Page 14 - Turkinsurance Digital Magazine

14 at a glance

Ahmet Yaşar evaluated the Turkish insurance sector: “There is no saving by avoiding
insurance; savings are made with insurance.”

trillion. Therefore, the insurance sector continues to grow in real
terms. Although we have grown by about 90% nominally, we
have achieved a real growth of around 11-12%. Last year, we
reached the highest penetration rate in the last 10 years, but
the current position of the insurance sector is not where we
deserve to be. We are talking about a sector that has grown from
approximately 2 billion dollars to an average of 20 billion dollars
over the last 20 years. Even though the position of the Turkish
economy in the world varies between 16th and 20th place, the
insurance sector is ranked 37th globally. We should at least be in
the top 20. We are striving for this.”
“Obstacles related to regulations are being overcome.”

Ahmet Yaşar, Vice President of the Insurance Association of Ahmet Yaşar, addressing the obstacles to the sector’s
Turkey and President of Maher Holding Insurance Group, was advancement in rankings, stated, “There were certain obstacles
the guest on the first day of CNBC-e’s resumption of broadcasting related to regulations. These are gradually being overcome. The
in Turkey after nine years. He stated that the Turkish insurance General Conditions for Building Completion Insurance have
sector aims to be among the top 20 in the world. Ahmet Yaşar, been published. Various regulations regarding this are being
who stated, “There is no saving from insurance premiums; implemented with great efforts from our Insurance and Pension
savings are made with insurance,” emphasized the importance Regulation and Supervision Agency (SDDK) and the Insurance
of insurance in life. He also answered questions about DASK and Association of Turkey. In addition, increasing income is
Compulsory Disaster Insurance (ZAS), which have been recent important. Turkish insurance companies actually have very good
topics of interest. products and technological infrastructure in the entire financial
sector, similar to banks. Therefore, we don’t actually have much
Ahmet Yaşar, Vice President of the Insurance Association of a problem in terms of product variety and access to products.
of Turkey and President of Maher Holding Insurance Group, However, outside of compulsory insurance, the rate of insurance
appeared on CNBC-e and made significant assessments about the coverage for other insurance products is not very high. At least,
performance and future of the Turkish insurance sector for 2024. it’s not at the levels we expect. As a developing country, we need
Sharing comprehensive information about the sector’s growth to further increase these rates.”
figures, obstacles, and future goals, Ahmet Yaşar evaluated the
sector’s performance in light of the financial data from the first “The insured damage ratio should increase in disasters.”
half of 2024.
Ahmet Yaşar, noting that “both the number and intensity
Ahmet Yaşar stated, “The more the gross national product of disasters are increasing,” emphasized that the insurance
(GNP) grows, the more the insurance sector grows. If it shrinks, sector needs to adapt to this reality. He mentioned, “Risks
the insurance sector shrinks even faster. There is actually an that were once considered distant are now happening. Floods
incorrect correlation here. It shouldn’t be this way,” and added: are devastating Germany, a country we used to think was safe
“Because when things go bad, insurance should become more from such risks. Areas we thought were desert countries are
valuable. There is no saving from insurance premiums. Savings experiencing flash floods. Hurricanes, tornadoes, and the like are
are made with insurance premiums. Eliminating the current now seen in Turkey as well. Globally, disasters are increasing in
account deficit can be achieved with long-term, high-quality both frequency and severity, causing more damage. Therefore,
insurance funds, individual retirement funds, and savings- we need to take advantage of insurance instruments in all these
enhanced insurance funds. We believe that as our country’s GNP processes.”
grows in the coming period, the insurance sector will gain more
momentum and we will reach larger funds.” Ahmet Yaşar highlighted that Turkey faced an economic damage
of 103 billion dollars from earthquakes affecting 11 provinces,
“The insurance sector should be in the top 20” stating: “Only 5 billion dollars of this was insured damage.
However, during the same period, there was a global economic
Ahmet Yaşar stated that as of the end of April, the Turkish damage of 380 billion dollars, including Turkey. Of this, 118
insurance sector had achieved a total production of 258 billion billion dollars, or 30%, was insured damage globally. When
lira. He discussed the matter as follows: we exclude Turkey, the insured damage rate in the world rises
to 40%. Our country is not benefiting enough from insurance
“Of the 258 billion, 230 billion comes from non-life insurance, instruments. You know, both last year and this year, we had to
and around 28 billion comes from life insurance. Last month, allocate 1.8 trillion lira from the budget for the earthquake that
our funds in the Individual Retirement System surpassed the 1 shook 11 provinces. So, in reality, we are not avoiding this cost