Unipol: 2016-2018 Strategic Plan approved

May 13 2016
May 13 2016
The Board of Directors of Unipol Gruppo Finanziario S.p.A., which met yesterday under the chairmanship of Pierluigi Stefanini, approved the Strategic Plan of the Unipol Group for the 2016-2018 period and the consolidated results at 31 March 2016.
The Plan, developed on the basis of the current scope of the Group, has the objective of ensuring sustainable profitability over time through a program of initiatives intended to strengthen the leadership position of the UnipolSai Group on the Italian insurance market.
The cost rationalisation initiatives envisaged by the Plan will result in overall cost savings, for Unipol and UnipolSai, estimated at around €110m in 2018, equal to an approximate 10% reduction compared to the total costs recorded in 2015, which will partially contribute to financing the Strategic Plan initiatives with investments amounting to approximately €300m.

Strategic guidelines of the 2016-2018 Strategic Plan

The four key drivers

The Plan is developed along four main lines that enhance, among other things, the excellence of the Group in insurance services and the application of telematics to insurance products, relying on the main agency distribution network on the Italian insurance market.

1. Innovative and distinctive solutions

In Non-Life business, the Unipol Group intends to strengthen its market leadership in MV business, with the aim of increasing the portfolio by approximately 500,000 new customers by 2018, including through the expansion of repair (Auto Presto&Bene, MyGlass) and support services. Moreover, it wishes to extend its historic know-how in telematics and insurance services to the Non-MV business (in particular, home, commercial, SME), with a target of 8% growth in premium income for Retail and SME segments by 2018.
Telematics will provide strategic leverage in terms of customisation and customer relations, as well as an important benefit in reducing the overall cost of claims. In particular, in MV business an increase in the number of black boxes installed on the MV portfolio from the current 30% to approximately 45% in 2018 is expected, with the aim of achieving a cumulative benefit of approximately €50m on the settlement costs of claims over the three years. AlfaEvolution Technology, a Group company established for the purpose, will also support the electronic evolution with a total investment of €100m, centralising the service model and skills internally.
In the context of health protection, the plan includes further integration of the excellent specialised model of UniSalute with the agency and banking network, also through new partnerships with the public sector and the expansion of home care and personal care services, with the aim of increasing the health market share from 23% in 2015 to 26% in 2018. The Life business offer envisages the integration of protection and support services, with a review of the portfolio mix (bringing the weight of Class III to 30% of income) and focus on profitability, with a target of reducing the minimum guaranteed average returns by approximately 40 basis points within 2018.

2. Simplified customer and agent experience

Attention on the end customer and the agency network is a central aspect of the new Plan, which envisages the activation of a series of services, customisable online, which aim to help and simplify customer choices, also through the use of multi-channel services supported by the professionalism and consulting skills of the agency network. The agency network will be the focus of customer relationships and for this reason a major investment on the evolution of the network is expected, in terms of the simplification and digitalisation of commercial and administrative processes.

3. More effective physical distribution

The UnipolSai agency network, strategic focus of the Strategic Plan, will continue the reorganisation process aimed at increasing productivity, through the optimisation of local presence and the economic sustainability of agencies. The organisational model will be geared towards the specialisation of the sales force for specific customer segments, including a substantial increase in the number of Family Welfare Consultants and SME Business Specialists during the Plan to aim for the development of Affluent customers and the SME and Small Business segment.

4. Excellence of the business operating engine

Internal organisation, processes and technology are central enablers of the Plan: in particular, significant development of the claims settlement processes integrated with the availability of electronic data, the greater efficiency of underwriting processes and the automation of commercial processes are provided for. In terms of information technology, in the 2016-2018 period investments amounting to approximately €150m are expected in order to finance the improvement of service quality and cost efficiency, while training programs for employees and agents (150,000 hours/year and an annual investment of €6m) will be at the heart of UNICA – Unipol Corporate Academy activities, the single training centre for the entire Group, operative since March 2016.

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