Commercial Union Poland Group will introduce the global Aviva brand within the coming two years, benefiting its clients, employees and insurance agents.
Commercial Union Poland Group will introduce the global Aviva brand within the coming two years, benefiting its clients, employees and insurance agents.
Commercial Union has achieved a major success in the Polish market in the last 15 years. It became not only the first investment made by its parent group, Aviva, in Central and Eastern Europe, but also the highest-achieving one. Commercial Union started as a pioneer of modern life insurance in Poland, and then within a few years rose to become the market leader in individual life insurance policies and pension funds. CU Poland's great strengths are the confidence of over three million clients who have entrusted it with the management of 55 billion zlotys, and the professionalism of its staff and insurance agents.
"It is a fantastic legacy and vast capital. The Polish company's greatest strength is its people, whose resourcefulness, talent and hard work have achieved so much," emphasised Adam Uszpolewicz, chairman of CU Poland Group.
Last year was the best one yet for CU Poland Group, in terms of sales and financial performance. The Commercial Union Pension Fund achieved the highest return rate for its clients, while capital and investment funds were among the top performers in many categories. The company's offering expanded to include motor vehicle insurance, sold as a direct insurance product. "The main aim of the Polish team and of our parent group, Aviva, is the continued development of our strong and dynamic business," stressed Adam Uszpolewicz.
The Polish financial services market is maturing and becoming increasingly closely integrated with international markets. Clients are becoming increasingly mobile, with international companies more and more often courting them through global media. A global brand provides a great opportunity for gaining the confidence of new clients and developing modern financial services standards. It means new products and services for our clients, as well as increased security, thanks to the fact that the brand is supported by a strong, global organisation, familiar to clients in many countries. Polish employees too attach great significance to working for a global brand and to being part of an international team. "Aviva, our parent company, is one of the five largest insurance groups in the world. Naturally we want to take advantage of this potential and of the benefits offered by the brand to develop the Polish business further," said Adam Uszpolewicz.
Commercial Union Poland Group will adopt the Aviva brand over the coming two years. The first stage of this process consisted in changing Commercial Union's logo and its visual identity in autumn 2007, when the words "Aviva Group" first appeared in the CU logo. "The refreshed the brand and the adoption of a more modern, more optimistic colour scheme for our advertisements was very well received by the market, and by our agents and staff," stressed Adam Uszpolewicz.
Preparations for the introduction of the Aviva brand will be extremely thorough. "The process, which will take two years, will be conducted with the greatest care, and the development of our business in Poland will benefit. The change will come as a surprise to no one, and will proceed smoothly. We will prepare a marketing programme which will include advertising campaigns to build awareness of the Aviva brand in Poland, based on Commercial Union's track record. In addition, the global brand will ensure that the marketing actions undertaken by our group throughout the world will support the Polish business as well," said Dominika Kraśko, the company's marketing vice-chairman.
This highly responsible attitude to the introduction of the Aviva brand by Commercial Union was also confirmed by Andrew Moss, Aviva's chairman: "We want to manage the entire process sensitively, to ensure that the Commercial Union brand remains a valued component of our heritage."
Among the greatest benefits gained recently by CU Poland, thanks to its work as part of the international Aviva group, two deserve special mention: the introduction of direct sales of motor vehicle insurance policies, that is, telephone and Internet sales, and bancassurance solutions, and in particular the start of what is a pioneering model of cooperation for the Polish market: working jointly with Bank Zachodni WBK to establish insurance companies which will offer insurance to the bank's clients.
"I feel certain that the new phase we are now entering will enable us to achieve further successes and strengthen our position as market leader. We want the legacy of Commercial Union and the strength of Aviva's global brand to help us become the most client-friendly company in the financial sector," concluded Adam Uszpolewicz.
