But there will be no immediate opening creditsSuddenly we turned to the consumer marketMoreover the schedule for the payment of the 1All things not always within the reach of SMEsThe rest is invested in shares andor bondsCurrently the offered premium amounts on average to 13It has been 10 times for AIA and is mounted most recently until 1SFR prepares its offensive for long monthsIt did exacerbate a diffuse sense of illegitimacyEC which Canal took note with satisfactionStricken by the stock market crisis a few years ago, life online, again driven by the dynamism of contracts l'alphabet knows a return to grace for two years. The recent arrival on this niche of Meilleurtaux, company until then specialized in... real estate brokerage, is one example of the attractiveness that this sector. "Today, Internet life insurance represents just 1 of the domestic market, but it is the most influential distribution channel of the sector that tomorrow might impose its law", says Pierre Arraou.
This independent, founder of the investment-direct site heritage management consultant, is part of the rare survivors of the first wave of promoters of life online. Alongside actors such as Symphonis (financial company of the Credit Mutuel) or Altaprofits (partially owned by the AGF), it is today facing competition teeth such as stakeholder Boursorama (Société Générale Group, the portfolio of Fimatex and Self Trade buyer), ING Direct, Cortal Consors (BNP Paribas) or even Sicavonline. "Life insurance is one of our strong areas of development," indicates in Boursorama, whose outstanding managed as life went from EUR 102 million end of 2004 (a few months after its launch) to 330 million end of 2005. "We want to take advantage of attractive renewed for diverse contracts, which often goes hand in hand with a maturity of the insured to the stock exchange, compared to what could happen at the end of the 1990s."
The criterion of management fees
To do this, Boursorama-life, like other contracts online, relies on the combination of two essential factors of differentiation: the good price-quality ratio supply, interactivity, another part "our customer is more dynamic that ensures the average of the life insured, Pierre Arraou.". It is mostly men of less than fifty years, belonging to higher socioprofessional categories which, overall, cope alone and seek a real added value in operating on the Net. "It passes first through costs significantly lower than those prevailing at the wickets of bancassurance. "The tariff advantage is such to traditional contracts that direct life insurance segment should continue to grow strongly in the coming years," said Caroline Bosser, responsible investments in Symphonis.
Most contracts online does take in effect no fee on payment. Or, when they do, it is for a lower contract management fee. "The level of management fee is for us a more influential than entrance fees because long term positive impact is significantly more sensitive to the insured," explains Pierre Arraou. Legal & General, one of the few insurers traditional to propose a contract without admission fees, least cost argument is a comparative factor in profitability. "A contract related 4.41 per year for eight years and committing 3 of entry fees in reality as a performance annualized 4.01 provides." In other words, in this example, do not take account of the presence of entrance fees induced an error of 9 on release performance, this margin of error climbing 13 to 4.5 in costs.
Offering little loaded contracts, online brokers negotiate in addition to favourable conditions on constituent funds of the contract. "The insured pays no fees for entry into the funds that he chooses to put in his contract, he does that pay annual management fees," said one in Boursorama.
However, this notion of "low cost" must be handled with caution, because it reveals sometimes misleading. "Nobody shaves gratis, launches, smiling a professional, and the"zero cost"contract, it does not exist." Contract WintoWin, relaunched last year by Sicavonline and sold as the first contract "no cost of entry and management", is, for example, be free of cost. Not only the performance contract is submitted, once it exceeds 5 to 20 puncture on his performance. But, in addition, WintoWin, which is invested in a single fund of Multimanager Funds (future Finance International), systematically takes 1.5 management fee to the title of "master" Fund, in addition to management costs specific to each of the "sub-funds".
Performance and choice of Fund
The argument of the low cost is however not enough to him only to widen the gap with the bulk of the market. "It is essential that a contract proposed on the Internet provides a good performance on the funds in euros and provides access to a wide range of external funds, which are not only those of the mother house," said Vincent Taupin, President and CEO of Boursorama. The contract for the subsidiary of Société Générale, developed, like many of his counterparts, in partnership with the Federation continental, is thus open Fund 100 selected among the best of the place. And he served the last year a net return of 4.5 on his money in euros, placing it in the forefront of the 2005 rate.
