Organized annually by the Insurance Practitioners Association in October, International Istanbul Insurance Conference was organized for 11th time on 3 and 4 October 2019. This year, the conference focused on the role of technology and innovation in achieving sustainability. Market’s existing problems and future were also discussed during the conference.

Fahri Altıngöz, Chairman of the Insurance Practitioners Association, made important statements at the conference. He underlined that this year’s conference should talk about a rising risk: “Technology is developing rapidly and the risks and opportunities it brings are increasing likewise. Changes to be caused by technology, developments in cyber insurance and technology’s role in achieving sustainability is now more important than ever.”

"An important organization to elevate insurance in our country”

“More than 350 people from nearly 22 countries ranging from USA to Japan attend this event. We have experts and speakers that speak during the panels and inform the participants about significant and priority items on the market agenda. Compared to developed markets, penetration rate of insurance is considerably low. We can say that this kind of events are important to increase it, to bring best practices from other countries to our market, or to carry requirements from foreign countries to our market. They also serve the purpose of adding value to our market, creating and increasing awareness about critical issues like insurance –especially to address high-risk situations such as earthquake or flood,” said Fahri Altıngöz, and highlighted the importance of organizing this event.

After the speech by Fahri Altıngöz, Mehmet Akif Eroğlu, President of the Insurance Association of Turkey, took the stage. Eroğlu evaluated the insurance market in general, and talked about its problems and solutions offered for those problems by the Association. Eroğlu emphasized that the biggest problem of Turkish insurance market was traffic insurance, and added as follows: “Traffic insurance is a compulsory type of insurance; therefore, the fact that it is a losing branch can be considered as normal. Insurance companies in the rest of the world are also losing in this branch. But our greatest difference is that the loss in Turkish insurance market reaches to extensive degrees. With our Traffic Action Plan, Insurance Association of Turkey gathered NGOs and market representatives to find a solution. We shared the accident report details with Security General Directorate. We created training programs for road hogs and people who make it a habit of having accidents. We intermediated in 4 legislative amendments. Those amendments will reduce the number of accidents and bring stability to traffic line.”

Eroğlu also talked about BES (Individual Pension System) and OKS (Auto-Enrollment System). He said that withdrawal from OKS reached 70% and interpreted this as both a success and failure. He said that for a sustainable success in OKS, the market needed it to be made obligatory and turned into a complementary pension model with employer’s contribution. 

The market is waiting for the Insurance Regulation and Supervision Authority

Eroğlu underlined that the market was expecting the Insurance Regulation and Supervision Authority to become operational, and added as follows: “Every crisis creates its own opportunity. 4 out of every 5 houses do not have house insurance. 3 out of every 4 vehicles lack motor own damage insurance, and half of workplaces lack fire insurance. Earthquake insurance rate is only around 50%. However, this is not only a negative aspect; it is also an opportunity for insurers to protect the society and expand the business.”

“A very important organization for Turkish insurance market”

Ahmet Yaşar, General Manager of Quick Sigorta, made a statement about the content of the conference. He said:

“This is one of the most important conferences for Turkish insurance market considering its foreign and local participants and in terms of its discussion topics. This year, this traditional conference has been organized for the 11th time. It takes two days; and during the first day two sessions are held consisting of speeches from key speakers. On the second day, two parallel sessions are held, in which issues about complementary health insurance and significant topics about the market are discussed. Today, valuable managers, employees and foreign guests, all of whom work in the insurance market, are attending the conference.”

“We are working for the development of insurance market for 60 years”

“We have managed to continue organizing this conference for the last 11 years despite the conjectural and socio-economic circumstances. Insurance Practitioners Association is a non-profit organization that does not collect any subscription fees from its members and organizes its activities through media sponsorship agreements within Turkey or from abroad. It is financially and non-materially supported by the Insurance Association of Turkey, works towards improving Turkish insurance market, and has completed its 60th year in the market last year. Our members are former and current managers of insurance companies. The target of this Association is to improve, push forward and bring Turkish insurance market to international standards, and even sometimes make it an example for other companies. As ‘IUC’ we are the sponsor of this organization. We are working towards making this organization known in other countries,” said Menekşe Uçaroğlu, General Manager of IUC Sigorta, which is the sponsor of the conference.

Organized with the participation of many market representatives from Turkey and around the world, 11th International İstanbul Insurance Conference ended on 4 October 2019.