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Information:
Bohdan Białorucki
Telephone: (22) 557 43 41
E-mail: public_relations@cu.com.pl
Grzegorz Mathea
Telephone: (22) 557 43 70
E-mail: grzegorz_mathea@cu.com.pl
Notes to editors:
Aviva brand world-wide
The group has now been operating under the Aviva brand in over 20 countries in Europe, North America, and in the Asia Pacific region. Recently, it has significantly expanded its international operations. Around 60% of its revenues are now generated outside the United Kingdom (as compared with 42% in 2000). This internationalisation has resulted from the company's expansion into Asia, the United States and Central and Eastern Europe. At the same time, Aviva has continued to maintain a strong position as insurance market leader in the United Kingdom - a country where the group has a tradition of over three hundred years of uninterrupted operation. In our region, the Aviva brand is present in Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania, as well as in Russia.
The most important dates from Aviva's history
The group's name, as well as the Aviva global financial services brand is young, having first been adopted in 2002. But it is backed by the legacy of over three centuries of operation of a number of insurance companies, including Commercial Union, General Accident and Norwich Union, which merged at different times through the group's history, creating an ever greater and ever stronger financial institution.
1696 - Hand in Hand, the oldest insurance company, is established in London, initially offering fire insurance.
1797 - The merchant Thomas Bignold founds a mutual insurance society, Norwich Union, in the English city of Norwich.
1861 - A group of merchants who had lost their property in the Great Tooley Street Fire of London resolves to found its own insurance company, to be known as Commercial Union. In the same year, CU opens its first foreign agency in Berlin. In 1862, CU introduces life insurance, and by 1863 opens foreign agencies in India, South Africa, in the Caribbean Islands, in South America, the USA, Canada and Australia.
1885 - The General Accident Assurance Association is founded in the Scottish city of Perth.
1905 - Hand-in-Hand merges with Commercial Union.
1912 - Commercial Union is among the companies that insured the Titanic. Despite the huge claim, CU makes a profit at the year-end.
1969 - CU company headquarters move to St. Helen's Tower in the heart of the London City. The building now houses the headquarters of Aviva plc.
1973 -CU acquires a large Dutch insurer, Delta Lloyd.
1994 - CU increases its involvement in France by acquiring Groupe Victoire.
1998 - Commercial Union and General Accident merge to form CGU plc.
2000 - CGU merges with Norwich Union, forming CGNU plc.
2002 - The group changes its name to Aviva, while retaining the individual markets' strongest brands, including Commercial Union in Poland.
2007 - Aviva becomes the fifth largest insurance group in the world by revenues, and continues to develop operations in new countries, including China, India, the United States and Russia.
Commercial Union Group in Poland
1991 - As early as two years after the start of economic reform, the British insurance company Commercial Union invested in Poland, having obtained a licence to offer life and property insurance from the Minister of Finance.
1992 - CU Poland Life Insurance Company begins its operations in November, writing its first policy and introducing capital fund-linked life insurance.
1995 - By January, the company has acquired over 100,000 clients holding individual insurance policies, and commences sales of group life insurance policies.
1996 - CU Poland General Insurance Company starts its operations by offering corporate insurance.
1997 - The company introduces new individual life insurance products and capital funds.
1998 - A decision is made to start pension reform in 1999. CU Universal Pensions Company is formed, as is a specialised asset management company, CU Investment Management, and with them CU Poland Group comes into existence.
1999 - A huge success in the first year of the pension reform - over two million contracts written in the first year alone. There is also a rapid increase in the number of CU's life insurance clients.
2001 - CU TFI becomes part of the group. CU Lithuania, a company formed by CU Poland, opens for business.
2005 - CU Group becomes one of Poland's largest financial institutions. It is a leader in the individual life insurance and capital fund-linked insurance market and manages the largest pension fund as well as offering investment funds, asset management and property insurance for individual clients. The company provides its services to over 3 million clients, and manages over 28 billion PLN of assets.
2007 - The value of assets managed by the CU Group approaches 55 billion PLN. In the autumn, CU adds direct motor vehicle insurance to its offering, selling the products by phone and via the Internet. In December its subsidiary, CU Lithuania, is rebranded Aviva Lithuania.
Commercial Union Poland Group is part of the international Aviva group - the world's fifth largest insurance group, and the largest in the United Kingdom by revenues. Aviva Group operates in 30 countries. It occupies a strong position in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Poland, the USA, Canada and Australia. Worldwide, Aviva group serves over 40 million clients, generating annual revenues of almost £50 billion, and manages assets valued at over £364 billion. For additional information, see www.aviva.com