History    

As the life insurance had got momentum in the second half of 1980s in Turkey, the life insurance department within Halk Sigorta was decided to be enlarged and incorporated. Upon this decision taken in 1990, the new Company was founded on January 21, 1991 under the name of Halk Yaşam Sigorta A.Ş. after the shortest preparatory period possible. Established to operate in health, life and personal accident, the Company was renamed as Halk Yaşam in 1994. It amended its trade name as Yapı Kredi Yaşam with a view to enhance the synergy with the other subsidiaries within its parent financial services group on October 1, 2000.

Starting working on the Private Pension System in 2000, the Company transferred the renewal transactions of its health insurance portfolio to Yapı Kredi Sigorta in 2001, as the private pension savings and investment system law required such a transfer within two years following the receipt of pension certification (by July 2005 for Yapı Kredi Emeklilik). It was remarked that it is of the first companies to satisfy the legal requirements throughout all phases of the transformation to a pension company. Upon the authorization received from the Undersecretary of Treasury (December 3, 2002) for the transformation to a pension company, the Company name was changed to Yapı Kredi Emeklilik on December 30, 2002. It was incorporated into Koç Finansal Hizmetler, a joint venture of Koç Group and Italian international banking group UniCredit, in 2005.

Allianz, one of the largest insurance companies in the world, has become the main partner of the Company as of July 12, 2013 by acquiring a 80.07 percentage share of Yapı Kredi Emeklilik. Yapı Kredi still maintains its 19.93 percentage share in our Company so as to promote its long-term strategic partnership with Allianz.

The Company started offering Private Pension Plans on October 27, 2003. It was the leading Company in the private pension market, where 11 companies were operating, as of year-end 2003. It closed 2004 and 2005 as the leader in number of contracts and total net asset value of fund. The Company's area of activity is to draw up pension contracts, to perform any activities and transactions pursuant to relevant laws and regulations, as well as to issue any group, personal life, and personal accident policies and to perform reinsurance activities both in Turkey and abroad.

1992 One of the first companies to install POC (Point of Claim) Terminal. The international health insurance and special life insurance policies for women were launched.

1993 One of the first companies to feature foreign currency denominated life insurance products to its portfolio.

1995 The Company launched the Insurance Security service for Yapı Kredi Bank current account holders with balances above a specified limit.

1996 24-hour emergency medical assistance service through the Alarm Center launched for the policyholders.

1997 The right to reclaim of premiums paid within the first month of the policy term granted to the policyholders with a view to ensure unconditional customer satisfaction; a pioneering step in the industry.

1998 The Unit System established to channel policyholders’ savings to investments on a daily basis, and to distribute dividends.

1999 One of the first companies in the industry to install digital telephone and interactive voice response systems.

2004 Winner of the environmental category of the International Public Relations Association’s (IPRA) Golden World Awards 2004 and the United Nations Scroll of Honor for “Saffron,” the social responsibility project carried out by Allianz Yaşam ve Emeklilik in collaboration with TEMA (The Turkish Foundation for Combating Soil Erosion, for Reforestation and the Protection of Natural Habitats) and Harran University. Winner of the Active Academy Corporate Social Responsibility Award in Turkey for the same project.

The “Most Admired Private Pension Company” according to the survey conducted by the magazine Capital.

2005 The first Private Pension and Insurance Academy in the industry established in cooperation with Boğaziçi University.Moreover, Those at the Top – Social Responsibility Award of Platin magazine was granted for “Saffron” project.

2006 The first Turkish company to receive CMSAS 86:2000 (Complaints Management) certificate issued by the British Standards Institution (BSI).

The Old Age Research Center (65+) established as a social responsibility project to raise public awareness on the matter, a first in Turkey.

2007 The first pension company to improve CMSAS 86:2000 (Complaints Management) certificate to meet ISO 10002:2004 standard (quality management – customer satisfaction – guidelines for complaints handling in organizations)

The social responsibility project “Frigate Ertuğrul: A Turkish Ship in Japan” was launched jointly with Institute of Nautical Archaeology with contributions from the Turkish Institute of Nautical Archaeology.

