Your safety is our priority

After Asia, the spread of the Covid-19 virus has now reached most countries in the world, impacting many of us in our daily work and life and in our economies. Governments are taking reinforced and unprecedented measures to limit the effects of the outbreak on our healthcare systems and on the economy. Several governments in Europe have now decided to implement reinforced or total confinement measures and we are stepping up our shift to remote working.

Since the very beginning of this unprecedented sanitary crisis, our number one priority has been to protect the health and safety of our teams

Since the very beginning of this unprecedented sanitary crisis, our number one priority has been to protect the health and safety of our teams. With the support of the local management teams, we have been monitoring the evolution of the outbreak and adapting our response through increasing travel restrictions, limitation of events and gatherings, prevention and awareness around basic protective measures, as well as accelerating remote working.

My thoughts go to all those affected by the virus, either directly or indirectly. Unfortunately, a few of our employees have been infected. We are doing everything we can to support them and their families and I wish them all a prompt recovery.     

As insurers, our role is to care and act for our customers in difficult times 

As insurers, it is our role to care and act for our customers in difficult times.

As insurers, it is our role to care and act for our customers in difficult times. This is what we have been doing in our different markets ever since the beginning of the outbreak, thanks to our distribution network and agents, expertise and support provided by our medical and assistance network, as well as emergency measures such as specific coverage for caregivers or access to telemedicine services. As a long-standing philanthropic funder of scientific research, we have reinforced our partnership with the “Institut Pasteur", supporting the taskforce set up to accelerate the research on the diagnosis and treatment of the virus. And we will need to be present to help our SME and corporate clients get back on their feet, once the sanitary emergency is under control.

Over the past weeks, we have also seen global markets drop significantly as a result of the estimated economic impact of the Covid-19 crisis, notably the slowdown of exchanges and the increase in risks for specific sectors of the economy. We are monitoring the situation closely with the Finance teams at Group and entity level for our different business lines and our investment portfolio. The solid results we have delivered on a regular basis in the past years, as well as our long-term strategy to move away our exposure from financial markets risk, have demonstrated our ability to withstand challenging market conditions. 

We will need patience, solidarity and perseverance

We will need strong cooperation between businesses, governments and global financial institutions [...]. I am convinced that we will collectively respond present.

As this crisis has highlighted, our fates are more connected than ever. To get through it we will need to continue watching out for each other and protect our most vulnerable citizens. We will need strong cooperation between businesses, governments and global financial institutions. We will need patience, solidarity and perseverance. I am convinced that we will collectively respond present.