The MAXIS GBN pooling network on February 7, 2017, officially opened its new headquarters in London, U.K., located at 11 Monument Street in the City. Since its launch in 1998, MAXIS, an AXA-MetLife partnership, had been managed from Paris and New York City.

According to CEO Mauro Dugulin, in the present context of diminishing returns on multinational pooling; increasing interest in the use of captives; a greater thirst for information; and rising healthcare costs, it is important to be at the center of the insurance world, i.e. in London. Also present at the Monument Street offices opening and representing parent companies AXA and MetLife were Maria Morris, Executive Vice President Global Employee Benefits MetLife; Interim Head of the US business; and a member of MetLife’s Executive Group; as well as co-chairmen of MAXIS GBN Mattieu Rouot, SVP Head of International Employee Benefit at AXA France and Dan DeKeiser, Senior Vice President, Regional Risk Management at MetLife.

A major investment program underway includes the new London offices; staff; and technology and is supported by refreshed branding and marketing, starting with a new logo. The previous one had been launched in 1999, 18 years ago.

MAXIS has developed a new IT platform, BRIDGE, currently being deployed and which provides pricing and data analytics; the system is ISO 27001 certified. The ISO 27001 standard deals with securing information assets such as employee details and other data entrusted to an organization by third parties.

MAXIS today comprises 135 member insurance firms based in 110 markets and serves around 750 multinational clients. It won 50 new global clients in 2016 and doubled the number of its employees over the past six months, to approximately 40 as of February, 2017. It plans to expand further in 2017, primarily in London.

The network is targeting 20% growth in overall volume of premiums in 2017. It will focus on increasing business with existing clients and on deepening its relationships with employee benefit consultants. Geographically, primary target markets for growth include the U.S., France, Germany, the U.K., The Netherlands and Switzerland.

Later in 2017, MAXIS is expected to add a range of global mobility products to its global employee benefits optimization solutions, building on existing MetLife and AXA offerings.

After the creation of a joint legal entity, announced in November 2015, these developments show the sustained confidence of parent companies AXA and MetLife in the potential of the global employee benefits market; their appetite for the group health, life and pensions lines of business; and their commitment to serving the corporate market with a focus on the needs of risk managers.