Ensuring steady progress

With a solid economic background, Violeta Ciurel, President and CEO of AXA Life Insurance, tells The Diplomat – Bucharest about the company’s plans for this year, which include both launching new products and expanding the agency network country-wide.

February 2012 - From the Print Edition

We are on the fifth floor of the office building in the Baneasa area of Bucharest where the AXA Life Insurance team handles its day-to-day operation to meet Violeta Ciurel, President and CEO of the company. She welcomes us into her simple, neat office, which reveals a methodical and action-oriented approach.
Ciurel’s career encompasses more than 30 years of experience, both in Romania and abroad. The part of which she seems most proud is the 20 years she spent working with students at the Academy of Economic Studies. “Prior to 1997 my professional activity dominantly related to business, was exclusively linked with the education system. I consider it one of my greatest accomplishments that at 40 years old I earned the title of university professor,” Ciurel tells The Diplomat – Bucharest.
In 1997 she left her “full time” university post to enter corporate life by joining ING Life Insurance, a firm which at that time was just entering the local market, and at which she spent eight years in Romania and another six in Amsterdam, at the company headquarters.
“In Amsterdam I had three jobs, on a global or regional scale, an experience which helped me to better understand the financial services sector from a totally different perspective than just as a single market – especially topics such as private pensions, the pension reform, financial sector risks and links with international and European institutions such as World Bank, IMF, the European Parliament and European Commission,” says Ciurel.
“Also during that period I coordinated several regional projects, some in collaboration with the World Bank, for instance, which were well received by the industry and different organizations. The results were appreciated by those for whom they were intended.”

The AXA challenge

Violeta Ciurel took over AXA Life Insurance operations in September 2010, when she became the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and President of the Administration B oard by winning the vote of confidence of the company’s majority shareholder. “Here we started as from scratch with the small company acquired by the AXA Group, a company which, with a good team, has to grow despite all market difficulties,” said Ciurel. In a little over one year at AXA Life Insurance, Ciurel and her team has had to deal with both internal and external challenges.
“First of all we had to reorganize the acquired company to a business model that could meet the objectives of the company’s strategy and AXA’s way of doing business, which involved countless structural changes in terms of project management, implementation of a new business model, building the brand, as well as day-to-day operations and processes,” reveals Ciurel.
She adds: “Also, we had to revise the client and product portfolio and launch new products, especially on the life insurance segment. Another objective has been creating AXA brand on the Romanian market, as we are dealing with a new company that is not joining a completely unoccupied market, but a highly competitive one.”
According to the AXA Life Insurance President and CEO, another company’s major objective is to develop its network of agencies, which currently exceeds 40 units. “Here we are in a full expansion process and our plans are to open another 20-25 units by the end of the year. It will depend very much on the market, as we have to take into account the unstable economic sector, with people being uncertain of their jobs and over-indebted,” adds Ciurel.

New products: safety vs. risk

With the majority of insurance policies being taken out by individuals, the company’s management is looking out for any changes in customer profile and behavior.
“Our typical client is between 35-50 years old, university graduate or with high school education, lives in the city and has a family and children. We’re seeing increasing interest in insurance with guaranteed technical interest, which includes a savings component. We will launch a new product this year on the life insurance segment with an investment component, which will include investment funds with different degrees of risk,” reveals Ciurel.
Moreover, she adds, the health insurance segment looks promising, in case of the health reform will happen but not without caveat. “First of all we need to know the total costs of the health system in Romania: the basic package, the degree of collection, how the settlements are made, the operating costs, and how much capital will be required by the Insurance Supervisory Commission (CSA). So there are hundreds of problems here which need clarification,” adds the AXA CEO.

Small steps for the market

Ciurel says that the company has already benefited from a share capital increase this year and expects further support from the shareholder next year as well.
“As we are in a full investment phase we needed a capital infusion to finance the company’s development plans and we plan to do the same next year,” she says.
With ongoing development plans, the company is keenly watching what’s happening across this competitive market.
“In my opinion, this year we will not see dramatic changes compared to 2011, only a slight advance of 2-3 percent. I see a fairly constant level of premiums both on life and non-life insurance,” concludes the businesswoman. ■


Who is Violeta Ciurel?

Since September 2010 she has served at AXA Group as President and CEO of AXA Life Insurance Romania. Prior to that, in 2004 she moved to Amsterdam to become General Manager of Global Retirement Services, followed by General Manager for European and International Affairs and, since 2008, Regional CEO for Greenfields and Business Development for insurance and pensions Central Europe, all within ING Group. Ciurel worked for ING Group from 1997-2010 in different jobs in Romania and the Netherlands. She started as Marketing and Training sales force Director at ING Life Insurance, and then served as CEO of the company and Executive Director, Retail Distribution and Insurance at ING Romania for four years. Ciurel has also worked in the educational field, at the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest. She provided consulting activities for companies and international organizations, and assistance for different governments in pension reforms in emerging markets from all continents and has been involved in European pension projects.