Ex-banker takes office as insurer
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Hürriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Haziran 13, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - Renowned banker Akın Kozanoğlu leaves his vice president seat at Akbank to become the chief executive of ERGOİsviçre, an insurance company. Speaking to reporters, Kozanoğlu says the insurance sector in Turkey is expected to record rapid growth in the coming decades.
Insurance company ERGOİsviçre plans to boost its market share and local presence, and to direct those goals, the company has hired Akın Kozanoğlu, a former vice president of Akbank, as its new chief executive.
According to a statement earlier this week, Kozanoğlu has left his vice president position at Akbank after working at Sabancı Holding for 33 years. Kozanoğlu said during a press conference late Wednesday that his decision to leave Akbank came after he decided to move on to seek "new excitement in his career."
"During my nine-year-long career at Akbank as vice president, I was part of many mergers, acquisitions and critical decisions. But that job started to slacken in the last couple of years, which pushed me to look for new excitement," Kozanoğlu said during a joint press conference with Jochen Messemer, the chairman of ERGO International AG.
Kozanoğlu decided to continue his career in the insurance sector, which is expected to record fast growth in the coming decades, he said, adding he is no stranger to the sector with his former positions as the board chairman of Ak Sigorta, as well as AvivaSa.
Messemer said one of his company’s basic principles is to hire CEOs for their local operations from the countries they operate. "High-level executives help us to understand the market and customer tendencies. Turkey is one of the most important markets for us," he said.
ERGO International, the primary insurance group of Munich Re, acquired 100 percent of local insurance company İsviçre Sigorta in November for an undisclosed price and entered the Turkish market. According to the information given during the press conference, ERGOİsviçre is the fifth largest insurance company in Turkey with a total gross premium of 743.7 million Turkish Liras in 2008.
Segments targeted
ERGOİsviçre eyes to expand its operations in life insurance and retirement segments in Turkey, Messemer said, adding the company prefers to have brokerage agencies sell the products but did not rule out a possible deal with banks for the service. Turkey's fast growing and fragmented insurance sector has seen a wave of foreign acquisitions in the last couple of years. Currently the market share of foreign companies hovers around 50 percent in Turkey's $9 billion insurance sector.
The executives declined to give any figures regarding their objectives in the Turkish market, saying new plans will be made in the coming months.
"First, examination and recognition will be made. Then we will start working on the planning. I assume all of these will take two to three months. The real work will begin afterwards and then we will share our opinions with you," Kozanoğlu said.
He sounded optimistic about the Turkish economy and said the recent slowdown in activity might bring opportunities, especially for companies that are on the edge of new planning. Messemer echoed similar views and recalled that Munich Re, the owner of ERGO, is among one of the most stable financial institutions and has the same credit rating as the Republic of Germany.
ERGO's total assets rose to 133 billion euros in 2008 from 127.8 billion euros the previous year. But the company’s net income in 2008 plummeted to 92.2 million euros from 781 million euros on a yearly basis as a side effect of the ongoing global crisis.
During the press conference, Kozanoğlu declined to reply to any questions regarding his 33 years at Sabancı Holding, one of Turkey’s largest conglomerates.
"It was a tough decision to leave a group like Sabancı. I wouldn’t make such a decision unless I got this offer and the appropriate circumstances were under way," he said, adding the decision was made nearly a month ago.
ERGO delivered its proposal through a headhunter company, and Messemer said they knew Kozanoğlu personally from his work at a global insurance association based in Geneva. Messemer also said Kozanoğlu will have a seat on the advisory board of ERGO International, which consists of four CEOs from the company’s operations in other countries.
According to a statement earlier this week, Kozanoğlu has left his vice president position at Akbank after working at Sabancı Holding for 33 years. Kozanoğlu said during a press conference late Wednesday that his decision to leave Akbank came after he decided to move on to seek "new excitement in his career."
"During my nine-year-long career at Akbank as vice president, I was part of many mergers, acquisitions and critical decisions. But that job started to slacken in the last couple of years, which pushed me to look for new excitement," Kozanoğlu said during a joint press conference with Jochen Messemer, the chairman of ERGO International AG.
Kozanoğlu decided to continue his career in the insurance sector, which is expected to record fast growth in the coming decades, he said, adding he is no stranger to the sector with his former positions as the board chairman of Ak Sigorta, as well as AvivaSa.
Messemer said one of his company’s basic principles is to hire CEOs for their local operations from the countries they operate. "High-level executives help us to understand the market and customer tendencies. Turkey is one of the most important markets for us," he said.
ERGO International, the primary insurance group of Munich Re, acquired 100 percent of local insurance company İsviçre Sigorta in November for an undisclosed price and entered the Turkish market. According to the information given during the press conference, ERGOİsviçre is the fifth largest insurance company in Turkey with a total gross premium of 743.7 million Turkish Liras in 2008.
Segments targeted
ERGOİsviçre eyes to expand its operations in life insurance and retirement segments in Turkey, Messemer said, adding the company prefers to have brokerage agencies sell the products but did not rule out a possible deal with banks for the service. Turkey's fast growing and fragmented insurance sector has seen a wave of foreign acquisitions in the last couple of years. Currently the market share of foreign companies hovers around 50 percent in Turkey's $9 billion insurance sector.
The executives declined to give any figures regarding their objectives in the Turkish market, saying new plans will be made in the coming months.
"First, examination and recognition will be made. Then we will start working on the planning. I assume all of these will take two to three months. The real work will begin afterwards and then we will share our opinions with you," Kozanoğlu said.
He sounded optimistic about the Turkish economy and said the recent slowdown in activity might bring opportunities, especially for companies that are on the edge of new planning. Messemer echoed similar views and recalled that Munich Re, the owner of ERGO, is among one of the most stable financial institutions and has the same credit rating as the Republic of Germany.
ERGO's total assets rose to 133 billion euros in 2008 from 127.8 billion euros the previous year. But the company’s net income in 2008 plummeted to 92.2 million euros from 781 million euros on a yearly basis as a side effect of the ongoing global crisis.
During the press conference, Kozanoğlu declined to reply to any questions regarding his 33 years at Sabancı Holding, one of Turkey’s largest conglomerates.
"It was a tough decision to leave a group like Sabancı. I wouldn’t make such a decision unless I got this offer and the appropriate circumstances were under way," he said, adding the decision was made nearly a month ago.
ERGO delivered its proposal through a headhunter company, and Messemer said they knew Kozanoğlu personally from his work at a global insurance association based in Geneva. Messemer also said Kozanoğlu will have a seat on the advisory board of ERGO International, which consists of four CEOs from the company’s operations in other countries.