Mahir Çipil joins VHV Türkiye team

Operating in Turkey since 2015, Germany's leading insurance group VHV Group continues to grow in Turkey without slowing down. The company chose Mahir Çipil, one of the experienced names in the sector, for the position of Deputy General Manager (COO) of VHV Reinsurance. Mr. Çipil will lead the marketing, technology, operations and legal processes. It was shared that the newly appointed COO will also take part in the Board of Directors.

Commenting on the appointment, Maximilian Stahl, Chairman of the Board of Directors of VHV Insurance and CEO of VHV Reinsurance, said: "As the VHV team, we continue to grow in Turkey without slowing down. With the strength we draw from our more than 100 years of experience, I think we have succeeded in becoming an important player in the sector since 2015, when we opened the Turkish market. Taking strategic steps to bring competent human resources to our company has played a major role in achieving this success. In line with our strategy, we are pleased to announce that Mahir Çipil, who we believe will bring great value to our company with his more than 20 years of insurance experience, will take the position of Assistant General Manager. As the VHV team, we will continue to take part in important projects in Turkey and neighboring countries with our strong capital and international experience."

Who is Mahir Çipil?

Mahir Çipil graduated from Hacettepe University, Department of Business Administration and received his MBA from Cornell University in the USA and London Business School in the UK.

Mr. Çipil started his career at the Prime Ministry Undersecretariat of Treasury in 2000 and held various positions at the General Directorate of Insurance and the General Directorate of Foreign Economic Relations. At the Undersecretariat of Treasury, he was involved in the management of various activities, including the regulation of insurance companies, legislative arrangements, the establishment of the Natural Disaster Insurance Pool (TCIP) and Insurance Information and Monitoring Center (SBM) structures, and strategic planning. In 2010, as the manager responsible for Strategy and Project Management at Groupama Sigorta and Groupama Emeklilik, he was responsible for change management projects such as centralization of claims, technical and collection operations and restructuring of operational processes.

In 2013, Mahir Çipil joined Zurich Sigorta as Project Management and Organization Director. After taking part in bancassurance integration and strategic acquisition projects, he was appointed as Marketing Director and Member of the Executive Committee in June 2013. He managed activities such as brand positioning, structuring customer satisfaction processes, creating digital channel strategy and product optimization. Since 2015, in addition to his marketing responsibilities, he has been responsible for all claims functions as Claims Director.

Between 2016 and 2020, he served as Marketing and Business Development Director at Vienna Insurance Group (Ray Sigorta) as a senior executive responsible for different functions such as direct and digital sales, sales coordination, operation of distribution channels, call centers, customer satisfaction, internal communication, corporate communication, product, marketing, digital channels.

Between 2020-2021, Mr. Çipil served as the Founding Vice President in the establishment processes of the Insurance and Private Pension Regulatory and Supervisory Authority ( SEDDK), and then worked as the Assistant General Manager responsible for sales and marketing and Executive Board Member at Bupa Acıbadem Sigorta. Most recently, he served as the CEO and co-founder of an insurtech startup.

Çipil, who has given trainings on marketing, digital transformation, sales, project management and insurance in various universities and organizations, has eight books, four of which are academic. He has also taught project management graduate courses as a lecturer at Istanbul Bilgi University.