Avon Offers Mexican Sales Reps Accident and Life Insurance

By Amy Guthrie

MEXICO CITY--Avon Products Inc. (AVP) said Tuesday it's offering its sales representatives in Mexico, one of its biggest markets, accident and life insurance via a program that it expects to spread to additional countries in Latin America and perhaps the world.

The coverage, through Zurich Insurance (ZURN.VX), should reach 150,000 people initially in Mexico, including family members of sales associates, said Paulo Moledo, Avon's country manager for Mexico, speaking at an event to launch the insurance initiative.

Avon management in Colombia is following Mexico's lead, Mr. Moledo said, in offering a similar Zurich product free of charge to its sales force. The Mexican insurance plan could pay around $2,350 in cases of accident or death.

Mexico is Avon's third-biggest market after Brazil and the U.S. As a region, Latin America supplied $4.99 billion of New York-based Avon's $10.7 billion revenue in 2012. The company sells beauty products in more than 100 countries, with 6.4 million sales reps worldwide.

Mr. Moledo declined to disclose how many sales representatives Avon has in Mexico or how much the insurance program will cost Avon apart from saying that it represents a "significant investment" that will increase the company's costs in Mexico by around 15%.

"This is an investment that will have a [measurable] return and mesh with the company's goals," he said.

The Avon representatives in Mexico will need to meet sales targets to be eligible for the coverage, which also covers screening for breast cancer. The more they sell, the more insurance coverage they'll get.

Avon, which offers limited financial information for specific country operations, said in its latest quarterly report that revenue in Mexico rose 9% on the year during the fourth quarter, or 4% in constant dollars, driven primarily by an increase in active representatives and partially offset by a decline in average order. Mr. Moledo said Mexican sales should be able to grow by 5% to 8% annually in the coming years.

The Mexican economy grew 3.9% in 2012, for a third consecutive year of hearty economic growth, helping lift sales of consumer goods.

Write to Amy Guthrie at [e-mail]

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