Tiedote 11.10.2017

Financial Supervisory Authority approved Ilmarinen’s and Etera’s merger

Finland’s Financial Supervisory Authority has given its approval for Ilmarinen and Etera to merge. The merger, effective as of 1 January 2018, will result in a solvent and cost-effective earnings-related pension company with the most competitive client benefits in the sector and even more diverse services.

The general meetings of both companies approved the merger in September. Etera’s current customers will transfer to Ilmarinen at the start of next year, and their insurance contracts and pension payments will continue as usual. The merger will not require any measures from either company’s customers.

“Preparations for the merger are already well under way. We are now focusing on ensuring that operations will continue to be high in quality and disturbance free and that the service experience of both Ilmarinen’s new and old customers will be positive and effortless, also at the turn of the year. In future, the service offering will expand and improve even further,” says Ilmarinen’s President and CEO Timo Ritakallio.

In combining the strengths of both companies through a merger, the objective is to build a modern, innovative and agile service company that efficiently utilises the opportunities created by digitalisation while driving forward the entire earnings-related pension sector.

“The merged company will embody solid expertise in insurance for companies of all sizes and self-employed persons, as well as special expertise in a number of sectors. Together, we can develop more diverse services to manage work capacity risk,” says Etera’s Managing Director Stefan Björkman. Björkman will take on the position of Ilmarinen’s Deputy CEO on 1 January 2018.

The synergies gained through the merger will result in improved cost-effectiveness and, in turn, better client bonuses. The aim of the merger is to achieve annual savings of at least EUR 20 million in administrative costs as of 2020 by eliminating overlaps and increasing operational efficiency. In addition, it is estimated that both direct and indirect annual cost savings in investment operations will come to EUR 20 million.

From the start of next year, Ilmarinen will manage the pension cover of more than 1.1 million Finns: the total number of insured exceeds 675,000 and pensioners number 460,000. The company’s market share of premiums written is 37 per cent. Measured by the number of customers and premiums written, the merged company will become Finland’s largest private sector earnings-related pension insurer. 

For more information, please contact:

• Timo Ritakallio, President and CEO, Ilmarinen, tel. +358 500 536 346
• Stefan Björkman, Managing Director, Etera, tel. +358 50 63219