January 24, 2019
Since 2 January 2019, OneLife is part of the APICIL Group, the fourth-largest social protection group in France, engaged in health and life insurance, pensions, savings products and related financial services. This acquisition reflects the Group’s desire to develop its international wealth solutions offer through a Luxembourg life assurance specialist that has provided cross-border asset and wealth management solutions throughout Europe for over 25 years.
The APICIL Group’s motto is “80 Years of Protection and Service”. We look at a committed, solid and resolutely people-oriented player.
APICIL: A perfect balance between economic and social concerns
With more than 2,000 employees serving 2.2 million policyholders, APICIL is a mutualist insurance group with equitable governance. The Group’s mutual insurance companies are governed directly by representatives elected by those insured. The APICIL Group as a whole is governed in equal parts by designated representatives of the employers and the major employee trade unions. This distinctive organisation ensures balance and efficiency in the Group’s management.
It is important to note that the Group’s governing structure is a not-for-profit association. This means that it is not driven by a profit motive in order to remunerate shareholders. Rather, its aims are protection, innovation and excellence, as it continuously reinvests the profits it generates to support public interest causes and to develop new solutions that benefit its partners and customers. It is thus a virtuous circle where value creation is key, while striving to maintain a balance between social action and economic performance.
A diverse offer, with multiple areas of expertise
Created in 1938, the APICIL Group was initially developed in the health and protection market: supplementary health insurance, life insurance, long-term care insurance, disability insurance, etc. Since then, the Group has striven to offer high-quality supplementary protection that is tailored to the evolving needs of social partners, whether employers’ organisations or trade unions. In this context, proximity is an essential factor in order to properly identify needs and propose innovative and relevant solutions for all.
To better understand the needs as regards health, well-being and performance in the workplace, the APICIL Group has for several years conducted research and testing in this area. Developing a space for dialogue and sharing with its customers, creating the Workplace Well-Being Index and launching a “Health and Performance at Work” committee are some examples of its commitment to healthcare and prevention.
Supplementary pensions constitute the APICIL Group’s second historical pillar, aimed at supporting both companies in defining supplementary pension solutions that meet regulatory developments and their employees by providing them with personalised advice throughout their careers.
The latest division of savings and financial services was developed a little less than 10 years ago. It offers a variety of savings products and sophisticated financial management solutions to a diversified clientèle, directly or through preferred partners such as wealth management advisors. The acquisition of OneLife falls within this latter division and is aimed at accelerating the development of the Group’s asset and wealth management activities in Europe through Luxembourg life insurance policies offered in accordance with EU law (“freedom to provide services”) to a customer base that is both mobile and international.
Robust growth, financial stability
With €2.4 billion in revenue in 2017 in life and health insurance and financial services and a total of €13.6 billion in assets under management, the APICIL Group is experiencing strong growth in all its businesses, driven in particular by the DEFIS 2020 roadmap launched in 2017, which aims to set the Group apart by 2020 through innovation and excellence.
Lastly, the Group’s 233% solvency ratio confirms its solidity and financial health. Moody’s report on APICIL Prévoyance, submitted in early January 2019, highlights this financial strength with an A3 rating and a stable outlook.
For Moody’s, this rating reflects “APICIL Group’s well-established position in the French health and protection market, its diversified and moderate product risk profile as well as its strong capitalisation”.
A committed and socially responsible player
The Group strives to create a positive dynamic based on solidarity, redistribution in the real economy and social action in order to satisfy the common interests of corporate clients, policyholders and society as a whole. As proof of this commitment, in 2017 the APICIL Group invested more than €16 million in community actions, particularly in favour of family carers, occupational health and prevention, disability and reinsertion into the workforce.
In parallel with this community engagement, the Group develops comprehensive policies to motivate its employees, develop businesses and take action for the environment.
The relevance of its commitments to sustainable development, the robustness of its governance model, and the solidity of its CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) approach, were recently recognised by the Vigeo Eiris rating agency, which awarded APICIL Group an overall rating of 54/100, corresponding to a “robust” performance.
Vigeo Eiris assesses companies’ environmental, social and governance performance by analysing six areas: the environment, human resources, governance, community involvement, human rights and business behaviour. In its rating report, the agency highlights the advanced level of the Group’s commitments and their deployment in social areas, “in particular through the effectiveness of social dialogue, to the many measures aimed at protecting work-life as well as fighting discrimination”.
As OneLife consolidates its growth with very satisfactory results for 2018 in its various European markets, APICIL’s strength, values and commitment are all factors that will facilitate OneLife’s integration into the Group. In addition, the combined expertise and skills will foster synergies in order to meet the main objective: to further develop the OneLife brand in the European market, creating value for its partners and customers over the long term, in a respectful and efficient manner.
More information on the APICIL Group : http://www.groupe-apicil.com
