Master's Thesis
An Integrated Approach to Strategy Formulation: The Case of the Agents Channel at Grupo Ageas Portugal
— 2026
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Published in
July 28, 2026
Abstract
Insurance distribution remains strategically relevant in mature markets, particularly when customer access and product placement depend on intermediated channels. In Portugal, agents continue to play an important role in Non-Life and protection insurance. For Grupo Ageas Portugal, the channel provides business opportunities but also presents challenges related to market under-positioning, Motor dependency, agent heterogeneity and operating-model constraints. This dissertation aims to define and prioritise Grupo Ageas Portugal’s agents-channel strategy to support profitable growth. It follows an applied case-study approach and adopts an integrated multimethodology combining strategy formulation, strategic decomposition, initiative identification and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis. The strategy is structured around ambition, where-to-play and how-to-win choices and decomposed into the Must-Win Strategic Priority of Profitable Growth in Agents, supported by Portfolio (Mix) Diversification and Agents’ Channel Growth. The diagnosis shows that Ageas is under-positioned relative to its main competitors and that the agents-channel portfolio remains highly dependent on Motor. It also identifies the need for differentiated agent management and improvements in service quality, underwriting responsiveness, commercial support and agent-facing tools. The initiatives were prioritised through a simplified MCDA supported by interview-based trade-off weighting and workshop-based ordinal scoring. The Cross-sell Program, Data-driven Segmentation, 360º Distributor Management and Commercial Effectiveness emerged as the most robust priorities, as so Commercial Model Reinforcement. Overall, the dissertation concludes that the strategy should be framed as a targeted transformation aimed at improving portfolio mix, increasing Ageas’ relevance among priority agents and removing constraints that limit business placement with the Ageas.
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Fields of Science and Technology (FOS)
other-engineering-and-technologies - Other engineering and technologies
Publication language (ISO code)
eng - English
Rights type:
Embargoed access
Date available:
May 1, 2027
Institution name
Instituto Superior Técnico