Rich in diverse media, online contracts must also be mediated effectively, through, here also, reduced costs. "The expenses of the arbitration of the Fund in euros to the units of accounts are free, for those between units of account"
"they passed 25 to 15 euros", note in Boursorama. Proponents of the new contract Meilleurtaux-life welcome, for their part, take costs of arbitration when they are online or management options proposed contract.For number of brokers online, the service control is also a more essential. "Our ambition is to make all categories of investors of the benefits of life insurance on the Internet, they are neophyte or autonomous, announces Sicavonline." We have the network of future Finance Advisors, and our clients benefit, plus all analyses of future Finance Investment Managers, the home of the group management. "A point of view found in Symphonis. "In addition to our ability to offer a contract claimed in entrance fees, what is important, it is the quality of distance relationship we establish with our insured." Thus, not only the contract mpt gives free access (no fees on payments) funds of management often honor society in recent years in charts (Richelieu, Carmignac, Pictet, Edmond de Rothschild, etc.). But, in addition, remote management tools (diagnostics, graphics, etc.), regular interviews with managers and a team of dedicated consultants, contacted from Monday to Saturday, are made available to Internet clients.
Altaprofits, for its part, has developed, the "asset allocator", a computer system which, according to Hervé Tisserand, Director General of the site, is "a real tool allocation and analysis of the portfolio, free of charge available to insured persons".
Management mandate
However, these initiatives are not to the liking of all. "A little bit tends to believe savers they may have products free of charge and free advice in two minutes, notes Pierre Arraou." The allocation of assets and financial media choice is highly regulated. Advisor, I know something. I think that the day where the authority of the markets there will look more closely, there will be some damage...
Placement-direct prefers to offer to customers wishing to access a management mandate to Invesco Asset Management at an annual cost amounting to 0.25 of the assets in units of account. An initiative in the wake of the implemented one by Symphonis-life, first contract to be provided in March 2005 a management under mandate option only paid to the positive performance. "Accessible from 30.000 euros invested, this option allows the policyholder, on the basis of an allocation of assets predetermined to entrust to a manager the cockpit of his contract, with a variable percentage (from 10 to 15 depending on whether the contract is more or less exposed to stock markets) of the positive performance of the half", said Caroline Bosser. This principle was enshrined almost in the same Meilleurtaux-life, including the contract, such as Symphonis, is managed by Suravenir (Group Crédit Mutuel). It is however more reserve in Boursorama. "If the customer wants a management under mandate, we offer it well obviously this service we delegate SGAM teams (Société Générale Asset Management)." But it is not really an objective in itself, because we believe that, by definition, our client base of Internet users prefer manage only his contract. Moreover, it must be take into account the fact that the only positive performance pay may result in short-term management strategies that can quickly reach their limits.
A privileged partner
This is not a chance if the continental Federation as the partner of most of the companies who have chosen the Net as channel of distribution for their contracts. Whether it's of Boursorama, ING Direct, Altaprofits or Placement-Direct, all agree that the subsidiary of the Generali group (will who soon, according to recent organizational changes, operate under a different name) has always had a good head start on its competitors.
Very early on, the continental Federation became interested in the Internet as a distribution channel for its value added both cost and security of the operations of flexibility and transparency. Engaging at the end of the 1990s the computer investments required to be at the forefront of innovation in this area, the subsidiary of Generali has not dropped taken, even at the height of the crisis.
Firmly convinced of the advantages of life insurance online, Daniel Collignon, the former Director-General of the continental Federation, party a few months ago and replaced since by Stéphane Dédeyan, and fancied himself to be a parallel between the life insurance online and travel. "For some travellers, through Internet rather that agency is much more suitable, while others appreciate the quality of the Council of agencies for a more pointed organization of their journey." It is therefore say, on the contrary, that the meeting with an Advisor does not continue to be necessary in many cases.
Before his departure, Daniel Collignon felt that, in 2010, 5 of the life insured would pass through the Internet. A potential including the continental Federation which, last year, has made 11 of its sales through its partnerships Internet should continue to enjoy, even renamed...
