(AXA identified small- to medium-sized American businesses as an underserved market segment in the wake of the Affordable Care Act. Image credit: Dollar Photo Club.)

AXA (Paris) is expanding its presence in the United States through the launch of its U.S. Employee Benefits business through its AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company and Mony Life Insurance Company of America subsidiaries. The new business will draw from AXA’s global experience in the employee benefits business (over a million employees covered) to release a suite of benefits products, scheduled to begin rollout in mid-2015, including group life insurance, dental and vision, short- and long-term disability, gap medical and hospital indemnity and critical illness.

The new business’ leadership team will be led by Hervé Balzano, a 15-year veteran of AXA S.A. and AXA France, who has what the insurer terms a proven track record of founding and growing employee benefits businesses in markets around the world. Balzano was previously head of AXA’s International Employee Benefits business and president of the MAXIS Global Benefits Network.

In researching the U.S. market opportunity, AXA found that the small- to medium-sized business segment (20 to 500 employees) remains underserved. That segment comprises about half of what AXA characterizes as an expanding U.S. employee benefits market in the throes of transformation driven by promulgation of the Affordable Care Act.

Time of Great Opportunity

“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,” comments Balzano. “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 discusses the new business venture at the video linked below, provided by the carrier: