Hellas Direct (IFC-39017)

Countries
  • Greece
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • International Finance Corporation (IFC)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Approved
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
FI
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Aug 24, 2017
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
Hellas Direct Ltd
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Communications
  • Finance
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Equity
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 5.87 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ IFC website

Updated in EWS Aug 3, 2018

Disclosed by Bank May 4, 2017

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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to IFC website, the proposed project is to support Hellas Direct (HD), a direct insurance company founded in 2012 in Greece. HD is an innovative insurance provider leveraging technology and a direct-to-customer business model to provide motor insurance efficiently to the Greek market.

The expected development impacts are:

1. Access to a financial service: Hellas Direct offers low cost insurance in an efficient manner, thereby enabling greater access to a pertinent service through its direct model.
2. Access to electronic payments: The Company is promoting usage of digital payments by providing avenues of cashless transactions for making payments. Greece is primarily a cash society, and HD is one of the pioneer insurers to promote digital payments.
3. Fostering new technology: Hellas Direct is spearheading latest technology practices, such as online quotes, digital payments, regular electronic communication techniques, digital advertising, algorithms based pricing, digital claims management, etc., thereby benefiting its customers, and the industry at large
4. Safer driving: Usage of applications such as Telematics will incentivize safe driving practices, thereby enhancing overall road-safety

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

Hellas Direct was founded by two first-time entrepreneurs, Emilios Markou and Alexis Pantazis. Both the Founders have extensive background in Insurance and Financial Services. Additional main shareholders are Third Point, a hedge fund with US$17b AUM and a focus on financial sector investments including insurance, and two large Family Offices.

Financial Intermediary
A financial intermediary is a bank or financial institution that receives funds from a development bank. A financial intermediary then lends these funds to their clients (private actors) in the form of loans, bonds, guarantees and equity shares. Financial intermediaries include insurance, pension and equity funds. The direct financial relationship is between the development bank and the financial intermediary.
Private Actors Description
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

It is a direct insurance company founded in 2012 in Greece. It is an innovative insurance provider leveraging technology and a direct-to-customer business model to provide motor insurance efficiently to the Greek market. 

Hellas Direct was founded by two first-time entrepreneurs, Emilios Markou and Alexis Pantazis. Both the Founders have extensive background in Insurance and Financial Services. Additional main shareholders are Third Point, a hedge fund with US$17b AUM and a focus on financial sector investments including insurance, and two large Family Offices.


Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

Project Contact: Natalie Curry
CFO, HD Insurance Ltd
Telephone No.: 00357 22 376169
Email Addres: natalie.curry@hellasdirect.gr
Office Address: 2 Dramas Street, 1077, Nicosia, Cyprus
Website: www.hellasdirect.gr

General IFC Inquiries
IFC Communications
2121 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington DC 20433
Telephone: 202-473-3800
Fax: 202-974-4384

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF IFC

The Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by an IFC or MIGA- financed project. If you submit a complaint to the CAO, they may assist you in resolving a dispute with the company and/or investigate to assess whether the IFC is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. If you want to submit a complaint electronically, you can email the CAO at CAO@worldbankgroup.org. You can learn more about the CAO and how to file a complaint at http://www.cao-ombudsman.org/

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