AXA traces its origins to early 19th-century France, where it began as a small mutual insurer. Rising through a series of acquisitions, it became the country's largest insurer by the early 1990s, when it also began expanding abroad. The French insurance business still accounts for a sizeable share of revenue but most of the group's revenue is generated elsewhere, driven by its operations in the rest of Europe, Asia-Pacific and North America. Although it has large asset management and health insurance businesses, its main activities remain property and casualty and life insurance. AXA is headquartered in Paris.

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