Page 19 - Turkinsurance Digital Magazine

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How do you evaluate the overall picture of BES as numbers, and so far, approximately 50,000 children have had
of 2025? Could you share both sector-wide develop- a BES plan created for them. This is truly an encouraging de-
ments and company-specific growth? velopment.
How does Garanti BBVA Emeklilik maintain its
I can say that it has been a very good year for the sector. On
the BES side, as of the end of August, there is a 40% growth strength in the field of life insurance? In your opin-
in terms of fund size. When we take the inflation rate into ac- ion, what are the changing and transforming themes
count, we are talking about approximately 17% real growth. in this branch?
This is a very significant rate. Of course, part of this growth
comes from fund returns, and another part comes from new First of all, it should be noted that both sector-wide and specif-
participants. As of the end of August, we reached 608,000 new ically at Garanti BBVA Emeklilik, we are doing quite success-
participants. This is also quite an impressive figure. From this ful work in this field. At the same time, there are areas we still
perspective, it has been a very good year both for us and for need to improve.
the sector.
Starting with what we do well: we hold a truly strong posi-
As Garanti Emeklilik, we have performed slightly above this tion in credit-linked insurance products. The sector average is
growth level. While sector-wide growth is around 40%, our already at a very good level, and the penetration we achieve
growth rate has reached approximately 45%. A similar picture through Garanti Bankası is above the sector average. These
exists in terms of participant numbers as well. Therefore, we products do not only provide death coverage; they also activate
can say that we are leaving behind a successful year both at the in cases of unemployment or disability, offering compensation
company level and across the sector. payments. In this respect, they are highly protective and valua-
ble products for both the lender and the borrower.
We also look at the issue from another perspective: We com-
pare Türkiye with other countries, especially OECD countries. Moreover, although penetration rates have reached 90%, we
There, the ratio to gross domestic product is generally taken as continue to see growth. This also shows how necessary the
the basis. While the OECD average is around 80%, we are cur- product is and how its benefits are becoming better understood
rently at approximately 3%. In fact, we can say that we have over time. Therefore, we believe we must maintain this strong
only recently reached these levels. For this reason, although position.
we are growing rapidly, this pace does not seem sufficient in
the long term. Our main focus right now is how we can further As for the areas we need to improve, savings-oriented life in-
increase this growth rate. surance products stand out. This year, we launched our “Ka-
zançlı Yaşam” (Profitable Life) product, and the level of inter-
While the sector-wide growth in contribution est we have seen is quite pleasing. In fact, we do not find this
interest surprising, because the product offers a significant tax
amounts in BES stands at around 41%, for us advantage.
this rate has reached approximately 52%.
Let’s look at the mathematics of it: Today, the foreign ex-
change rate is around 41 TL. However, thanks to the tax ad-
How does your analysis look when evaluated by age vantage in this product, it is as if you are purchasing foreign
group? In general, who is entering the system? currency at 30 TL. If you ask anyone, “Would you like to buy
dollars at 30 TL?”, almost everyone would say “Yes.” This
I can share an important piece of data regarding age groups: difference naturally increases interest in our product.
For us, the composition of participants is much more impor-
tant than the sheer number. Although the regulation allowing At the moment, life insurance lags slightly behind credit-linked
individuals under 18 to join BES was introduced only very re- insurance. However, we foresee that the growth rate in this
cently, it has attracted significant interest. Looking at our own area will accelerate even further in the coming period. Our goal
data, approximately 36% of all new entrants into the system is to make this interest sustainable and elevate it even more.
since the beginning of the year — nearly one-third — are indi-
viduals under the age of 18. This rate continues to rise. Life insurance products designed for savings

This is highly promising because the individual pension system purposes are becoming more prominent.
is a long-term structure. Today, we have over 20 years of ex-
perience. The variety of funds has increased significantly. As a And of course, we are not limited to these products. We have
result, BES has moved beyond being merely a savings tool and also been focusing on several additional product groups recent-
has also become an investment instrument. ly: group life insurance, guarantee products, and critical illness
coverage, for example. In these areas, we are working to both
This diversifies the sources of interest in the system. It is no enhance the scope of our products and make the benefits they
longer necessary for parents to be the ones setting up a plan; provide more visible. At the same time, we aim to extend the
grandparents, aunts, uncles — other family members are also success we have achieved in credit-linked products to these new
enrolling children in BES. Before our interview, I checked the areas as well.