„It is advantageous to be part of a large family, especially one with such a long tradition, reputation and strength as VIG, which currently operates in 30 countries across 50 companies“, says Wiener Städtische Insurance Executive Board member Svetlana Smiljanić
Speaking in this inspiring interview, Svetlana Smiljanić explains how Wiener Städtische Insurance has been fostering the development of Serbia’s insurance market since day one, as well as increasing awareness of the importance of insurance. We also discussed the company’s approach to the environment, community, sustainable growth and ESG topics.
Wiener Städtische Versicherungsverein, which is the majority shareholder in Vienna Insurance Group (VIG), is this year celebrating its 200th anniversary. What positive impact has the long tradition of this leading Group had on the local company?
— Exchanging experiences and best practices is certainly very important when taking on a new project, plan or market challenge. There is no insurance topic that has not already been addressed by one of the member companies.
Through its unique CO3 platform – cooperation, collaboration, communication – the Group brings us together and encourages us to share knowledge, learn and improve our operations.
We are guided, both in Serbia and at the VIG level, by the idea of sustainability in our business conduct – we create economic value today without compromising on tomorrow. Conducting business in line with ESG principles is not a new topic for our company since we laid the foundations for responsible and sustainable business practices in a timely manner.
You place a great emphasis on your approach to the environment, the community and sustainable growth and governance with a focus on ESG topics. How important are financial literacy and risk literacy in this context?
— A key pillar of our community engagement focuses on raising awareness of risks. This essentially means empowering individuals or groups to make informed and sensible decisions regarding risk management. Namely, research conducted by Gallup International for our Group in nine neighboring countries showed that awareness of everyday risks and their management is lower in Serbia than the CEE average, which makes our citizens more vulnerable to the financial consequences of risks.
We create economic value today without compromising on tomorrow
By launching targeted programmes that will have a strong impact on raising risk awareness, Wiener Städtische Insurance intends to contribute to improving the public understanding of risks, while simultaneously improving their financial resilience.
What was the main impact of the VIG on the Serbian insurance market, and what is perceived as the main challenge for the future?
— Wiener Städtische Insurance was founded in 2003 as a greenfield investment by VIG in what was then an underdeveloped insurance market. Our own growth has certainly encouraged the growth of the overall market and increased awareness of the importance of insurance.
Since then the VIG Group has established VIG Real Estate (2007) on our market to develop VIG Plaza, one of the first ESG projects in this region, as well as Wiener Re (2009) to reinsure our company’s portfolio, which today operates across three regional markets and serves 19 clients. We supported the establishment of the company in Montenegro (2010) and the acquisition of a company in Bosnia and Herzegovina (2012). Global Assistance, headquartered in VIG Plaza, has been established two years ago.
In order to respond to future challenges, we practice sustainable development and responsible management in the context of the global energy transition and the preservation of nature for future generations. Our management of continuous success is intertwined with ecological, social and financial issues, which we recently defined through our Local Sustainability Programme 2024.
Photo: A. Anđić
