Denis ROUSSET, General Manager, BT Asigurari
Since March 2008 I have been the General Manager of BT Asigurari, as I have been officially invested with the approval of the Committee of Insurance Supervisory Commission. Therefore, I came to Romania a few months ago. But my experience in the insurance field has begun more than 15 years ago, in France.
XPRIMM: Taking into consideration the fact that this is one of the
first interviews granted by you since taking over the management of BT
Asigurari, we ask you to make a short presentation of yourself for the
readers of PRIMM Insurance & Pensions Magazine.
Denis ROUSSET: Since March 2008 I have been the General Manager of
BT Asigurari, as I have been officially invested with the approval of
the Committee of Insurance Supervisory Commission. Therefore, I came
to Romania a few months ago. But my experience in the insurance field
has begun more than 15 years ago, in France. After a few years of activity
in consultancy, in 1993, I have started working for the public company
GAN that was one of the first three public companies in France at the
time. In the end of the 90's I became the coordinator of the GAN privatization
process, as it was being taken over by GROUPAMA. The next years were
dedicated to the re-organization of the networks of agents, brokers,
bank networks. I am certain that the experience of collaborating with
various distribution channels will be extremely useful in the development
and optimization of the GROUPAMA activities in Romania.
XPRIMM: What are the objectives you have set, as General Manager of BT Asigurari?
D.R.: Our objectives for the on-going period of time imply the development
of ten strategic projects, meant to contribute to obtaining the performances
we want. Mainly, these are related to the basic areas of business development.
I am talking about the projects of releasing a new category of products,
in collaboration with Banca TRANSILVANIA, of creating a new visual identity
for the company under the GROUPAMA brand, of implementing a modern, competitive
and unique informational system for all the activities of GROUPAMA in
Romania. We are also looking to strengthen the sales force, by offering
new career and development opportunities; to renew the range of products
by launching a new RCA product, a new residence product, a complete product
for the SMEs and a new agricultural insurance product. Last, but not
least, we are working on conceiving a new claims management system following
the French model and bringing the new accounting procedures up to the
international standards.
XPRIMM: For the moment, the Romanian insurance market has one of the
fastest growing rates in Europe. Do you estimate that the same rate will
be maintained in the future?
D.R.: If in 2007 the Romanian insurance market registered total results
of EUR 2.2 billion, I estimate an over EUR 10 billion growth before 2020.
Taking into consideration the medium yearly economical growth in Romania,
that I believe to remain under 5% for the next 10 years, the insurance
market should grow at least 3 times more compared to the rest of the
economy. For now, the share the insurances have in the Romanian economy
is pretty low. I can say that the Romanian insurance market is going
through atypical times, with consistent losses - at national level -
of over EUR 75 million, in 2007, that leads us to believe that only the
strong competitors will remain on the market, thus there will be a greater
concentration that will continue in the next years.
XPRIMM: What do you consider to be the main threat for the Romanian insurance
market?
D. R.: In my opinion, the main threat affecting the insurance market
in the present consists of the lack of an adequate road infrastructure
and of a drivers' discipline, the main causes for the accidents that
subsequently affect the insurers. Under these circumstances, the auto
insurances, both mandatory and voluntary ones, will become more and more
expensive, and the number of the CASCO insured cars will diminish significantly.
The less insured persons there will be the higher will the insurances
prices grow.
XPRIMM: One of the most debated issues is the lack of profit in the Romanian
insurance market. In this perspective, what is the strategic orientation
of the company you represent: profitability or market share?
D. R.: The strategic orientation will aim both the consolidation
of the market share and obtaining a profit; we will not make an exclusive
choice between the two. We consider that, for the time being, there is
enough potential for the insurance activities to allow the intelligent
usage of our experience for the services offer and broader risks coverage.
XPRIMM: What determined GROUPAMA to take the decision of entering the
Romanian insurance market?
D. R.: Romania was chosen as an international development target
by GROUPAMA about 3 years ago, after a careful analysis of the local
insurance market. We have negotiated during this time with many important
market players, especially with BRD Societe Generale, a close partner
of GROUPAMA, and with Banca TRANSILVANIA. We have entered the Romanian
market by taking over BT Asigurari, last October; then OTP Garancia followed,
in February 2008, and most recently ASIBAN, in March. The speeding rate
of the economical development in Romania proves that the insurance market
has a real potential. This explains the very high price we were willing
to pay to be present on this market and to have our contribution in its
education, so that it will become in time more and more alike the Western
markets.
XPRIMM: GROUPAMA has taken over ASIBAN after a fight in which important
names of the world insurances took part, and has reached, very rapidly,
the third place in the Romanian insurance market. Does the French group
plan to take over other Romanian companies?
D. R.: At this moment we consider to hold all the cards in order
to make ourselves noticed on the insurances stage, as we are the third
big player on the market, with a total market share of 12%. We are not
interested in other Romanian acquisitions anymore. We shall focus on
an organic development of the pre-existent structures and we shall stake
on our sales force, which we shall continue to strengthen on a national
level.
XPRIMM: What is the strategy that GROUPAMA has planned for Romania? Will
the three companies you own for now merge?
D. R.: The strategy we shall adopt in Romania consists in concentrating
all the operations in one brand, GROUPAMA. This way, we shall increase
the effectiveness and we shall decrease the costs of the support functions,
dedicating specialists for each field of activity, who will come to meet
the needs of our clients, with professional insurance solutions. We shall
keep two strategic locations, in Cluj-Napoca and in Bucharest, and we
shall manage the strongest commercial network, on a national level, including
500 agencies, 1,400 employees and 9,000 agents. The bancassurance partnerships
with Banca TRANSILVANIA, OTP Bank, BRD Groupe Societe Generale, CEC Bank,
as well as the agreements with the insurance brokers subscribe to the
established medium and long term strategy. We are also working on reconstructing
an offer of products for all types of clients, individuals, SMEs, agricultural
communities.
XPRIMM: Taking into consideration the gradual reorientation of the large
companies from the market share towards profitability, in the same time
with the finalization of the acquisitions and with the pressure from
the share holders, when do you expect to obtain a profit on the Romanian
insurance market?
D. R.: We have just overcome 2007, a year with important losses.
But, in my opinion, 2008 will mark historical losses on the Romanian
insurance market. Under the circumstances of these repeated losses, the
insurers will begin to redirect themselves towards obtaining a profit
in 2009, but taking into consideration the fact that the process of the
insurance activities is complex and long lasting, we shall have to wait
quite a long time until the Romanian insurance market registers a profit.
Editor: Mihaela CIRCU
| Published on 31.07.2008 |
