Board's Report 2016
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Board's report The Gjensidige Insurance Group achieved once more a strong result in 2016. Customer satisfaction increased to a record-high level, and competitiveness remained good. Board's report 2016 The Gjensidige Insurance Group delivered a solid also offer banking, pension and savings products underwriting result in 2016. The return on financial and services. We build stronger relations by offering assets was satisfactory. The profit after tax expense customers a broad range of products and services. was a record-strong NOK 4.7 billion, corresponding Gjensidige Forsikring is the parent company of the to NOK 9.34 per share. Gjensidige Group (Gjensidige). The underwriting result was NOK 3.7 billion, corre- Gjensidige is the market leader in general insurance in sponding to a combined ratio of 83.4. The result was Norway, and one of the biggest insurance companies 8 per cent higher than in 2015, driven by premium in the Nordic region and the Baltics. These markets growth of 5.5 per cent and continued good custo- represent our defined market area for further growth. mer and risk selection, and risk pricing. The propor- tion of large losses was lower than expected, while The general insurance operations include both non- run-off gains were higher than the expected level. life and personal insurance. The Norwegian general insurance operations also include life insurance, The return on financial assets was 3.9 per cent, or which is pure risk insurance with a duration of up to NOK 2.2 billion, an increase of 44 per cent from 2015. one year. This is largely group life insurance. The Retail Bank and Pension and Savings showed Gjensidige’s business model is based on an continued positive development, with strong integrated value chain that includes the develop- growth in volumes and profitability. ment and production of financial services and products, a high degree of direct distribution, The Board is satisfied that the Group met its service and customer dialogue, and efficient claims financial targets in 2016. settlements. Distribution in cooperation with our partners is an important part of the business The Board proposes that the Company pay a model, especially in Denmark and Sweden. dividend of NOK 3.4 billion for the 2016 financial year. That corresponds to NOK 6.80 per share and Customer orientation represents a distribution percentage of 73 per Gjensidige is working systematically to become the cent. Compared with the previous financial year, most customer-oriented company in the Nordic the proposal corresponds to an increase of 6.3 per general insurance field. Our vision is to ‘know the cent in nominal dividend based on the profit for the customer best and care the most’. Our customers shall year. feel that we know them, care about them, make things easy for them and help them. Customer satisfaction is The Gjensidige Foundation’s share of the dividend measured systematically, both at group level and down amounts to NOK 2.1 billion. Pursuant to the to the individual employee level, and improvement Foundation’s statutes, the dividend will be passed measures are implemented continually. Customer on to Gjensidige’s general insurance customers in satisfaction was once more record-high in 2016. The Norway. The customer dividend is adopted by the training of staff, development of digital services and Foundation’s general meeting in May. use of data and insight to ensure that we are relevant to our customers’ everyday lives are important tools in The business this context. Gjensidige Forsikring ASA (Gjensidige Forsikring) is a general insurance company with operations in the We are continually developing new user-friendly Nordic and Baltic states. The company has its head self-service solutions that can be used on PCs, mobile office in Oslo in Norway. The object of the business phones and tablets. This means that customers can is to safeguard life, health and assets for customers buy and amend insurance policies, seek advice and in the private and commercial markets by offering report claims on the internet whenever it suits them. insurance on competitive terms. In Norway, we At the same time, continuous efforts are being made 48 I Gjensidige annual report 2016 Board's report Inge K. Hansen Chairman Inge K Hansen (1946) has been Chairman to rationalise internal work processes so that we can of the Board of Gjensidige since 2008. He continue to improve our service to customers. In is also Chairman of the Board of addition to offering traditional insurance products, Siriusungen AS, Troms Kraft AS, Hotel Gjensidige has developed several value-adding and Restaurant Continental AS, Nets AS, services for the Norwegian private market that Arctic Securities AS and NorSun AS and contribute to brand preference and loyalty. Point Resources AS. He is board member of Fram Museum and Sissener AS. He Market position was elected Chair of the Year