French ICMIF members, Groupe VYV and the MAIF Group, and in particular its life insurance subsidiary Parnasse MAIF, have this week announced that they will partner to bring a new life insurance offering to the market in France. This announcement this week confirms the desire for multisectoral collaboration between the two mutual groups, Groupe VYV and MAIF, and marks the first step in a search for common synergies.

For Groupe VYV, which came about from the merger of French mutuals MGEN, Istya and Harmonie, being able to offer life products, in addition to their existing health products, will constitute a strong element of differentiation. This positioning can be seen today in the field of retirement savings.

The partnership with Parnasse MAIF will enable the Groupe VYV family of mutuals to distribute life insurance products from June 2019.

The choice to partner with Parnasse MAIF is part of a more comprehensive approach to the development of retirement savings offerings. After having analysed the various responses to the specifications of the various prospective partners, Groupe VYV will gradually develop various solutions and partnerships to respond, including in terms of employee savings, to the needs of its members and its customers, whether they are individuals, non-salaried workers or businesses.

“Beyond health, the protection of our members throughout their lives leads us to want to offer products for all aspects of social protection (welfare, dependence, retirement savings and, more broadly, financial protection) …our core business,” says François Venturini (pictured above left), Director General of Groupe VYV.

For the MAIF Group, the choice of its life insurance subsidiary Parnasse MAIF by Groupe VYV is the first step in the search for synergies between the two groups.

One of MAIF’s strategic objectives is to significantly develop its performance in life and health insurance, in particular life insurance, as highlighted by the creation of this partnership.

Meeting a challenge as important as that of meeting the needs of Groupe VYV also demonstrates MAIF’s ambition to build sustainable partnerships. They will be able to address not only its customer portfolio, where significant gains are possible, but also as a way to gain new business opportunities with Groupe VYV’s partners.

For Pascal Demurger (pictured above right), Director General of the MAIF Group, “the time has come for MAIF to amplify and strengthen its historical link with MGEN within Groupe VYV. With this distribution agreement, we are able to draw a new horizon in terms of partnership and develop new synergies with MGEN and Groupe VYV in life and health insurance.”