Insurance

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L'Auxiliaire

L'Auxiliaire was established in 1863 in Lyon, where it still maintains its headquarters and a governance structure distinct to French mutual insurers.

L'Auxiliaire

L'Auxiliaire was established in 1863 in Lyon, where it still maintains its headquarters and a governance structure distinct to French mutual insurers. President Thibault Richard represents policyholder-sociétaires, while Jérémie Garrot assumed the Director General role in January 2026, succeeding Olivier Bedeau. The firm is organized within SGAM btp, a mutual insurance group it co-founded with peers like SMABTP and CAM btp, and operates primarily across France’s Southeast region. The insurer's capital is distributed across construction-sector liability lines, property coverage for building professionals, and a direct-investment real estate portfolio that includes industrial and office assets. Its most prominent deployment is the Moulin à Vent Industrial Estate redevelopment — a Green Campus park in Vénissieux undertaken with co-investor Omnes Capital and asset manager Foncière Magellan. L'Auxiliaire has also partnered with the Patriarca Group on renovations and maintains a strategic decarbonization alliance with equipment-rental operator Kiloutou. Its geographic footprint concentrates on the Rhône-Alpes and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes corridors, where the bulk of its policyholder base and real assets sit. L'Auxiliaire participates in European mutual-insurer associations AMICE and ICMIF and co-leads the SGAM btp network, which pools reinsurance capacity and technical expertise among French construction insurers. In January 2026, the firm completed a planned CEO transition, promoting Jérémie Garrot to succeed Olivier Bedeau. Its underwriting is distributed through local agency teams serving eight core professional classes — architects, engineers, artisans, building contractors, public-works entrepreneurs, promoters, project owners, and fabricators — rather than centralized call centers. L'Auxiliaire's architecture departs from standard European insurers: it is a mutual owned by its construction-industry clients rather than third-party shareholders, and it chooses to stay geographically concentrated on Southeast France rather than pursuing national or continental scale. This narrow franchise keeps its claims handling and risk engineering embedded inside the construction supply chain, a governance advantage that most diversified carriers cannot replicate.

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 (CEO)

Olivier Bedeau

Outgoing Director General (CEO)

Sector focus

Construction & EngineeringReal EstateInsurance

Frequently asked questions

Who runs the investment portfolio at L'Auxiliaire?

L'Auxiliaire does not publicly name a standalone chief investment officer. Investment decisions are overseen by the Director General — Jérémie Garrot as of January 2026 — and supervised by the President, Thibault Richard, within a mutual governance framework. The firm's real-asset activities appear to be executed through direct partnerships with asset managers such as Foncière Magellan.

Is L'Auxiliaire an asset manager or an insurance company?

It is a mutual insurance company owned by its policyholder-sociétaires, not an asset manager. Its primary business is underwriting property, casualty, and construction-liability risks for building and public-works professionals in Southeast France. Investment activity — principally direct real estate and industrial redevelopment — is a function of its general-account balance sheet, not a third-party management mandate.

What does L'Auxiliaire own in its real asset portfolio?

The most documented asset is the Moulin à Vent Industrial Estate in Vénissieux, which is being converted into a Green Campus park. Omnes Capital co-invested alongside L'Auxiliaire, and Foncière Magellan manages the estate. The insurer has also partnered with the Patriarca Group on building renovations. Beyond these named projects, the firm holds its own headquarters at 20 rue Garibaldi in Lyon's 6th arrondissement.

How is L'Auxiliaire related to SMABTP and CAM btp?

L'Auxiliaire, SMABTP, and CAM btp are co-founders and member companies of the SGAM btp mutual insurance group. This structure pools reinsurance capacity, technical pricing models, and industry representation for insurers that focus exclusively on France's construction sector. They are separate legal entities with distinct management teams but coordinate through the SGAM btp framework.

What geographies does L'Auxiliaire cover?

The firm operates primarily in France's Southeast region, with its portfolio concentrated in the Rhône-Alpes and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes corridors. Its headquarters, major real estate projects, and policyholder base all sit within this home territory. There is no evidence of international expansion or coverage in other French regions at meaningful scale.

Does L'Auxiliaire invest in venture capital or growth equity?

The firm's internal research tags reference growth-capital activity, but no public fund commitments or direct startup investments are disclosed. Its only verifiable equity-like exposure is the direct co-investment in the Moulin à Vent real estate redevelopment alongside Omnes Capital. Most of its deployment appears to stay within real assets and insurance-linked instruments.

What prompted the CEO transition in January 2026?

L'Auxiliaire announced that Olivier Bedeau would step down as Director General and be succeeded by Jérémie Garrot effective January 31, 2026. The firm has not publicly detailed the reason for the transition, but Garrot's promotion follows a planned succession in the mutual's executive governance. Both Bedeau and Garrot are listed as founders in the firm's internal records, suggesting a long-tenured leadership handover.

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