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Featuring AXA Hong Kong and Macau’s Kevin Chor and Perkin Shek, Benchmark’s Best-in-Class winners of Critical Illness and Savings products, on the increasing demand for Sustainability, digitization of client servicing, and managing lifelong protection.

In this Benchmark Sustainable Wealth Forum episode, we feature Kevin Chor, Chief Life and Health Insurance Officer & Perkin Shek, Chief Health and Protection Product Officer of AXA Hong Kong and Macau, to have a chat over their best-in-class products.

Award-winning products: ***Critical Illness – MultiPro Critical Illness Protection Series ***Saving Product – Wealth Ultra Savings Plan

Sustainability is not traditionally a concept that one would associate with insurance companies. Instead, push marketing strategy usually comes to people’s minds when they think of insurers—a perception that generally turns people off the idea of talking to insurers altogether

All that AXA Hong Kong and Macau have given a facelift over the past couple of years.

GROWING THE MARKET
Named Insurance Company of the Year and Brand of the Year, by no other than the prestigious BENCHMARK, AXA has adopted an advice-led approach in its marketing strategy. Rather than cannibalizing the market or trying to steal someone else’s market share, the French insurer opts to grow the critical illness market, so much so that everyone now gets a bigger slice of the market. And that is just part of what makes AXA the forward thinker of the insurance industry.

PIONEERING VALUE-ADDING SERVICES
“We started with the belief that sustainable business results would only come in the long term through taking good care of our customers and assisting them in taking good care of themselves.” With that in mind, AXA incorporates in their critical illness contracts a series of value-adding services, including preventative measures, post-treatment care, and services that take care of the clients’ family members. “I believe those are encouraging. But I would even expect tangible results, uplift in health outcomes, uplift in health conditions should be observable even more clearly in the next few years.”

SUSTAINABLE WEALTH PLANNING
“Nowadays the customers are not only looking for short-term results. They also need to balance between the short and the long.” The theme of sustainability does not just stop there. Products that carry the same sustainability theme include savings products emphasizing wealth accumulation and products that do not just last a lifetime but can be passed onto future generations.

SOLID, TRANSPARENT ESG POLICY
“Investment policies and frameworks are indeed a big part of our overall ESG policy, strategies, and AXA as a group.” Such an ESG policy means a lot more than simply not investing in tobacco companies, and it is a policy that evolves. And if you are still not convinced about their ESG policy, their 88/100 score on the Dow Jones ESG Index should give you a vote of confidence.AXA has always been very proactive in being transparent to its customers. Before a customer signs a new contract or agrees to a new proposal, AXA’s past performance results are available for their perusal in the decision-making process. Such products are not limited to just recent sales results, year-on-year, and other crucial figures are accessible as well.

LEARNING FROM 2020
If 2020 has taught us anything, it would be uncertainty. It did not just teach us to plan and prepare for the unexpected. It has also reminded insurers to constantly modernize and evolve their offerings to satisfy their clients’ ever-changing needs.AXA was one of the first insurers to respond to COVID. It was the very first insurer to offer free COVID insurance to Hospital Authority staff. That undoubtedly bears testament to their alertness and readiness to evolve with the changing environment.

GOING FORWARD
AXA is set to adapt to a new environment impacting everyone— customers, families, and friends. AXA believes that for an insurer to succeed, they would have to adapt to the changing environment in several areas—how accessible they are to their customers, their after-sales service, and how well and fast their products evolve to catch up with the latest happenings. It is of utmost importance that their products are timely and in tune with what is needed at the moment.

This episode is co-hosted by Elsa Pau, CEO of WealthAsia Group, and one of our industry veteran judges, Alexandra Tracy, President of Hoi Ping Ventures.

AXA‘s corporate culture and values, and principles make them the winner of the Year’s Academy of the Year. Jason Wat and Claudia Hodges from AXA Hong Kong and Macau talk about their unique training programs and the academy design, and what translates as value for the customer.

Listen to AXA Chief Agency Officer Jason Wat and Distribution Training Director Claudia Hodges talk about the acclaimed AXA Academy and find out what makes AXA Academy the deserving winner of the Academy of the Year Award title.
Award-winning products: ***Academy of the Year

There’s no end to learning. While everyone has heard of this saying, AXA truly realizes it.

Named Academy of the Year, AXA’s Academy is not the usual orientation that people would expect when starting with a company. Far from it. Designed to groom their agents, find their strengths, and place them in the suitable buckets, all the way from retirement, wealth management to health, AXA’s Academy puts their financial planners through intensive and on-going training programs.

“Having knowledge is the backbone and is fundamental. Then we build on knowledge to develop the attitude. Attitude is the essence of professionalism.” The design of the whole curriculum is based on two elements – competency and commitment. When these two components are in place, an in-house training program is developed based on the KASH training concept.

K – Knowledge A – Attitude S – Skills H – Habit

Just like many other insurance companies, all AXA agents start by receiving new agent training, which equips them with basic knowledge—the importance of insurance and financial planning. On top of that, AXA Academy instills the “One AXA” concept in their agents, i.e., learning about life insurance and MPF and other investment products. All newly-hired AXA financial planners go through intensive training in their first year.

“So, when we design with that knowledge base, I started to look for external help.” As for agents with a few years of experience under their belt, AXA Academy aims to equip them with more knowledge and professionalism. It is where external experts come in. These experts, e.g., consultants and educational institutes, help expand the agents’ knowledge base and horizon. A series of leadership training programs are also available to nurture and prepare junior leaders for senior leadership roles.

“I put a lot of effort to help them to open their eyes, open their minds and to be humble.” Apart from knowledge, attitude is also important. Therefore, mindset training comes on top of the whole curriculum. It is to open the agents’ eyes and minds and for them to learn to be humble and to be able to learn more from others.

Top producers or leaders own at least one-third of AXA Academy’s programs to equip agents with better selling skills.

“Our purpose is not only business but also to equip our financial planners with a vision that they’re… impacting others … Always be the one that can help others.” As a whole, AXA Academy’s curriculum is purpose-driven. Ultimately, agents are groomed to become experts in their fields. An example would be a tailor-made course recently developed in collaboration with The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. It aims to prepare agents to become experts in the medical field so that when potential clients come across medical or health issues, they would immediately reach out to these AXA agents.

EMBRACING DIGITAL
“What we need to do is to embrace the technology, embrace the opportunity.”

Insurance is a people industry. 2020 was exceptionally challenging, particularly for new agents who had to start from scratch and build up a rapport with potential clients without face-to-face communication. Lucky for them, though, AXA embarked on its digital journey three to four years back, making it possible for its agents to communicate with potential clients digitally. For example, chats on iPad and applications being submitted via mobile devices.

CORPORATE CULTURE
“All our training has is on how to put our customers first; to understand their needs, know your customers. That’s basic for everybody.” AXA’s corporate culture is all about ‘Customer First.’ All training at AXA Academy is about putting customers first, understanding their needs, and knowing the customers. In short, agents need to think like their customers.

With a new program coming out every week, learning really never ends at AXA.

This episode is hosted by Elsa Pau, CEO of WealthAsia Group, with her co-host, Marc-Karim Baloch, a Spencer Stuart’s Financial Services Practice consultant.