France

In the reporting year, Swiss Life France posted a segment result of CHF 319 million (previous year: CHF 199 million). The fee result rose to CHF 174 million (+13% in local currency) due to higher contributions from unit-linked business. In the health and protection business, the loss ratio improved in 2024 thanks to better profitability resulting from the implementation of a profitability plan with tariff increases and a review of contract guarantees and claims management processes. Fee income rose to CHF 516 million (previous year: CHF 471 million), equivalent to 12% growth in local currency. The cash remittance increased to CHF 177 million (+16% in local currency), mainly due to higher dividend payments.

The French insurance market grew by 11% in 2024 after a positive development in the previous year. Premiums at Swiss Life France rose to CHF 7.4 billion. This 11% increase in local currency is mainly due to higher revenues from the savings and retirement business and, to a lesser extent the health and protection business and motor insurance. The focus in the year under review remained on profitability and quality of new business. Thanks to the private insurer strategy and the bonus distribution policy specifically for the premium customer segment, the share of premiums from unit-linked life insurance contracts was 67% – significantly higher than the market average (38%). The contribution of unit-linked business to new business production remained stable at 79%. At the end of 2024, the unit-linked part of life insurance contracts accounted for 58% of reserves in the life business. Premiums from the health and protection business increased by 3%, thanks to the strong performance of group contracts in recent years and tariff increases. With its distribution of structured products, Swiss Life Banque Privée once again made a positive contribution to the business of Swiss Life France in 2024.

In 2025, Swiss Life France wants to continue to focus on advising and supporting its premium clients by providing comprehensive insurance and wealth management solutions to high-net-worth individuals and offering a broad range of risk and pension solutions to business owners and SMEs. At the same time, the market unit wants to drive forward its multi-distribution strategy and optimise the scalability and efficiency of its business model. To this end, Swiss Life France is focusing on increasing sales efficiency, developing phygital customer experiences using existing portals or APIs and implementing automated processes with its key external partners.

Key figures for France