Dejan, you assumed the role of Head of Sales at elipsLife Switzerland/Liechtenstein in November 2021. What were your initial expectations?
elipsLife has accomplished a lot in recent years and I will continue to follow this path. We want to achieve long-term profitable growth and strengthen our position as a specialist. This is based on our high-quality offering, which ranks among the best in a nationwide comparison by VZ VermögensZentrum. Our additional services, such as Case Management Plus, make a major contribution. However, it is very important to work with our distribution partners and to further optimise our internal processes.
What are the priorities for the current year?
The focus for 2022 will be on contract renewals. This will create the basis for profitable growth within the Swiss Life International association. New business is sure to gain in importance in the future. We want to increase our overall portfolio, and I aim to specifically push new business in our target customer segment. Good cooperation with our distribution partners will be crucial here as well. We are also investing in our organisation. The new telephone system introduced in the spring will significantly improve our service quality.
elipsLife has a strong parent company in Swiss Life International. How do elipsLife’s customers benefit from this?
Swiss Life International is close to the direct insurance business. It has a broad understanding of the market and follows a number of innovative approaches. And it wants to grow, just like we do. This is very important from my sales perspective. At the same time, the collaboration with Swiss Life International opens up potential in terms of technology. Future investments in our IT systems will benefit from the high degree of digitalisation at our parent company, which will lead to efficiency gains for us and our customers.
What developments are shaping the market this year?
Both the general development and the market participants’ risk appetite are similar to 2021. In particular, a greater number of renewals will remain with the current insurer again this year.
Added to this is the consolidation on the broker market, which is increasing both the quality and the demands placed on insurers. This is exacerbating the industry-wide battle for skilled workers, which has fortunately not affected us. We are efficiently positioned in both sales and underwriting, which enables us to deliver high quality to our distribution partners.
Where does elipsLife stand today?
We are currently in the middle of the sales season. The renewal offers were sent to our distribution partners before the summer holidays. Decisions are now being taken in the reinsurance business. We are now in the midst of a peak in the area of personal insurance, and are already exceeding last year's offer volume. We have been able to write important renewals and new business, which gives us confidence for the rest of the season. I would like to thank our distribution partners and customers for the trust they have placed in us.