Axa to shift focus away from with-profits bonds

For the next 12 months, Axa is to cease writing all offshore with-profits bonds business and accept only half of that offered onshore. As of the middle of May this year, the group will cease writing with-profits bond business in the offshore market instead giving investors two with-profits alternatives. These are the Axa Sun Life Guaranteed Growth Bond, as exclusively reported in Investment Week last week, and a soon-to-be unveiled Defensive Bond, a wrapper around a fund of hedge funds managed by Liberty Ermitage. In the onshore market, the shift in emphasis is less marked. The group...