ABSTRACT

Competition is the essence of success [20], suggests Michael Porter, a leading scientist in the field of business strategies and competitiveness. According to Porter, competition defines validity of activities undertaken by specific companies which include innovation, culture, or practical implementation. Analysis of competition and competitive position is crucial for market success of each insurance and reinsurance company. In this paper, we focus to the analysis of the competition in insurance markets in the countries of former Yugoslavia. The main conclusion is that without an enhancement of competitive advantage, driven by improvements in productivity, innovation and costs, insurance companies will not be able to achieve successful business performance in the future. Improving competition in not only in the interest of individual insurance companies, but also of the market as a whole and thus the insured, given that the improved competition brings improved quality of service and lower insurance premiums.

No abstract

The paper analyses the impact of the economic crisis on the insurance industries of the ex-Yugoslavia region. The analysis encompasses five countries: Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and FYR Macedonia. We examine insurance industry specifics separately for each country for the period 2004-2008 and for the first six months of 2009. While the impact of the crisis varies between countries, the research results indicate that the global financial crisis has had limited overall impact on the regional insurance industry. However the current recession resulted in negative premium growth in Serbia, Croatia and FYR Macedonia while the growth in Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina declined. At the same time investment returns have declined and claims have risen in all countries. The crisis had more pronounced impact on non-life insurance premium growth in less developed insurance markets. In developed markets, namely Slovenia and Croatia, the crisis had greater impact on life insurance premium growth

Ključna uloga osiguravajućih društava jeste obezbeđenje posredne ekonomske zaštite i obavljanje poslova finansijskog posredovanja, odnosno institucionalnog investiranja. Cilj osiguravajućih društava kao institucionalnih investitora je da obezbede dodatnu likvidnost na finansijskom tržištu, maksimiziraju profit uz prihvatljiv nivo investicionog rizika te prikupe sitan, slobodan kapital i stave ga u funkciju privrednog rasta i razvoja. Namera istraživanja sprovedenog u ovom radu je da sažeto prikaže celovitost uloge osiguravajućih društava kao institucionalnih investitora, da ukaže na značaj koji osiguranje ima u privredi i društvu i omogući neophodnu informisanost i teorijsku utemeljenost za usvajanje politika i regulativa čiji je krajnji cilj podrška ostvarenju održivog ekonomskog rasta, kao i održivog i visoko profitabilnog rasta osiguravajućih društava. U nameri da postignemo navedeni cilj analiziramo korake, ciljeve i rizike investiranja osiguravača, teorijski pregled i empirijska iskustva u upravljanju investicionim portfeljima osiguravajućih društava.