AXA Isle of Man will be known as Utmost Wealth Solutions, as of Monday, following the completion of its acquisition by Life Company Consolidation Group.
Following the agreement, announced in April, as reported, to purchase AXA Isle of Man Limited and its related businesses from AXA SA, Life Company Consolidation Group (LCCG) announced in statement released today that the acquisition has been completed. As a result, the new trading name for the companies from 24 October will be Utmost Wealth Solutions.
Mike Foy, chief executive of Utmost Wealth Solutions said: “We trust that advisers will find that our new and distinct brand provides a reassuringly familiar reflection of our traditional service values built up over nearly 25 years. In addition, we believe that our new independence and single minded focus on meeting the needs of the wealthy will resonate with advisers and clients alike.”
The change of ownership and company name does not impact existing contractual relationships, and the company has written to all policyholders and their advisers informing them of the change. All existing products and related services are unaffected, the statement read.
‘Significant landmark’
Paul Thompson, group chief executive at LCCG, said: “Today’s announcement sees the culmination of several months’ work to complete the acquisition and re-branding of a longstanding and trusted market player. This acquisition also represents a significant landmark in the strategic development of LCCG and its ambitions to consolidate open, as well as closed, books of life business”
A number of life companies have been looking to sell or dramatically alter their business models, following a series of planned regulatory changes, seen by many firms as restrictive. In particular the European union’s Solvency II initiative has forced many firms to reconsider their options.
‘International linked life business’
As part of the deal with AXA Isle of Man, LCCG also announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire the international linked life business of AXA Life Europe Limited (ALE), an Irish incorporated subsidiary of AXA SA, to be implemented by way of a High Court business transfer scheme.
This acquisition is expected to conclude in early 2017 and at such time the acquired ALE business will be transferred to an existing Irish incorporated insurance subsidiary of LCCG and will be marketed under the Utmost Wealth Solutions brand. In the intervening period, new business will continue to be written by ALE under the AXA brand and will be transferred to the LCCG group on completion of the court scheme, the statement concluded.
