Türkiye Sigorta to become global player, says finance minister

ANKARA

Türkiye Sigorta, an insurance company that emerged out of the merger of state-owned insurance and pension companies, will become a major player in the global market, Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak has said.

“Today is a milestone for Turkey’s insurance industry. Türkiye Sigorta will guide the sector with the support of the public sector and the wealth fund behind it,” said Albayrak, speaking at the launch of Türkiye Sigorta.

Türkiye Sigorta will contribute to the improvement and deepening of the financial markets in the country and play a role in making the local insurance sector more dynamic, Albayrak added.

Turkey’s insurance industry ranks 39th in the world but its current standing is far behind the country’s targets to achieve, he said.

“Our primary target is to move up in higher ranks in the global insurance sector.”

He added that the insurance and pension industries were crucial for economic stability and growth, and Turkey has classified those industries, which are underperforming as “strategic sectors,” under the new economic model in order to achieve the targets.

The government had taken steps to further strengthen the country’s insurance sector by establishing the Insurance and Pension Regulation and Supervision Agency (SEDDK) and Turk Reassurance (Türk RE), Albayrak said.

In April this year, the Turkey Wealth Fund (TVF) acquired all shares of public insurance companies for 6.54 billion Turkish Liras ($876 million) to consolidate them under a single roof.

The consolidation was a project of the Treasury and Finance Ministry, which was announced in December to raise the country’s domestic savings rate and grow the non-banking financial services sector, it noted in a press release.
As part of the project, the fund bought shares of Güneş Sigorta, Halk Sigorta, Ziraat Sigorta, Vakıf Emeklilik and Hayat, Halk Hayat and Emeklilik and Ziraat Hayat and Emeklilik.