Pioneering Growth, Innovation, and International Leadership in Wholesale Insurance: APRIL Group

“Innovation is one of APRIL’s cultural pillars and is shared with all staff members, starting with the induction courses given by the APRIL internal university.”

The APRIL Group was founded in 1988 in Lyon, France, by Bruno Rousset, a visionary entrepreneur whose ambition was to make insurance more accessible to as many people as possible while facilitating the economic development of local brokers. For the last 35 years, APRIL has become the leading wholesale brokerage in France and Europe, with unique know-how in managing distribution networks and recognized expertise in personal insurance, niche property and casualty, expatriate insurance, and wealth management. APRIL now operates in 18 countries and counts 2,400 staff members throughout the world.

The APRIL Group grew rapidly, and in the 1990s, it chose to expand both vertically (into new markets such as travel insurance) and horizontally across the entire value chain (notably risk portage). This thirst for diversification drew APRIL away from its core business—insurance distribution—and slowed its growth. Since 2020, the new management of the group has chosen to refocus its activities on its core business and markets and has since returned to rapid growth.

“In France and throughout Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas, we focus on developing and animating a distribution network of brokers and intermediaries on our strategic markets: health and personal protection for individuals, professionals, and SMEs; loan insurance; international health insurance (iPMI); property and casualty niche insurance; and asset management,” said Eric Maumy, CEO of APRIL Group.

Productive Collaboration

In 2022, APRIL partnered with Salesforce to offer for the first time to its 15,000 partner brokers a state-of-the-art CRM system. While 70% of local brokers do not have a CRM tool, APRIL offers this ready-to-use solution with the global leader in customer relationship management.

“Available free of charge via APRIL ON, our extranet platform already includes three features: a real-time business monitoring panel; an automated quote follow-up system; and a marketing automation tool. New services will be added to help brokers manage and develop their businesses more effectively within the next few months,” said Eric.

Innovation has been one of the levers of the group’s development and transformation since its creation, benefiting the experience of its partners and policyholders.

APRIL has in its headquarters in Lyon, the APRIL X digital hub, where the convergence of innovation and customer experience takes place. “Intended to step up our digital transformation, it is a place for experimenting and working together, where the insurance products and solutions of the future are invented.”

This dynamic has allowed APRIL Group to become, in three years, the leading e-commerce player in insurance in France. APRIL X is home to over 200 internal talents, partners, and start-ups that work together to conceive solutions intended to improve and facilitate the customer experience.

“Innovation is one of APRIL’s cultural pillars and is shared with all staff members, starting with the induction courses given by the APRIL internal university.”

Remarkable Growth Trajectory

After refocusing its activities around insurance distribution and carrying out an in-depth transformation of its business model, the group has secured a turnover of €590 million in 2022 and a nearly 20-point rise in its NPS, achieving its objectives more than a year in advance. Building on this upward trajectory and its position as a European leader in wholesale insurance, the group has decided to take its ambitions to the next level and secure the means to become a key player at an international level.

Eric Maumy | President & CEO

Eric Maumy began his career in 1990 at Sedgwick Ltd. In 1995, he joined Gras Savoye, the leading French broker, where he was responsible for major international accounts. In 2000, he made a career move to Adélaïde (Verlingue, Génération, Coverlife) as Deputy CEO in charge of the front office and business development. He was appointed CEO in 2005, and led the Group through a digital transformation which resulted in rapid growth both in France and abroad. In 2019, he became CEO of the APRIL Group as it was taken over by private equity fund, CVC Capital Partners, with the ambition to turn it into a global, digital, omni-channel and agile operator, a champion of customer experience, and the leader in its markets. In 2022, APRIL signs strategic partnership with KKR for its next phase of growth in France and abroad.

Eric is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO), of Medef’s Proscenium Club and volunteers as a trainer for Energie Jeunes.

“In France and throughout Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas, we focus on developing and animating a distribution network of brokers and intermediaries on our strategic markets: health and personal protection for individuals, professionals, and SMEs; loan insurance; international health insurance (iPMI); property and casualty niche insurance; and asset management.”