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The 71 General Assembly of the Insurance Association of Türkiye (TSB) Was Held

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The 71 Ordinary General Assembly of the Insurance Association
of Türkiye (TSB) was held with the participation of member
companies. At the meeting, where TSB President Uğur Gülen
presented the 2024 assessment, key topics included 2025
expectations, priority agenda items, current challenges, and the
sector’s five-year strategy.

Serving as the umbrella organization of the insurance industry,
the Insurance Association of Türkiye (TSB) convened its
71st Ordinary General Assembly on May 8, 2025. With the
TSB administration and member companies in attendance,
and elections held for the association’s governing bodies, the
General Assembly featured evaluations of the current state of
the insurance sector and its future objectives.
Addressing the General Assembly, TSB President Uğur Gülen Gülen pointed out that the country’s population is beginning
emphasized that over the past year, they focused on transforming to age and, coupled with the increase in life expectancy, the
the Union’s role, stating:“First, we changed the way the Union length of time spent in retirement is growing—leading to a
operates, adopting an ecosystem-based approach that embraces potential income gap. He stated that, in this context, the most
every stakeholder and prioritizes stable growth through critical item on the agenda should be the implementation of the
collective wisdom. Within our member companies, without Complementary Pension System in a structure that supports
making any distinction between old or new, small or large, the existing social security system. Gülen highlighted that the
domestic or international, we embraced the spirit of ‘us’ and set Individual Pension System (BES) continues to grow steadily,
goals that will carry our sector into the future with confidence with over 17 million participants and a fund size reaching
and strength.” 1.4 trillion TL, and is now widely recognized by citizens as
a reliable savings tool. He emphasized that the substantial
Highlighting that the insurance sector managed to protect itself 30% state contribution remains the main driving force
against inflation in 2024 and reached a volume of 26 billion behind public interest and added that the implementation of
dollars while strengthening both its equity and return on equity, the upcoming Complementary Pension System (TES) would
Uğur Gülen continued: “With the balancing of reinsurance costs, further accelerate BES’s growth trend.
we expect the increase in policy prices to remain limited in 2025.
First-quarter sector figures indicate that although financial “We Do Not Forget the Reality of Earthquakes”
income has declined this year, cost control has been achieved,
and profitability from insurance operations is anticipated. Based Uğur Gülen also drew attention to the possibility of a major
on these expectations, we foresee the sector reaching a volume of Marmara Earthquake, stating that it remains one of the
30 billion dollars by the end of 2025 and aim to steadily increase most critical issues on the sector’s agenda. He continued:
our share in the national economy.” “In the event of a major earthquake centered in İstanbul,
it is estimated that there would be an economic loss of
Emphasizing the sector’s overall financial strength, Gülen approximately 300 billion dollars, of which around 25–30
added: “Financial resilience is indispensable for insurance. In billion dollars is expected to be covered by our insurance
this regard, the steps taken recently by the Insurance and Private sector. On the other hand, when comparing the past with
Pension Regulation and Supervision Agency (SEDDK) to enhance the present, the growing awareness of insurance through the
stability and security in our sector are of great importance to us. compulsory earthquake insurance system led by DASK is a
We must also highlight that the recent capital regulation has strong indicator of increasing trust in insurance.”
significantly strengthened our companies’ financial resilience
and now serves as a shield against potential risks.” Referring to the Earthquake-Focused Insurance Reform
Agenda developed with the priority of a potential earthquake,
“Key Issues in the Sector Must Be Resolved as a Gülen stated: “Through this initiative, we are working on
Priority” comprehensive, multi-dimensional, and multi-stakeholder
reform proposals that center on the ‘policyholder.’ These
In the final part of his address to the General Assembly, Gülen include integrating earthquake risk into all insurance
focused on the long-standing issues of the insurance sector, policies with standardized and specially designed coverage,
highlighting that the foremost and most significant among them increasing insurance penetration, creating alternative funding
is the motor third-party liability insurance branch. He stated mechanisms, enhancing the knowledge and awareness levels
that the most crucial solution lies in transitioning to a free of distribution channels, and implementing sector-specific
tariff system, but emphasized that this step must be preceded by regulations. Our preparations in these areas continue at full
bringing the costs within this branch under control. speed.”