Iran’s insurance investment in the missed opportunities of the country

According to the financial news report, the financial industry in Iran is developing rapidly, and insurance is one of the important infrastructure sectors in this sector. Iran Insurance with a share of 44% is now the flagship of the country’s insurance industry. In order to get to know the activities of Iran Insurance Company under the current conditions, we have conducted an interview with Mr. Dariush Mohammadi, the Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Iran Insurance, which you will see below.
An issue that is often raised these days is to make changes in the way insurance policies are sold through the use of technological innovations in the insurance industry. In this field, what is Iran’s distinctive activity?
The development and improvement of “My Iran Insurance System” has been achieved by the efforts of the board of directors and the efforts of the respected CEO of Iran Insurance. Iranian insurance services are provided to customers through this system. Measures have been taken so that Iran Insurance can make better use of the My Iran application platform, which was previously designed only for direct sales, and the field of improving the provision of services and claims online through this program has been in the implementation phase for almost two months. Other measures for better use of this system are on the agenda, which will soon be implemented with the follow-up of the honorable CEO.

-One of the sensitive issues in insurance companies is investment. We know that according to this letter 97, a ratio has been considered for the investment of insurance companies. The question is, what are the characteristics of Iran’s insurance company’s investment as the flagship of the insurance industry?
You know that our investments in Iran Insurance Company have several parts. One is investments that are made through subsidiaries, and Iran Insurance has invested in these companies, which include important projects. Iran Insurance is currently building and completing the huge Golestan project, which is the result of the right decisions and hard work of the past managers and the follow-up and emphasis of the current board of directors of the company. One of the missions of Seba Company, as the investment arm of Iran’s insurance, is to invest in economic sectors that have been neglected. In this section, we can mention the opportunity to invest in some new economic hubs such as Chabahar as the country’s only ocean port and a strategic hub in the field of transportation and import. In this regard, studies have been conducted and investigations are being conducted.

Now that the discussion of investment has come up, let’s go to the GDP index and the share of the insurance industry. In your opinion, what is the first priority to improve the index of insurance penetration in the country?
We should not deny one fact, and that is that our country is one of the countries that experiences high inflation. In my opinion, insisting on the sale of insurance policies whose returns for the policyholder are lower than inflation from an investment point of view is not correct at the current stage. As a rule, we should go towards creating new products and identifying new risks and formulating new insurance policies for the identified risks. Emphasizing the sale of life insurance as in previous years when we had recession and inflation was not in the form we are experiencing now, I do not have such an opinion at the current stage and I think it is not based on the realities of the country’s industry and economy. The better way is to identify new risks and develop new products.

– Okay, now we come to the question, what do you see as the biggest risks to the country’s economy in the field of insurance?
Considering the damages caused by the floods of Nowruz 2018 and after, I consider the risk of climate change and its consequences to be a serious risk for the industry.
– Regarding the development of digital economy and the use of artificial intelligence, how do you evaluate the future of the insurance industry?
The insurance industry basically deals with risk, and after accepting the risk, the most important activity of an insurance company is the service it provides to its policyholders. I think that as much as we can use artificial intelligence and related technological tools in the field of serving our customers, this is good for the insurance industry. In recent years, the discussion of artificial intelligence and digitization has tended to be more towards sales, which, while creating an opportunity for customers, has created a threat to our sales network. The important point is why the services that can be provided by knowledge-based companies have not moved towards the improvement of customer service, or at least they have not entered the space of serving insurance policyholders at the time of loss to the same extent as in the field of sales. I think that in our country, at least our policy maker, which is the central insurance, should go in the direction of facilitating and accelerating the serious introduction of artificial intelligence and tools at its disposal in the field of damage. Improving service delivery, in addition to satisfying the beneficiaries, will definitely lead to improved sales and profitability of insurers.

– Insurance is a law-oriented industry, in your opinion, what is the most important request of the insurance industry from the representatives of the Islamic Parliament?
The discussion of value added tax and various taxes that have been imposed in recent years, especially in the budget of 1401, will make the activities of companies, especially in the third field, difficult. / Kobri Sedki