Insurance company Fidelidade aims for €10 billion in revenue by 2030 and launches foundation
The strategy involves expanding operations to three more countries and reaching 15 million customers worldwide. The announcements were made to shareholders and 4,000 employees and partners.
Fidelidade set its goals for 2030 and revealed them to an audience of 4,000 employees, agents and brokers at the “Pensar Maior” (Think Bigger, in English) meeting, held on Saturday at the MEO Arena in Lisbon. Focusing on “longevity” as the guiding principle of its strategy, the insurer wants to manage 6% of Portuguese savings, double the current level.
The global goals to be achieved in five years’ time were announced by CEO Rogério Campos Henriques: 15 million customers worldwide (currently 9.8 million), €10 billion in premiums (in 2024 it was €6.1 billion), manage €25 billion in assets (currently €19 billion), maintain an “A” rating from the main agencies (currently Fitch and S&P) and enter the top 5 most valuable brands in Portugal. In addition, it aims to invest in three new countries as part of its international expansion and achieve an ROE (return on equity) of 13% to 15% per annum for shareholders.
“Portugal is one of Europe’s strongest economic pillars”
Guo Guangchang, founder of the Fosun group and described as “one of the 50 most influential business leaders in China”, was present and recalled his group’s entry into Fidelidade’s capital in 2014. “Eleven years ago, the streets of Lisbon were empty”; today he considers Portugal “one of the best economic pillars in Europe” and “the most important country for Fosun after China”, pointing out that in the first half of this year, 53% of the group’s business was already carried out abroad.
The chairman of Fosun, which holds 85% of the capital, stressed that Fidelidade “has to think bigger to reach the top”, “has a lot of work ahead of it” and should explore synergies with the Fosun group.
Paulo Macedo, chairman of Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD), which holds 15% of the capital, also left a statement. “We are leaders and we want to extend that leadership”, he said, suggesting “greater speed and better adjustment of insurance products to their needs in order to reduce the growing uncertainty around them”, concluding to those present: “you can always count on Caixa”.
The stock market listing was not mentioned by the shareholders, but by Rogério Campos Henriques, who said it was “a decision to be made by the shareholders”. “We have been working towards this and, when the shareholders decide, we will be ready”, he emphasised.
Audacity and the We Care Foundation
For Jorge Magalhães Correia, President of Fidelidade, the future will be fuelled by constant growth and audacity. He noted that a few years ago, “the company decided not to enter into a price war in the domestic market and, as a result, lost 10% of its market share in two years”. “[But] we have already recovered and surpassed the previous figure”, he pointed out.
“We were criticised when we entered South America, when European and American insurers were leaving those markets”, he added, pointing out that, according to André Cardoso, member of the executive committee with international responsibility, at another point in the event, “in three years, it recovered the investment made in Latin America”, also indicating that at least one of Fidelidade’s next acquisitions will be in that region.
Finally, the chairman recalled the Covid-19 pandemic and the bold decision to include treatment of the disease in the coverage, “opening up healthcare costs by including an obvious exclusion for all insurers, without knowing where it would end up”.
On the other hand, he took the opportunity to announce the creation of the We Care Foundation, “to make Fidelidade’s contributions to society permanent”. It is based on an existing programme “in which employees can go further than what the company is obliged to do, especially in the area of claims”, he said, describing the new foundation as “not only philanthropic and cultural”, but as a desire to “do something concrete, to combat premature deaths”.
Solutions beyond insurance will continue for distributors
The commercial area was heavily represented at the event. Exclusive and multi-brand agents, brokers and bancassurance professionals, predominantly CGD employees, were able to hear Fidelidade’s main lines of action from CEO Campos Henriques.
“Distribution is the key part of the strategy. Two years ago, I recommended that they move away from compulsory insurance and think about health, PPR, savings”, said Campos Henriques. “Now we have new solutions that go beyond insurance, such as FIneasy (financial products), and it will not be a one-off”, he assured.
Warning that Fidelidade will incorporate more technology into its sales processes, he noted that there is a greater need for distributor concentration and stated: “We will be ready to support this path”. In another sense, he revealed his desire to have “more exclusive partners and greater proactivity” – a factor also reinforced by administrator Miguel Abecasis at another point in the event – emphasising that “customer service has been Fidelidade’s competitive advantage”, which is why he wants the best NPS (customer satisfaction indicator) “in all lines of business”.
The CEO also stressed that “longevity” will be the motto of the strategy and that this involves health, savings and assistance.
In health, “we will have primary and dental care, we will develop precision medicine, genetics and prevention, and we will have a partnership with Teladoc in Portugal and Peru for telemedicine and virtual health”, he said.
In terms of assistance, he pointed out that the State’s response is not effective, reinforcing the commitment to the ‘Sofia’ portal, aimed at care for the over-60s, and the expansion of services and regions assisted in Portugal.
In the field of savings — because, according to the CEO, “without savings there is no sustainable future” — Fidelidade will strengthen its asset management expertise and enhance the Mysavings portal. It has an ambitious goal: “In total, we only manage 3% of Portuguese savings; we want to manage 6%.”
Pensar Maior also featured a pitch by Alka Patel, a doctor specialising in longevity and lifestyle and creator of the ‘1 Million Hours’ method, designed to provide humans with 114 years of strong health.
The event was presented by José Villa de Freitas, from the Marketing and Customer Department, and Margarida Furtado, and culminated in a dinner and party for 4,000 people.
