Direct Insurance CEO Kobi Haber to leave the company after an 8-year tenure

Direct Insurance CEO Kobi Haber will leave his position in the coming months, after informing the company's board of directors yesterday of his intention to resign at the end of a tenure of more than 8 years. Haber was appointed CEO of Direct Insurance in February 2018, replacing Raviv Zoller at the time, who left after a 10-year tenure for the position of CEO of ICL (a role from which he retired in 2025 after 7 years).

During Haber's tenure, the outgoing CEO led a strategic change at Direct Insurance, which included a process of optimizing the client portfolio, mainly in the field of car insurance, alongside improvements in pricing and claims management. In other words, Haber did not seek growth at any price in the insurance portfolio, but sought to focus on customers with better risk characteristics. Furthermore, Haber led the entry of Direct Insurance into the fields of health and long-term savings, partly through the development and marketing of savings policies.

The processes he led were also reflected in the company's value and stock performance. In the last five years, the shares of IDI Insurance — the company that operates the Direct Insurance brand — have risen by 238%. This is a high return, but it still reflects an underperformance relative to the Tel Aviv Insurance and Financial Services index, which rose by 472% during the same period.