XP buys BTR and dives into medical health insurance and company advantages

XP Corretora de Seguros exercises the option to acquire a health insurance brokerage as part of a strategy to strengthen product and service offerings for companies, following the debut of the wholesale bank

In August of last year, XP began testing the waters of the health insurance and corporate benefits market. To this end, its insurance arm entered into a partnership with the brokerage BTR Vantagens e Seguros to start selling health and dental plans to small and medium-sized companies, as revealed exclusively by the NeoFeed In this ocasion.

A year later and in view of the results obtained, XP decided to dive headfirst into this market. For this, it bought BTR, seeing the corporate health insurance segment as a relevant part of its strategy to strengthen itself as a bank with products and services for companies.

“This acquisition was very opportune precisely at this moment of consolidation and growth of wholesale services”, says Roberto Teixeira, partner and head of XP Seguridade, to the NeoFeed. “What we found in these 12 months was that health plans are an extremely relevant product for companies and for the wholesale segment.”

The agreement signed with BTR last year provided for an option for XP to buy the brokerage at the end of 12 months. It ended up being exercised due to the good performance that the partnership showed in the period, having already closed 60 thousand contracts with companies. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

As part of the agreement, BTR founder Bruno Autran became partner and head of corporate health and insurance at XP Seguridade. Without revealing the goals established for the health segment, he says that the focus is to invest in the health plan management platform and corporate benefits on the market.

XP Seguridade has developed a marketplace with products from most operators and insurance companies in the market, such as Bradesco Seguros, SulAmérica, Porto Seguro, Hapvida, Unimed and Omint.

“Health, specifically, in most companies, corresponds to the second highest cost. When you present a health and benefits solution to that company, you help solve this problem. We are managing to do this, while our competitors’ offer does not have this solution”, says Autran.

The insurance offer complements XP’s strategy of positioning itself as a bank for companies, in addition to investments for individuals, an area in which it became known and became a reference, closing the second quarter with BRL 846 billion in assets under custody.

In June, XP announced the launch of its wholesale bank, catering to companies, institutional investors and high net worth clients. XP Seguridade was not incorporated into this new structure, but the corporate insurance part is seen as relevant to strengthen service to companies.

“We are seeing great potential in the corporate world, which is starting to play a very strong role,” says Teixeira. “Increasingly, the corporate segment becomes important for the group.”

Launched three years ago, XP Seguridade has more than R$40 billion of assets under custody, operating in the pension and life insurance fronts. It is part of the new verticals created by XP over the years, which include the area of ​​cards and credit. The projection is that this group will represent, by 2025, 25% of the company’s revenue. In the second quarter, XP recorded a record gross revenue of R$3.6 billion.

No friction?

XP is making its way into the insurance and benefits market at a time when demand for health and dental plans is growing in the country. Data from the National Supplementary Health Agency (ANS) for June show that the number of users of health care plans grew by 3.3% compared to the same period last year, to 49.8 million people, while the exclusively dental plans expanded 7.4% to 29.9 million users.

“If we look at the size of the insurance market in Brazil, we are talking about more or less than R$413 billion in premiums. Only the health market in general, individuals and companies, is R$ 245 billion. The health market corresponds to more than 50% of the insurance market as a whole”, says Autran.

In order to conquer a relevant share of this market, XP is working on two fronts. First, in technology. The plan is to offer a simplified contracting experience, in the style that the company has developed for investments in the insurance world.

“We sell investment funds to a client and, with a click, he goes to the advisor, speaks, accepts the adhesion term and that’s it. In health, in several insurance companies, there is still paper exchange, stamp, things from decades ago. We’ve been working a lot on this, to make the experience more fluid, more pleasant, faster”, says Autran.

The second leg of the strategy involves engaging the universe of 539 offices and 11,300 investment advisors associated with XP, which will support the search for clients. This capillarity is essential to reach small and medium-sized companies, sectors in which the XP Seguridade initiative first targeted and which still remain in the shadows when it comes to offering insurance.

Investment advisor offices will also help XP compete with large banks and their agencies. In 2018, Itaú entered into a partnership with Amil to distribute Amil’s corporate health plans. Bradesco has its own insurance area, Bradesco Seguros, and also sells health insurance to the corporate sector. Itaú closed the second quarter with 3.8 thousand physical service points, while Bradesco registered a total of 2.9 thousand branches.

“A very important aspect for an insurance broker is the number of customers, how to reach them”, says Christian Wellisch, founding partner of the brokerage Globus Seguros. “There is a lot of opportunity in small and medium-sized companies, because the large accounts are saturated, while the volume of small and medium-sized companies is much higher and they are underserved.”

In addition to traditional brokerages, XP will also face competition from fintechs. Digital brokerage Pipo Saúde is in the running for corporate health plans, having even received a contribution of R$100 million last year from investors such as Thrive Capital and Kaszek. Another name that is entering this market is Vitta, acquired by Stone in May 2020.

And there are also healthtechs that make direct offers of health plans to companies and individuals, as is the case with Alice and Sami.

For Gustavo Leança, leader of insurance solutions at Capgemini consultancy, the arrival of XP in the corporate health insurance sector is yet another move by the large financial platforms to create large financial marketplaces. He cites as another example the partnership signed in early 2021 between Nubank and Chubb for insurance for individuals. “It’s the model for one stop shop”, he says.

Source: Neofeed