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L'Auxiliaire
Founded in 1863 and headquartered at 20 rue Garibaldi in Lyon, L'Auxiliaire operates as a mutual insurance company tightly woven into the French construction...
L'Auxiliaire
Founded in 1863 and headquartered at 20 rue Garibaldi in Lyon, L'Auxiliaire operates as a mutual insurance company tightly woven into the French construction ecosystem. President Thibault Richard leads the firm alongside an executive succession underway: Jérémie Garrot assumes the Director General role in January 2026, succeeding Olivier Bedeau. The firm was formed to serve professionals in the Building and Public Works (BTP) sector, and that mandate has remained remarkably stable for over 160 years — a degree of strategic continuity rare in European insurance. L'Auxiliaire underwrites property and casualty lines, professional liability, and construction-specific risk products for contractors, artisans, and engineering firms concentrated in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and broader Southeast regions. The firm is a co-founder and active member of SGAM BTP, a mutual insurance group structure that pools resources among BTP-focused carriers, strengthening underwriting capacity. Its investment portfolio reflects the mutualist ethos: a partnership with Omnes Capital on the Green Campus real estate redevelopment in Vénissieux, and a collaboration with Foncière Magellan on the Moulin à Vent industrial estate, a logistics and commercial park in the Lyon Metropolis. A strategic partnership with Kiloutou, the equipment rental group, targets decarbonization of the construction sector (public record). These commitments are concentrated in French real assets — industrial property, brownfield redevelopment, green logistics — directly adjacent to the membership base. The firm's scale is modest by global insurance standards, with a geographic footprint limited to Southeast France and no disclosed international offices. L'Auxiliaire participates in two European mutual-insurance associations: AMICE, representing mutual and cooperative insurers in Europe, and ICMIF, the global federation of cooperative and mutual insurers, both providing policy advocacy and peer-exchange networks. Member of the SGAM BTP group alongside SMABTP and CAM BTP, the firm benefits from pooled technical resources and reinsurance access that a standalone regional mutual would lack. The incoming Director General change in January 2026 marks the most significant governance event since the COVID period. L'Auxiliaire's structural differentiator is not balance-sheet size but embeddedness: it is a mono-line, mono-geography mutual that insures the same BTP sector it co-invests alongside through real asset partnerships — creating a feedback loop between underwriting risk and asset-allocation conviction. This architecture, unusual outside the French mutualist tradition, makes the firm simultaneously risk carrier, real estate principal, and decarbonization partner to its own policyholders.
General information
Firm type
Insurance
Year founded
1863
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
Europe
Country
France
City
Lyon
Corporate office
20 rue Garibaldi, 69006 Lyon, France
Principals
Thibault Richard
President
Jérémie Garrot
Director General (incoming, effective January 31, 2026)
Olivier Bedeau
Outgoing Director General (as of January 2026)
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who makes investment and underwriting decisions at L'Auxiliaire?
Strategic direction rests with President Thibault Richard. Day-to-day executive authority transitions to incoming Director General Jérémie Garrot effective January 2026, succeeding Olivier Bedeau. Investment decisions — particularly the real estate partnerships with Omnes Capital and Foncière Magellan — are made internally with a mutualist governance structure common to French insurers, involving a board drawn from the BTP membership base.
How is L'Auxiliaire structured within the broader SGAM BTP group?
L'Auxiliaire is a co-founder and member of SGAM BTP, a Société de Groupe d'Assurance Mutuelle grouping that includes SMABTP and CAM BTP. This structure allows member insurers to pool technical resources, share reinsurance capacity, and coordinate product development while preserving independent brand identities and regional underwriting autonomy. The group structure is a regulatory vehicle under French insurance law designed specifically for mutualist consolidation.
What does L'Auxiliaire's investment portfolio look like?
The firm allocates predominantly to French real assets with a construction-adjacent tilt. Known commitments include the Green Campus redevelopment in Vénissieux alongside Omnes Capital, and the Moulin à Vent industrial estate in the Lyon Metropolis managed by Foncière Magellan. A strategic partnership with equipment rental group Kiloutou targets decarbonization initiatives. No public equities or cross-border venture positions have been disclosed, consistent with a regional mutualist investment policy.
Does L'Auxiliaire underwrite risks outside France's Southeast region?
No. The firm's license and operational footprint are concentrated in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region and adjacent departments of Southeast France, serving professionals specifically in the Building and Public Works sector. This geographic constraint is structural rather than incidental — it reflects the firm's mutualist charter and membership base among regional BTP enterprises.
How does L'Auxiliaire relate to broader European mutual insurance networks?
L'Auxiliaire is a member of AMICE, the Brussels-based Association of Mutual Insurers and Insurance Cooperatives in Europe, and ICMIF, the International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation. These memberships provide regulatory advocacy at the EU level and access to a global peer network of mutual and cooperative insurers, though the firm's operational integration remains firmly domestic.
What insurance lines does L'Auxiliaire specialize in?
The firm underwrites property, casualty, and professional liability lines tailored to construction contractors, engineering firms, and building-trade artisans. Products are designed for the specific risk profile of BTP enterprises — including decennial liability, worksite coverage, and professional indemnity — reflecting over 160 years of sector-specific actuarial data.
Has L'Auxiliaire made any recent governance changes?
Yes. In January 2026, Jérémie Garrot assumed the role of Director General, succeeding Olivier Bedeau. The transition marks the first CEO-level change at the firm in several years, occurring against the backdrop of an ongoing partnership strategy to decarbonize the construction sector and redevelop industrial real estate in the Lyon metropolitan area. President Thibault Richard remains in place, ensuring leadership continuity.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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