|
We provide stability on Balkan
Matjaž Rakovec. A man that is obviously fond of challenges. This is namely the first time in the history that a Chairman of the Management Board of Zavarovalnica Triglav would agree to an interview with questions that were prepared by employees. He did this without hesitation, even with enthusiasm. He simply wasn't interested in who the authors of questions were.
The first man of Triglav has been in insurance business for 14 years. This big fan of sports, former president of the Slovenian Water Polo Association, and an international Water Polo judge also uses international sports organizations to strengthen his ties to the rest of the world. As a father of two girls, he dedicates the majority of his free time to his family.
♦ Time is a scarce good that has to be managed well. There often isn't any free space in planner calendars of Management Board Chairmen, even on weekends. How many white patches are there in your planner calendar for the next week?
Only Saturday and Sunday and nothing else.
♦ How do you manage to protect yourself from burning out?
I have been at this position for four months and I have only begun to prepare a plan for personal time management. I understand what my priorities are. The first one is definitely my relation to co-workers.
♦ They recently announced Slovenian man and woman of the year for the previous year. Whom would you give this title?
At this moment, my choice would be only one. That is Petra Majdič, because she deserves this title the most.
| "Our important and responsible task is to start implementing good management of subsidiary companies. We must realize that Triglav represents one of the main financial institutions that provide stability in Balkan." |
♦ Do you believe that women would be able to handle the tasks that the management members of our insurance company have?
Such position definitely demands a stabile family or complete independence (laughter). I believe that two tasks of such pretentiousness, i.e. family and company management, demand a well-harmonized family couple. One of the people in the pair must dedicate himself to the family so the other one could dedicate himself to the career. Our management has mostly young families with small children. If you were a bit older and your children were already grown up, it would surely be much easier.
♦ What do you think about the recent claim of the economist, Dr. Aleš Ahčan, that there are too many insurance companies in Slovenia?
There are as many insurance companies as the Slovenian market can withstand. The average premium per inhabitant in Slovenia is 990 Euros, but is well over 2000 EUR in the West, and only from 45 to 100 EUR averagely in the South. This means, that everybody is just waiting for the opportunity, a change in legislation and a rise in insurance culture. The South has the same position as we did in 1991, when we mostly only held obligatory car insurances, some home insurances while the foreign insurance companies collected all life insurances. I believe that we are above the European average in property insurances, but that one can still find great opportunities in life and health insurances.
♦ Zavarovalnica Triglav remains at the top, but the market share is persistently falling and reaches a new lowest level in history with each new month. How will you try to stop this trend and increase the market share?
The crisis represents basis for a new strategy of our insurance company and consequentially of the whole insurance market in Slovenia. We will not try to preserve our market share at any cost, but will try to create positive and solid cooperation and further strengthen the capital and financial strength. Our work shall be directed mainly toward building a high-quality portfolio. This means, that we will handle clients, especially companies that have had a negative loss ratio over the last five years, in an individual manner. This is not something that will happen over the night but the results will be seen in two to three years.
♦ Will the strategy of Triglav in future dictate strengthening the Triglav Group or additional expansion to new markets of Southeast Europe?
Expansion is currently out of the question, because we must first invest a lot of knowledge, personnel potential and capital potential in the markets of Balkan. This is our natural market where 20 millions of people live. This is an industry that will definitely develop in certain segments. We have invested and purchased much in the past three years, but now it is time to consolidate the Group. Our important and responsible task is to start implementing good management of subsidiary companies. We must realize that Triglav represents one of the main financial institutions that provide stability in Balkan.
♦ Do you think that it is good to leave the management of subsidiary companies to local managers in the time of economic crisis that still has no end in sight and that will affect the Balkan region in this year the most, or would it be prudent to think about directing experts from the mother company there?
Both. Management must have a man that comes from local environment but there must also be a person that is delegated by the mother company and that has all the same authorizations as the first person.
| "When the strategy is prepared, we will start to visit the RUs, which will presumably happen in May, and then the subsidiary companies abroad and our larger companies at home. We wish to use this opportunity to establish a personal relation with the employees and introduce to them the new members of our management as well as our new strategy." |
♦ How will the economic crisis affect the results of the Triglav Group in your opinion? The population of Balkan namely still does not completely realize what security an insurance can give and mostly only decide on obligatory insurances?
The crisis obviously also knocked at the door of insurance segment, albeit with a delay. We only noticed this at the end of last year, when there was a substantial worsening of conditions. I believe that Triglav managed to wade through the crisis quite well so far. I am expecting a difficult year, but on the other hand, I also notice that the conditions in companies already changed, the production stabilized and even raised a bit. We will follow the plan we set and will make the rest of the world our biggest challenge. Standpoints in Slovenia are namely quite clear, but the legislation in Balkans keeps changing a lot. Besides that, a large number of companies collapsed. Our plans are feasible.
♦ There was a substantial centralization of individual areas in the previous period. Which manner of management do you find closer to yourself – centralized or decentralized?
From my position of the Chairman of the Management Board, I am actually able to see the trends of the world. Triglav has everything it needs to become an excellent international insurance company, which of course, demands a more centralized form of business operation. This does not mean that the responsibilities and rights of RUs shall diminish; we would simply like to separate the field that is in direct contact with insured persons from those fields that operate in the background. The role of regional units shall remain to be in direct contacts with clients, from the Chairman downwards.
♦ In the past, Triglav mainly supported clubs, societies and associations in the field of sports. Why has the insurance company decided to help primarily individuals and elite athletes, such as Sara Isakovič, Saša Farič and Jernej Damjan in the future?
Sponsoring of societies will remain within the framework of the insurance company, because it reflects our social responsibility the most. Individual sponsorships are extremely important for an even bigger visibility of Triglav, which has nurtured its ties to elite sports from the beginning. I believe that there hardly exists a club, society or sports federation that would not be supported by Triglav.
♦ You gave a lot of interviews for various domestic as well as foreign media. How important is good communication to the press for a company?
I believe that the honesty of the partner in discussion plays the main role – you have to trust a journalist and he should trust you, because he must convey certain information to the media in the correct manner. Your relation to the press is extremely important. Triglav frequently appears in numerous media. Some of them are also spreading bad information about us, but that is just a part of everyday events. Certain persons simply do not wish our insurance company, our employees, and lastly also our management to succeed.
Sašo Sever |
