“VIG is off to a resilient and confident start in 2025”
An interview with VIG CEO Hartwig L?ger from the 29 December 2024 special issue "UND TROTZDEM..." of the Austrian media house KURIER Medienhaus . Translation from the German original.
Insurance companies are hallmarks of stability, especially in challenging times. Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) CEO Hartwig L?ger discusses the reasons for this stability and why he is optimistic about the new year.
Kurier: The mood among businesses is gloomy as the economy weakens. But VIG has continuously posted very positive results. Insurance companies are reputed to be able to withstand any storm. Is that true?
L?ger: Of course, we have also felt the impact of the challenging economic environment. I see our excellent capital strength, our strategically forward-looking approach, and our strong regionally focused business model, among other reasons, as the bedrock of our Group’s very positive development. This model provides our regional Group companies the business freedom they need to be successful with products and solutions tailor-made for their local markets. VIG being the largest international insurance group in Central and Eastern Europe, I view this as a key factor in our ability to respond quickly and offer customised solutions in different market situations.
How do your Group companies respond in times of overall economic difficulty? Are people thinking about insurance products?
We endeavour to be a stable and reliable partner for our customers. Our business model is based on trust, protection and security. It is precisely in difficult times that this model is so important, because this is exactly when people place a very high value on security. During the pandemic, for example, our companies expanded their digital service portfolio on a massive scale, and new services are continually being added today. This also applies to innovative product enhancements, especially for health and pension products. We have approximately 30,000 employees across our company network who contribute in-depth expertise from their respective areas to the Group. Our broad-based positioning provides enormous potential that we can tap into for the benefit of both our business partners and our customers.?
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How do you go about utilising the potential within the Group?
We have established the CO3 department for the purpose of strengthening cooperation and the sharing of experience within the Group. CO3 stands for Communication, Collaboration and Cooperation and represents our objective of taking teamwork within our Group to new levels. We are reinforcing and expanding the networks between the departments of our Group companies, thereby promoting cooperation between our companies operating in the same country. The targeted bundling of these activities also serves as a catalyst for our growth strategy.
So you are also optimistic about further business growth in the new year?
Yes, absolutely. We have a very robust capital base, which underpins our activities aimed at achieving future objectives. The GDP growth forecasts for most countries in the CEE region, which is our focus, are well above the stagnating figures for the eurozone. We are off to a confident start to the new year.
Translation from the German original. In case of doubt, the German version is authoritative. You can find the interview in German in the special supplement "UND TROTZDEM..." in the 29 December 2024 issue of KURIER Medienhaus ?? https://epaper.kurier.at/
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