Mesut YETISKUL si Radu MANOLIU, , CREDIT EUROPE Asigurari
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: What were the results of CREDIT EUROPE Asigurari in the first
half of this year that stands under the sign of the crisis?
Mesut YETISKUL (General Manager): Compared with the corresponding period 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 (Deputy General Manager): 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!
Editor: Oana RADU
| Published on 03.09.2009 |
