Retail was the solution for 2009, but 2010 might bring a paradigm shift
Faced with a visible worsening of the corporate segment, the insurance market went for more aggressive development of retail sales in 2009. Both own sales forces of specialized companies and insurance brokers have "attacked" the perhaps more difficult, but also broader segment of individual customers.
"In 2009, we invested most in developing the retail channel, as success on this market segment comes only by investing in training, marketing and control systems", said Victor SRAER, Managing Partner, OTTO Broker.
Additional investments and an effort to adjust proved to be successful in 2009, therefore several market specialists believe that the retail market turned out to be a success recipe. "With regard to the ranking of brokerage companies at the end of the above-mentioned periods, 2009 and 1Q/2010 indicated that the retail business generates significant increases, even over 100%, at times of economic recession", stated Viorel VASILE, Managing Partner, SAFETY Broker. He presented an example: "A good example in this respect is the new entry of the brokerage company POWER INSURANCE Broker in TOP 10, a company focused solely on "policy by policy" selling -being, actually, the first broker with domestic capital in the ranking of the Romanian insurance intermediaries".
However, the second half of 2010 might bring a new paradigm shift in insurance distribution. A decrease in the population's income - already a fact for state employees and pensioners, as well as the almost certainty of the same happening for the rest of the active population, too - will certainly have an impact on the available income that Romanians may spend on insurance. Moreover, some relevant companies sensed this possibility and have prepared for it. "In 2009, our company focused primarily on the corporate segment and behold, as our prediction that the economic crisis will turn into a social one came true", said Sergiu LOGHIN, Board Member, BCR Asigurari.
Far from being stabilized, the constantly changing economic environment challenges the managers' ability to predict the future trends. "During these extremely difficult times for the economy, opportunities for business development are harder to identify", thinks SRAER. In fact, recent years have shown that, in addition to strategic planning, speed of response and adaptability are also on the list of requirements for business development, as a higher volatility of the economic environment strongly impacts the development strategies of brokerage companies. "Over time, the company I manage has suffered an important change in terms of customer portfolio: at first, we focused on the corporate segment, with a 75% share in the detriment of retail, whereas the ratio is now reversed", explained Victor SRAER.
As a certainty, however, the retail orientation "brought" by the year 2009 will have beneficial effects in the future, once the moment of economic crisis passes: "The development of territorial networks and of the retail business are the main strengths that will win a few percentage points to the insurance brokerage market that represents a significant share on the overall market", concludes Viorel VASILE.
Author: Andreea IONETE
on 24.05.2010
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