Thailand needs to address the protection gap in the insurance industry to drive growth in the sector, which is critical for the country's economic development and the well-being of its people, says France-based insurer AXA.
Nicolas de Nazelle, chief executive of Southeast Asia and Korea, said Asean is very developed and advanced when it comes to life insurance, and AXA has products that are able to address the needs of different segments of the population.
General insurance, however, is probably an area where Southeast Asia lags behind and probably has a wider protection gap compared to the other markets where AXA has a presence and is operating in, Mr de Nazelle said in a recent interview with the Bangkok Post.
In Asean, AXA has a presence in Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia. In Thailand, the French insurer operates through two distinct entities, with its equal joint venture with Krungthai Bank (KTB) responsible for health and life insurance. AXA Insurance Thailand operates general insurance businesses, including motor and property insurance.
"Life and health insurance remains very significant in the Southeast Asian region, including Thailand obviously, because the market is relevant and the population is also educated to understand our products. I believe we can continue to do more in this segment," said Mr de Nazelle, who is also acting chief executive of Krungthai-AXA Life Insurance.
PROTECTION GAP
In the health and life insurance, Thailand is reasonably well penetrated when it comes to the wealthiest part of the population, while a protection gap persists in the lower-income segments.
"People that have the money and those with a good education will buy health and life insurance to protect themselves and their family in case of an event. This is making Thailand insurance penetration higher than other Asean countries like Vietnam, the Philippines or Indonesia," said Mr de Nazelle.
However, when it comes to the mass market, the vast majority of the population don't have that knowledge yet, and they don't have sufficient insurance protection.
"This is the part of the population where we want to invest much more to become more visible to address the protection gap."
Krungthai-AXA Life - Caravan Health Check is a very concrete way to become more visible to this lower part of the population. The project provides free basic health checkups to the general public nationwide, with a team of medical experts from leading hospitals in the network.
"Prevention is the key to help insurance clients become more aware and address the risks that they have when it comes to their health with checkups, medical advice and consultation to avoid getting into critical stages," he said.
The protection gap is more significant in general insurance, particularly in Thailand which increasingly faces risks of natural catastrophes such as floods and earthquakes.
"In Southeast Asia, only a minor part of the amount of the losses which are generated by these catastrophes is being covered either by government or insurance programmes," he noted.
Besides households, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines also need support when catastrophic events happen.
"When Thailand experienced the flood events last year, only a low single digit of the damages that were incurred were covered. That means more than 90% of the loss was not covered."
This is something which AXA, as an insurer, should try to better address with the government, and also support the population in those areas, providing solutions so they can be better covered when this kind of event happens.
"Comprehensive insurance coverage for SMEs can help businesses and the economy to restart. This is typically a segment of customers that we will be trying to provide concrete solutions to try to address the protection gap," he added.
THREE PILLARS
In his view, the success of AXA in Southeast Asia relies on three pillars. First is the quality of its distribution forces, which are both diversified and of high quality.
"We have very strong bancassurance channel through our joint venture partners. On the agency side, we want our agents to be real advisors to their clients, well trained to understand what they are selling to the clients," Mr de Nazelle noted.
The second competitive advantage is the joint venture partners in the region, which is quite unique.
"In the three markets we operate in within Southeast Asia, we are in a joint venture model, with our bank partners," he said.
In Indonesia, the second-largest market in the region behind Thailand, AXA established a joint venture with Bank Mandiri. AXA Philippines is a joint venture with Metrobank Group, the second-largest private universal bank in the country.
"When you think from a brand perspective, we have the power of two brands, which is a very strong local financial institution, and AXA: one of the leading insurance groups in the world," he said.
The third element that illustrates AXA strengths in the region is operational excellence in data analytics and AI.
"We are really putting a lot of energy and investments into modernising our platform to strengthen our data analytics to enhance the speed and the quality of our interactions with our customers."
INTERNATIONAL EXPERTISE
Appointed chief executive of Southeast Asia and Korea in January 2026, Mr de Nazelle joined the AXA group in 2009 and held several executive positions in finance and strategy. Over the past five years, he was chief financial officer and in charge of strategy for the international market of AXA, which covers Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and, since 2023, Southeast Asia.
"I also sit on the board of directors of many of our joint venture companies in the region, working closely with the teams, supporting them, and more specifically, working with our joint venture partners to make sure we have the same aligned objectives between the AXA group and our local partners, notably in Thailand."
Most recently, he was named acting chief executive of Krungthai-AXA Life Insurance.