in Norway and the Nordic Countries in 2012. According to Finance Norway’s statistics, Gjensidige was the biggest player in Norwegian non-marine Hansen has previously been an executive general insurance also in 2016, with a market share vice president in Statoil and CEO of Aker of 25.6 per cent of a total market of NOK 56 billion. Kværner. He is a graduate of the Our market share increased, and our market position Norwegian School of Economics (NHH). relative to our biggest competitors was further strengthened in 2016. Gjensidige prioritises profitabi- Hansen is up for election to the Board in lity ahead of growth, so that the development of our 2017. Hansen held 12,253 shares in market share confirms the good competitiveness. Gjensidige Forsikring ASA, including any shares held by closely related parties as at 31 December 2016 (last change 10 Gjensidige had a market share of 24.5 per cent in December 2012). the private market at the end of 2016. The market share in the commercial market was 27.7 per cent. This includes the agricultural market, where Gjensidige has historically had a high market share. The market shares in Denmark and Sweden were 6.6 Gjensidige’s commercial customers in Norway per cent (based on the most recent statistics from are primarily serviced through own sales channels the Danish Insurance Association as of 31 December (around 80 per cent of the premium volume). 2015) and 2.5 per cent, respectively (source: Other customers are mainly served via brokers. Insurance Sweden, as of 31 December 2016). Both the Private and Commercial segments distri- In the Baltic general insurance market, Gjensidige bute products and services through a combination had a market share of 11.3 per cent as of 30 of telephony, web-based solutions and local branch September 2016. (Source: Insurance Supervisory offices. The customers can choose their point of Commission of the Republic of Lithuania, Latvian contact and the service they want, and they shall Insurers Association, Statistics Estonia). experience the same quality and service regardless of which channel they choose. The market share for group unit-linked defined contribution pensions was 9.0 per cent, while the This model contributes to both positive customer market share for individual unit-linked pensions experiences and cost-efficient distribution. was 8.5 per cent. Our market share of transferred defined contribution pension agreements was The sales centres and customer service centres 16.6 per cent (source: Finance Norway, as of 30 are responsible for external sales and for serving September 2016). customers who contact us to buy or amend insurance policies as well as to seek advice. We have Distribution 32 local branch offices that offer advisory services in Norway the fields of insurance and banking. The offices can Gjensidige has approximately 770,000 customers refer customers to other departments if the queries in the Private segment and around 150,000 in the concern pensions and saving. Commercial segment in Norway. The customer portal gjensidige.no plays an increas- Sales and advisory services are mostly offered via our ingly important role in relations with our customers. own distribution network, but we also use agents In the portal, private and commercial customers can and dealers in some cases. We also cooperate obtain an overview of their insurance policies. They with several local mutual fire insurers. Gjensidige can manage the customer relationship themselves, has cooperation agreements with several large for example by reporting a claim or keeping track national trade unions and interest organisations. The of case processing on the internet. A considerable organisations’ members enjoy customer advantages proportion of sales to private customers in Norway is in Gjensidige through these agreements. now initiated at gjensidige.no. Almost 60 per cent of Gjensidige annual report 2016 I 49 Board's report Per Arne Bjørge Board member Per Arne Bjørge (1950) has been a member of the Board of Gjensidige insurance agents and brokers. Sales via the internet since 2011. He is Chairman of the Board are increasing. Gjensidige aims to develop cost-ef- and general manager of PAB Consul- ficient, multi-channel distribution models also in ting AS. Bjørge is Chairman of the the Baltic market, with the emphasis on web-based board of Borgund Invest AS, Havskjer solutions and telephony. AS, Havskaar AS and Tanux Shipping KS and AS. He is board member of the Customer orientation, increased sales of a wider Gjensidige Foundation and of 3D range of products and access to customers through Perception AS and of Tafjord Kraft AS. strategic partners will be important growth drivers. Among other things, Bjørge has previously been a bank director with Other Kreditkassen (Nordea) and worked as Gjensidige is also positioned to deliver products an auditor. He has a bachelor in adapted to other distribution channels, both economics and is a qualified auditor.