Haluk Dinçer
Haluk Dinçer | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1962 Istanbul, Turkey |
| Occupation | Corporate executive |
| Years active | 1985–present |
| Known for | Executive Board Member at Sabancı Holding; Financial Services Group President at Sabancı Holding |
Haluk Dinçer (born 1962) is a prominent Turkish corporate leader. Since February 2002, he has served as an Executive Board Member at Sabancı Holding, Turkey’s foremost industrial and financial conglomerate, and has held the position of Financial Services Group President since April 2020.
Biography
Dinçer was born in Istanbul in 1962. He completed his secondary education at Saint-Joseph Private French High School (Istanbul) before obtaining a B.S.E. degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1985 and an M.B.A. in 1988, both from the University of Michigan Ann Arbor.
Career
Beginning his professional journey in August 1985, Dinçer worked as a project engineer at the General Motors Global Technical Center in Detroit, where he contributed to automotive body engineering initiatives.
He joined Sabancı Group in August 1995 as an Executive Board Member and rapidly progressed to become Executive Vice Chairman of Temsa, the group’s automotive division. During his tenure as Bus Group Director (1998–2001), he broadened the product portfolio, elevated manufacturing standards to meet international benchmarks, and expanded sales channels abroad.
In October 2001, Dinçer moved to Sabancı Holding as Vice President of the Food Group and was promoted to Food Group President and Executive Board Member six months later. He oversaw joint ventures with Danone and Kraft, initiated Gıdasa in 2002, and developed a robust portfolio of packaged food and beverage brands recognized domestically.
Elevated to Food and Retail Group President in 2004, Dinçer managed partnerships with global mass retailers Carrefour and Dia, alongside electronics retailer TeknoSA. He spearheaded both organic growth and acquisitions within these retail operations, leveraging the Sabancı brand amid Turkey’s evolving retail landscape and expansion of shopping centers.
After divesting the food business in 2007 and reorganizing in 2011, Dinçer assumed the role of Retail and Insurance Group President. His responsibilities expanded to include management of non-life insurer Aksigorta and pension and life insurer Avivasa—joint ventures with international insurers Ageas and Aviva respectively.
In 2013, he founded Kliksa, an e-commerce platform specializing in electronics retail, which experienced rapid growth under his guidance over five years.
Under Dinçer’s leadership, Avivasa became Turkey's largest private pension fund by assets in 2015, maintaining this status thereafter. Meanwhile, Aksigorta distinguished itself as an innovation pioneer by integrating robotic technologies into insurance processes.
Following Ageas’s acquisition of Aviva’s shares in Avivasa in May 2021—and its subsequent rebranding to Agesa—Dinçer continued serving as chairman of the board.
After a corporate restructuring in June 2016, he was appointed Insurance Group President; since April 2020, he has held the position of Financial Services Group President. Additionally, Dinçer chairs Aksigorta, Agesa, real estate investment company Exsa, hospitality entities Tursa and Ankara Enternasyonel Otelcilik—both affiliated with Hilton Hotels & Resorts—and holds a board seat at Brisa, a collaboration with Bridgestone, the world’s leading tire manufacturer.
Non-business activities
Haluk Dinçer held the presidency of TÜSIAD, Turkey’s leading business association, from June 2014 until January 2015, having served as its vice-president between January 2010 and June 2014. He also chaired the Turkish-American Business Council (TAIK), part of Turkey’s Foreign Economic Relations Board, from September 2008 through October 2014.
He represented Turkey at G-20 Business Summits held in Toronto (2010) and Cannes (2011). Between 2015 and 2018, Dinçer was a member of the International Advisory Council at the Brookings Institution, a Washington D.C.-based policy research organization.
Since February 2018, he has been on the board of the Global Relations Forum (GRF), an Istanbul-based nonprofit dedicated to international affairs. In June 2019, he became a member of the Geneva Association, a premier global think tank for the insurance sector.
Currently, Dinçer participates on TÜSIAD's Council of Presidents where he provides strategic counsel to the association’s executive board.