Life insurance
Symphonis-Vie, a policy designed by Suravenir and distributed by Fortuneo Banque, won the overall life insurance prize awarded by Mieux Vivre Votre Argent. It also won the top prize for best policy in the free management category. Le Revenu awarded Suravenir a “Trophée d’or” in aggressive multisupport policies category for its Symphonis-Vie, Accord Avenir and Fidelity-Vie products, while Le Journal des Finances awarded Accord Avenir a gold medal and Prévi-Options a bronze medal.
Prévi-Options, Myrialis-Vie, Symphonis-Vie, LinxeAvenir, Accord Avenir and Meilleurtaux Vie all received a “Label d’Excellence” from Les Dossiers de l’Epargne.
Non-life insurance
“Labels d’Excellence” for Suravenir Assurances’ home cover, personal accident and automobile/motorbike contracts, as well as for Novélia’s e.Nov health contract (Les Dossiers de l’Epargne).
Company savings schemes
A Dossiers de l’Epargne “Label d’Excellence” for Federal Finance’s standard and Eparialis company savings plans.
New insurance products were released ahead of the coming into force in September of the loan insurance reform. The customer adviser personnel now have new weapons to face the resulting, artificially enhanced, competition. Cover was extended in the health insurance offer to facilitate access to high quality eye and dental care. The new hospital treatment policy also contributed to this business’ growth. Meanwhile, the cover and services provided as part of the home insurance offer were tweaked to make the related products more competitive, and additional offers were launched in auto insurance. These provide for special rates for drivers who do not use their car very often and targeted solutions for ACM auto cover holders who also own mopeds or motorcycles. Vehicle fleet insurance was also reviewed to better factor in the needs of business customers.
In addition, the ACM divisions have developed a third-party liability solution specifically for small business entrepreneurs as an add-on to the existing banking offer for this customer
Abroad, RACC Seguros, the company created as a result of the partnership agreement between ACM and Royal Automobile Club de Catalogne, rounded out its offer with a new home insurance contract.
The ICM Life activity conducted in collaboration with Banque de Luxembourg grew strongly thanks to a new range of products targeting a high-end customer base, while Belgian non-life insurer Partners continued to expand. While its auto, home and personal accident cover has been available for direct online subscription since September 2010, customers still place a high priority on having a branch close at hand where they can obtain advice.
Since early 2011 Crédit Mutuel and CIC have been adapting the internet applications developed by Partners for use in their remote banking services. As a result, internet users can now carry out the same insurance procedures online as those on offer in branches, such as subscribing to new policies, while still having the advantage of
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A dedicated entity was set up for managing claims on loan insurance policies on behalf of all of Cofidis’ European brands.
Moreover, the ACM insurance companies are pleased with progress made on the major preparations needed for the application of the new Solvency 2 prudential rules as from 1 January 2013.
Suravenir, the life and personal insurance
subsidiary of Crédit Mutuel Arkéa and Crédit Mutuel Loire-Atlantique et Centre-Ouest, proved its financial solidity in 2010 by, for the first time, posting net profit in excess of €100 million (up 11% from 2009).
It earned 23% of its premium income, which increased by 6% to €2.6 billion, outside the Crédit Mutuel Arkéa group. Net insurance income was up 10% at €204 million, while fees paid to the distributor networks grew 7% to €182 million.
Against a highly unstable economic and financial backdrop, the appeal of Suravenir’s contracts for customers was clear, with €1 billion of net new money and a 7% increase
in life insurance outstandings to €25 billion. Meanwhile, the personal insurance and loan insurance businesses continued to perform strongly. With a substantial portfolio of some 1.3 million customers, this activity posted premium income of €200 million, representing a 10% increase year-on-year, on €30.7 billion of capital-at-risk.
These results underline the relevance of Suravenir’s multidistribution strategy and its prudent financial management, which is, as always, geared to achieving a secure, sustainable return for its policyholders. This multidistribution strategy is based around four distribution channels: a banking network channel made up of Crédit Mutuel's shareholder federations – Bretagne, Sud- Ouest, Massif Central and Loire-Atlantique et Centre-Ouest, together with Banque Privée Européenne; a “white label” channel for distributing Suravenir products under other brand names (Fortuneo, Banque Accord, Meilleurtaux.com, Fidelity and Linxea); a channel dedicated to independent financial
Crédit Mutuel Nord Europe manages nearly two million life and non-life contracts through two subsidiaries: ACMN Vie and
ACMN Iard.
In 2010, in an economic and financial environment that was reasonably favourable for life insurance, ACMN Vie recorded strong sales, with a 1% increase in premium income to €1.6 billion. Online sales now account for 13% of new business.
The company upgraded a number of its products over the course of the year, releasing a new version of ACMN Avenir and enhancing the ACMN Horizon Patrimoine range with new financial facilities.
It also set up a number of new partnerships and introduced new contracts online, earning widespread recognition from the financial press for both innovation and performance (“Label d’Excellence” from Les Dossiers de l’Epargne for ACMN Horizon Patrimoine and Nea Patrimoine and “Trophée d’Argent” from Le Revenu for ACMN Horizon Patrimoine). Managed funds amounted to €9.8 billion, spread over nearly 904,000 life insurance contracts.
AMCN Vie posted net profit of €25.5 million in 2010.
ACMN Iard’s premium income continued
to rise, gaining 4.4% to €117 million, compared with a 1.5% increase the previous year. In a highly competitive environment, the company concentrated on health and personal insurance, leading to numerous new signings in this area and further growth of deposits on existing contracts across the board (motor, home, health and personal), while the adoption rate continued to rise. Net profit decreased 19% to €2.3 million owing to an increase in claims.
ACMN Iard continued to adapt its offer to its policyholders’ requirements and develop its portfolio while working hard to secure loyalty among existing customers.
With this in mind, it focused on its strongest p ro d u c t s, e n h a n ce d i t s d ay - t o - d ay m a n a g e m e n t a n d p r i o r i t i s e d a s s e t advisers; and a company retirement savings
channel.
The Crédit Mutuel federations and other partner networks together constitute a distribution network with a sales force of 10,000 customer advisers.
This high quality service, which focuses on innovation and customer satisfaction, regularly attracts praise from specialised publications.
Suravenir Assurances, a wholly owned
subsidiary of Crédit Mutuel Arkéa, manages more than 1.6 million contracts covering a comprehensive range of non-life insurance products. It signed 191,000 new contracts in 2010.
The company continued to support environ- mentally responsible consumption, notably through the creation of a limited mileage motor insurance deal.
Its broker networks, comprising wholesale broker Novélia and the local mutuals, contributed 30% of this activity’s growth. 2010 premium income exceeded €230 million