talanx group annual report 2011 en
talanx group annual report 2011 en
talanx group annual report 2011 en
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Overall assessm<strong>en</strong>t of<br />
the economic situation<br />
Non-financial<br />
performance indicators<br />
Corporate Governance Remuneration <strong>report</strong> Ev<strong>en</strong>ts of special<br />
significance<br />
and product-related activities. This will make it possible going forward<br />
to work effici<strong>en</strong>tly in terms of markets, resources and budgets<br />
across all divisions and segm<strong>en</strong>ts. Further examples are a new SAP<br />
business-in-force managem<strong>en</strong>t system and digital case processing.<br />
The re-alignm<strong>en</strong>t also presupposes the conviction that the way we<br />
think and act must be consist<strong>en</strong>tly geared towards the b<strong>en</strong>chmark<br />
of performance. We want to actively <strong>en</strong>courage this kind of culture,<br />
for instance by working on a Group-wide variable remuneration<br />
system for first-level managers. Annual appraisal interviews with all<br />
employees are meant to help to discuss mutual expectations in a<br />
structured fashion.<br />
Promising sales channels<br />
Bancassurance: Selling insurance products across the bank<br />
counter has be<strong>en</strong> gaining ground in rec<strong>en</strong>t years under the name<br />
of bancassurance. At the Talanx Group, bancassurance has be<strong>en</strong> a<br />
great success with <strong>en</strong>couraging prospects for the future. The basis<br />
of this success is the special business model in which the insurance<br />
business is fully integrated into the structures of the banking<br />
partners. The insurance companies design and develop the insurance<br />
products – the banks, savings banks or the post office provide<br />
various sales outlets. The Talanx insurance companies operating via<br />
bancassurance do not focus only on the German market, they have<br />
already exported the bancassurance model to Hungary, Turkey and<br />
Russia. This will in our opinion promote profitable growth with an<br />
emphasis on European markets. The success of Talanx’s bancassurance<br />
model stems ess<strong>en</strong>tially from three core factors. Firstly the<br />
establishm<strong>en</strong>t of exclusive insurance companies: a dedicated insurance<br />
company is founded for each cooperation programme and is<br />
bound to the partner by means of exclusive longterm cooperation<br />
agreem<strong>en</strong>ts with terms of up to 30 years; the insurance products<br />
are sold only via the co-operating partner’s channels. Secondly<br />
the highest possible degree of integration and excell<strong>en</strong>t quality of<br />
products and services: cooperation is embodied in the partner’s<br />
strategic line-up. The insurance companies design exclusive and<br />
tailor-made products for the bank’s cli<strong>en</strong>t segm<strong>en</strong>ts and are fully<br />
integrated into the partner’s market pres<strong>en</strong>ce. Integration into the<br />
partner’s IT systems also makes it easier to provide all-round advice<br />
wh<strong>en</strong> selling banking and insurance products. And thirdly, success<br />
comes from providing customised sales support for the partner: the<br />
bank’s sales staff are giv<strong>en</strong> personal training and exclusive guidance<br />
by sales coaches from the insurance companies. These convey both<br />
product expertise and sales approaches. The insurance companies<br />
also supply readily understandable and supporting sales materials.<br />
Risk <strong>report</strong> Forecast and<br />
opportunities <strong>report</strong><br />
Internet: Increasing digitalisation and the associated easy access to<br />
information have led to a situation in which by far the majority of<br />
consumers consult the internet for information before concluding<br />
an insurance contract. The internet offers the opportunity to address<br />
especially younger target <strong>group</strong>s and has by now become an<br />
important medium for cli<strong>en</strong>ts and insurance companies alike. With<br />
this in mind, HDI Direkt Versicherung AG joined together with other<br />
insurers to set up the consumer portal Transparo in the year under<br />
review. This portal <strong>en</strong>ables pot<strong>en</strong>tial buyers to compare insurance,<br />
financial and <strong>en</strong>ergy services. The core elem<strong>en</strong>ts of Transparo are<br />
a number of web-based calculators that compare the prices and<br />
b<strong>en</strong>efits of all available tariffs and rates. We are aiming to g<strong>en</strong>erate<br />
further growth via this sales channel going forward.<br />
The internet offers new pot<strong>en</strong>tial for the future in the industrial<br />
lines, too. For this reason, HDI-Gerling Industrie Versicherung AG<br />
got together with other reputable partners in 2010 to set up the<br />
inex24 platform. This is the world’s first neutral collaboration<br />
platform for the industrial lines sector. inex24 grants industrial<br />
<strong>en</strong>terprises, intermediaries and risk carriers access to a neutral,<br />
high-security internet platform with a large number of high-performance<br />
tools. This makes negotiating and concluding industrial<br />
insurance contracts faster, easier and more secure.<br />
Brokers: Despite the increasing importance of internet selling,<br />
personal contact with the cli<strong>en</strong>t will remain a major success factor<br />
in the future, too. We see high future growth pot<strong>en</strong>tial especially<br />
for selling via brokers. Talanx AG has <strong>en</strong>tered into a close partnership<br />
with Swiss Life, in which it holds a longterm share package<br />
of just on 10%. Under the terms of this cooperation, Talanx is to<br />
become an important product-supplying partner for the financial<br />
service provider AWD. Talanx also owns just on 10% of the financial<br />
service provider MLP. Both MLP and the AWD <strong>group</strong>, which nowadays<br />
belongs to Swiss Life, are important partners in brokered marketing.<br />
These participations provide an opportunity to str<strong>en</strong>gth<strong>en</strong> and<br />
further expand our already existing business links with the brokers<br />
concerned.<br />
Talanx Group. Annual Report <strong>2011</strong><br />
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