80,000 for good causes in the local communities in which we live and work.

One common aspect of all of these highlights is that none of them would have been possible without with the support and encouragement of our brokers and Delegated Authority partners. We consider the Delegated Authority business we do with our brokers as a ‘contract of trust’, and we look for partners who embody our customer-centric culture and values. These relationships are the foundation of mutual success and, as we work to support businesses to thrive, we are very grateful to our partners for their commitment to this. We never take their business for granted and know that they have choices.

In terms of propositions, the Delegated Authority market has taken another great step forward this year, continuing to prove that it is a compelling route to market for more and more customers each and every year. At AXA, we’re not just here to provide capacity but to genuinely partner with our DAs. We bring conduct capability, data and technical know-how as well as access to a vast network of expertise from right across our business. We have been working to ensure that we are having regular, meaningful conversations about how we can support the scheme and, where appropriate, giving brokers more authority to help them grow and to improve customer service.

Looking ahead to 2023, I’m certain it is going to be a really exciting year despite the challenges which come with inflation. We will be continuing to evolve our business and propositions with a focus on widening product capability, moving into new areas, and growing even deeper long-term relationships with our key partners.

We will also be promoting our exclusive schemes through AXA’s branch network and expanding our schemes proposition to all the brokers AXA Commercial currently works with. This means that we can cater for more and more businesses, with tailormade solutions from those SMEs with unique requirements right up to large corporates with complex needs.

Having onboarded 11 new schemes in 2022, we are hungry for more. Our principles remain the same: we want to work with brokers who mirror our values and who deliver profitable products that provide customers with great and expected outcomes. We also want our partnerships to be built to last into 2023 and beyond.