One of Southeast Europe’s largest insurance groups, Sava Re, has revealed ambitious plans to strengthen its position in the Western Balkan markets and expand internationally while transforming its internal processes with digitalisation throughout 2017-2019.
The carrier said it would increase its allocation to investment property and infrastructure projects in the near-term future, seeking opportunities in these segments, as well as in international growth; “by the end of 2019, expect to see the share of premium income written by our non-Slovenian subsidiaries increase compared to the business generated in Slovenia.”
Sava Re hopes to consolidate income produced by its new lines of business, such as pension and health, and ancillary services to account for 5% of total income.
However, the firm will prioritize maintenance of appropriate combined ratios and its technical performance over organic growth, setting a high return on equity target of 10.4%.
“We envisage a three-year average combined ratio of under 95 per cent for non-life business and a ratio of under 93 per cent for the reinsurance segment. In life insurance business, our target is a return on new insurance business of over 5 per cent (for non-Slovenian companies, over 2.5 per cent),” said Sava Re.
The reinsurer will be seeking opportunities for acquisitions to expand its regional presence; “the Sava Re Group closed 2016 with a solvency ratio of 204 per cent. This is a capital position that allows it to finance acquisitions through debt, which the Group is currently not taking advantage of.”
The Group set itself the objective of achieving a return on investment of 2% for the strategy period.
The reinsurer aims to maintain its solvency ratio between 170 and 230%, using surplus funds for growth through acquisitions and for organic growth.
Funds to be paid out annually as dividends will be a maximum of 40% of the Group’s annual net profit; the target return on equity for the period 2017–2019 is 10.4% (+/– 0.4 percentage points).
To make its governance more effective and efficient, the Group will continue developing its comprehensive risk management system, further strengthening the link between risk management and decision-making.
To achieve its ambitious goals, Sava Re said; “insurance companies will have to align their support processes with new insurance directives and new accounting standards,” and added that “the Group will need to carry out a number of planned activities, which will depend on the commitment of our staff, their high knowledge potential and expertise.”
Sava Re is a dynamic Slovenian/international insurance group present in more than 100 insurance and reinsurance markets all across the globe. The company’s key advantages include 40 years of experience, international reputation, good performance, and stability of operations.
Sava Re is one of the larger Southeast Europe insurance groups; it owns seven insurers and a pension firm and provides reinsurance services to over 200 partners worldwide.
