No. 139, September 3rd, 2009
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XPRIMM
News - THE ROMANIAN INSURANCE MARKET NEWSLETTER No. 139, September 3rd, 2009 Click here to subscribe! Click here to unsubscribe! |
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| EDITORIAL |
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But what are we selling to retail - this is the question? Household, health, life insurance, maybe sometimes even liabilities policies - the profile companies will answer. There is, however, a niche with great potential, also identified by the banks - SMEs. Actually, promotional campaigns with which various banking institutions try to attract this segment have invaded the media. If "the fairies" from the banks have smelled this niche, why wouldn't the insurers also take advantage of it? In Romania there are, at present, over 600,000 small and medium enterprises that fall into the insurers' "Focus on Retail" strategy. Up to date, only few companies have taken steps to enter on this market, as there are dedicated products in the offers of few companies. But in these economic times, when entrepreneurs want to protect their business as well as possible, insurance for SMEs can be a stake for the profile companies. And, if we analyze the results of the banking market, it may actually be a winning bet. by mihaela.circu@mxp.ro |
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| INTERVIEW |
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Interview
with Mesut YETISKUL and Radu MANOLIU, Mesut YETISKUL: Compared with the corresponding period of last year, our gross written premiums volume increased by 30%; the highest growth was recorded in the category of persons accidents insurance, whose volume of gross written premiums was about 4 times higher, followed by the corresponding increase of damage and theft of vehicles insurance, which registered a volume almost 3 times higher, and the growth associated to household insurance for individuals and to buildings insurance for legal persons, whose cumulated volume was 45% higher than the one registered at the end of the first half of 2008. On the other hand, the only decrease, of 45%, was registered in loans insurance; but this negative effect of the crisis, not at all surprising, has not affected significantly the company's results - which were positive, including the ones regarding the evolution of profit. XPRIMM: Which are the insurance products that CREDIT EUROPE counts on in times of crisis? Radu MANOLIU: Noticing the misfortunate direction towards which the lending system is heading, the company management has revised, since last year, the short-term development strategy. Thus, increased level of collaboration with independent brokers, in conjunction with increased competitiveness in the field, has led to a doubling of the share of Motor Hull insurance in the portfolio, compared to the situation in the similar period of the previous year; in fact, this type of insurance has become the main component of the portfolio, with a share of almost 30%, just to the detriment of loans insurance, whose share decreased more than two and a half times, in the same comparative terms, to a level of around 20%. In the same order of ideas, continuous diversification of the innovative range of products correspondent to the persons accidents class, supported by an appropriate sales policy, resulted in tripling the share of this type of insurance in the portfolio, which reached 22%, compared with the corresponding period of the previous year. Last but not least, the share of property insurance (which includes both household and property insurance, and insurance of buildings and property belonging to legal persons, with all the specific subtypes) remained constant, at a level of around 27% - despite the decline of the real estate market; in fact, this type of insurance continues to be one of our strengths. XPRIMM: What are the most important projects that CREDIT EUROPE has in progress now? What are the objectives of the company for the next period? M.Y: Referring to large projects that we have set for the current year, I am happy to announce that one of them, consisting in activity expansion in Belgium, Germany and Holland, has already passed the phase of approval from the Insurance Supervisory Commission and it is now in the operational implementation phase. On the other hand, noticing the improvement of the circumstances for the motor third party liability insurance, we have analyzed the possibility of obtaining positive results in this area and we have decided it was time to become active in this regard, too; unlike the first case, for this project we have not started the formal steps yet, but I think there are high chances they will soon be begun. XPRIMM: What strategy should the Romanian insurers adopt to overcome the difficult period through which the entire market passes? R.M: I think that the orientation towards new types of products and / or towards new types of collaboration can significantly increase the chances of recovery or of development of business specific to the Romanian insurers. Moreover, this is the conclusion that emerges from the positive experiences registered by CREDIT EUROPE Asigurari in this regard - both orientations proved to be decisive, in our case, in obtaining the previous mentioned results. XPRIMM: What is the most important lesson that the Romanian insurance market should learn from this challenging year? M.Y: The most important lesson, that of the imperative of organizing business based on profitability criteria, and of lack of major concessions to the actuarial principles, was already learned - that is, in fact, one of the few positive effects of the crisis with which the Romanian sector of general insurance is still confronting. XPRIMM: Thank you! |
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| TOP PRESS |
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Only one insurer listed on the Stock Exchange... VIG - linear evolution in Romania Underwritings of EUR 59 million for UNIQA in H1/2009 The life portfolio of ARDAF might pass to GENERALI Asigurari GROUPAMA - a 12% decrease in the first half CREDIT EUROPE Asigurari takes advantage of the European passport ASIGEST is getting ready for a new start at the end of the crisis Business of RON 163.5 million for ARDAF in first half CLAL Romania: posts RON 2.4 million in first half
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| CEE, RUSSIA&CIS |
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IXth INTERNATIONAL YALTA FINANCE FORUM The 5th International Conference "World Views for LIFE INSURANCE
in Eastern Europe, CIS and Asia" November Business Meetings in Moscow UNIQA: Group's written premiums fell by 1.6% TRIGLAV has a new President of Management Ukraine: Insurance market in a free fall Hungary: Premiums down by 13% in first half of 2009 |
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| FINANCIAL NEWS |
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What can Romania do with EUR 1.5 billion Industry likely to be the first sector to bounce back Stock Exchange posts returns of up to 330% on main titles in six
months posts IT companies want to attract employees from their competitors |
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| EVENTS | ||
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