2008 Two international awards won for social responsibility projects carried out. Winner of the sponsorship category of the International Public Relations Association’s (IPRA) Golden World Awards for “Frigate Ertuğrul: A Turkish Ship in Japan,” and in the customer services category of the same Awards for the “Old Age Research Center (65+)” project.

The industry’s first three-dimensional segmentation resulted in the division of customers into four value segments, 16 need segments and 23 behavior segments, as well as nine integrated segments based on specific categories.

2009 Two international awards won for social responsibility projects carried out. The “Income Protection Insurance” assures the regular payments of Yapı Kredi customers in cases such as involuntary unemployment, temporary disability, death and total disability; while the “Income Drawdown Plan” enables participants, who are entitled to retirement under the private pension system, to receive their savings in the form of regular income. To improve the bank sales channel, the Bancassurance Department was established on October 2009, The customer communications map was reorganized under the segmentation project launched in 2008.

2010 Two new personal accident products, “My Child’s Education Insurance” and "Multi-Protection Accident Insurance,” and three new life insurance products, "Credit Card Payment Protection Insurance," "Commercial Loan Life Insurance," and "Credit payment Protection Insurance," designed and launched.

In October 2010, our first branch in Gaziantep formally commenced its operations. Falling within the Southeastern Anatolian Region, this branch reports to Allianz Yaşam ve Emeklilik’s Southern Region office.

Allianz Yaşam ve Emeklilik was selected as one of the “Superbrands of Turkey,” by Superbrands International, a U.K.-based independent brand assessment firm operating in 86 countries worldwide. The company was also featured in the book "Superbrands of Turkey 2010."

2011 The complete renewal of the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) infrastructure was one of the most significant projects within the Company. A further step from various initiatives launched in the same year - the customer communications map, 3D segmentation and private customer consultancy - the new CRM system carried the Company's customer-oriented approach to a higher level. Celebrating its 20th anniversary on January 29, 2011, the Company performed various activities for its employees and agencies. A special exhibition was held all the year round at the head office in Istanbul and Gebze building, as well as in the regional offices in Gayrettepe, Kadıköy, Adana, Antalya, Ankara, Izmir, and Bursa. These exhibitions were opened with cocktail parties attended by employees and agencies. The "mozaİK" project was also launched to review the human resources practices and to ensure the transition to the integrated human resources model.

2012 As the decision towards a shift to a direct incentive system defined as State Contribution was taken in the Private Pension System, several infrastructure arrangements have been made. By utilizing the customer relations management infrastructure, which started to be developed in 2011, enhancement of communication, data collection, and processes aimed at increasing the customer value have been continued. The data integration project of the CRM system has been successfully completed. The CRM application has been integrated with the renewed IVR and thus recognition of clients by the system has been enabled. By using developing technologies excluding data integration, MASAK client risk segmentation has been performed for use by the Internal Audit and Risk Management Department. Parallel to the decision of Yapı Kredi towards focusing more on bancassurance, the “Bancassurance Project” has been started. A pilot of private pension reference screens which were prepared so as to be used in Yapı Kredi branches was put into practice. As part of the mozaİK project started in 2011, the determination and promotion of competencies, competency based recruitment, 360-degree competency assessment, total performance management, development planning, and talent management applications have been actualized.

2013 The approval required to carry Allianz – Yapı Kredi partnership into effect was received from the Undersecretariat of Treasury and the Competition Authority. In July 2013 Allianz became the main partner of Yapı Kredi Sigorta and Yapı Kredi Emeklilik. The title of Yapı Kredi Emeklilik A.Ş. was changed to Allianz Yaşam ve Emeklilik A.Ş. in October 2013.

2014 The merge of Allianz Sigorta and Yapı Kredi Sigorta was finalized in October 2014. The activities of the companies continue under the name of Allianz Sigorta A.Ş.