Examples of some measures are described below:
Austria
As the leading Group company in Austria, Wiener Städtische is extensively optimising its customer support. Going forward, a total of four service centres will provide relief to the provincial head offices, which are occupied with sales and customer advisory services. By bundling responsibility for property insurance, personal insurance and collections in the service centres, customer loss and benefit claim notifications can be centrally and efficiently dealt with. Standardised and uniform processing of all transactions offers customers an even higher level of quality.
Slovakia
A stronger use of Group synergies was made during the 2009 action programme to further increase efficiency and optimise the activities of the Vienna Insurance Group in Slovakia. The Group’s Slovakian companies Kontinuita poistovna a.s., Vienna Insurance Group and Komunálna poistovna a.s., Vienna Insurance Group, were merged to form a strong composite insurer, which can thus take more effective advantage of opportunities on the Slovakian market and provide the best possible service to customers.
Romania
In December 2009, the Vienna Insurance Group agreed to sell the Romanian life insurance company Omniasig Asigurari de Viata to the European insurance company AXA. After approval by the authorities, the takeover is to be concluded in the first half of 2010. This decision was based on a Vienna Insurance Group resolution to concentrate on the development of BCR Asigurari de Viata and Asirom in this market segment.
Croatia
The Vienna Insurance Group plans to merge the Group’s Croatian companies Cosmopolitan Life and Helios during the course of 2010. In the future, the company formed by the merger will operate under the name Helios Vienna Insurance Group d.d. in the high-growth Croatian insurance market as a composite insurer, offering attractive insurance solutions in both the life and non-life segments. The branch offices and extensive network of distribution partners possessed by Helios will allow it to provide even more efficient customer support and advisory services.
