Allianz decided to set up an international healthcare business almost a decade ago. The Group’s German health insurer, Allianz Private Krankenversicherung, had been providing international health insurance to German multinational companies for many years, however, as it became clearer that a specialist service was needed, a new company, Allianz Worldwide Care, was established.
It was set up in Ireland in May 2000, under the direction of CEO Ron Buchan. Dublin was chosen as the home base for several reasons: it was English-speaking, there was a select pool of native and non-national graduates to recruit from, and the company could avail itself of the Freedom of Establishment status – allowing it to do business in any EU country. Being located in Dublin also meant it was in close proximity to its first target market, the UK. AWC landed its first UK client in May 2000. Since then, its client list has evolved from mainly legal and financial services firms to companies involved in almost every industry: construction, food, fashion, manufacturing, petro-chemical, pharmaceutical and transport.
Health insurance sans frontières
Buchan attributes "a good ability to judge and respond to situations" as a contributing factor to the company’s steady growth. Since its foundation, AWC has consistently achieved or exceeded its annual sales volume and profit targets. In 2008, the company was awarded an A rating from Standard & Poors. In the same year, it grew its sales by 25 percent, its profit by 50 percent, and its return on investment reached 23.9 percent.
Serendipity has also been at play: "When we entered this business in 2000, international healthcare was not a highly contested market," informs Buchan. "We were also fortunate to be able to ride the wave of globalization and the trend for companies to move personnel overseas in order to take advantage of international business opportunities and developing economies."
A UK broker credits AWC’s 95 percent client retention rate to the quality of its people: "Companies stay with AWC because its people make a difference," he says. "The company is flexible and its people are prepared to think and give thought intervention to problems."
Despite the financial crisis and associated cost-cutting at businesses all over the world, Buchan has seen relatively little fall out affecting AWC in the first half of 2009: "We have gained a significant number of new corporate clients since the beginning of the year and have seen our business in the UK and Latin America grow."
AWC now services clients in 150 countries from the Dublin office and is developing its regional business from hubs in its core markets, Germany and the UK, as well as offices in the growing United Arab Emirates, Italian, Swiss and Spanish markets. French, Luxembourg, Dutch and Belgian business is handled out of the Brussels office. The company totals 250 employees, who, from amongst as many as 30 nationalities, speak 28 languages.
Allianz Worldwide Care totals 250 employees, who, from amongst as many as 30 nationalities, speak 28 languages
Insurance sans frontières
When AWC was established, it focused initially on insuring expatriates only, progressing, over time, to also cover third country nationals (staff who are not nationals of the country where the company’s head office is based or of the country where they are currently employed). However, client needs continue to evolve. "More and more multi-national companies are now keen to provide similar international benefits to specific categories of employees, regardless of whether they’re local or foreign," explains Buchan. "The traditional concept of a health insurance policy restricted by geography is becoming increasingly out of touch with clients’ needs. People are increasingly mobile and healthcare cover should accompany them wherever they are. This is the future."
To address growing demand, AWC is in the planning stages of a major new initiative called "Sans Frontières," which will enable it to provide health insurance to all employees, both local and foreign, wherever they are in the world. This global service will be supported by the company’s web-based paperless claims and administration facilities and multilingual staff. Local cover – which is compliant from a legal and regulatory standpoint – can be provided in each country where the client has employees. This is advantageous to the corporate client, Buchan feels: "The client gains on several counts: he has a pooled risk fund for cost effectiveness; one administration point for ease of account management; and a more standardized international offering."
While Buchan’s vision is for AWC to provide health insurance "sans frontières," one of the main goals for 2009 is to achieve another strong result in terms of increasing premium income. Buchan’s sales team continues to form strong relationships with brokers, and is targeting growth in both core and developing markets. Latin America, Africa and New Europe are considered growth markets and the company is also active in Asia. In the German market, AWC works alongside Allianz companies such as Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty, All Net and Mondial Assistance to offer corporate clients access to a greater range of Allianz products.
In addition to growth in new business from in-house brokers at major corporations, AWC is seeing a growing number of customers source their individual healthcare cover directly on its website.
AWC also cooperates with other Allianz companies to enable them to enter local health insurance markets cost effectively, without their having to build a dedicated system. Product design is agreed jointly, the local company handles the distribution and AWC provides expertise and administration services. Risk can be either shared between the local entity and AWC, or AWC can carry the full risk. Using AWC’s "plug and play" web-based architecture, service can be either provided locally or from Dublin – or a combination service can be offered from both locations. This kind of Group company cooperation is already in place with Allianz Bulgaria Life.
"Being a part of a global network puts us at a distinct competitive advantage," notes Buchan. "International healthcare competitors may compete in many of the same markets, but they don’t have the local expertise Allianz has in each market with whom to call on and develop business."
The article first appeared in the employee magazine "Allianz Journal".
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