We believe that France-based insurance group AXA has strengthened its financial risk profile through a combination of higher capital levels and steady de-risking of its balance sheet. The group continues to shift its product mix in Life&Savings away from traditional life products toward more capital-light products, which, combined with a strong property/casualty franchise, we believe will enable the group to weather the current very low interest rate environment. We are therefore raising our ratings on the core operating entities of AXA group to 'AA-' from 'A+', and our counterparty credit ratings on holding company AXA to 'A/A-1' from 'A-/A-2'. The stable outlook on the ratings reflects our expectations that the group's capital and earnings will remain strong over
