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Annual Report 2016

Key Risk Management Bodies and Responsibilities

Board of Directors

Responsible for Group‘s governance principles and policies, acting through the Finance and Risk Committee, the Investment Committee and the Audit Committee

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Group Executive Committee

 

Group CRO

 

Central Risk Management units

 

Group Internal Audit

Develops and implements the Group risk management framework, sets and monitors risk capacity limits; some responsibilities are delegated to the Group CRO and the Business Units

 

Leads the Risk Management function and represents it within the Group EC; advises the Board and the Finance and Risk Committee

 

Manage financial market and credit risk; provide shared risk management services such as risk modelling, risk governance, political risks and emerging risks; maintain Group frameworks for liquidity, operational and regulatory risks

 

Performs independent assessments of adequacy and effectiveness of internal control systems

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Business Unit Executive Teams

 

Business Unit CROs

 

Compliance

Ensure that risk-taking decisions in their area conform to the Risk Control Framework

 

Responsible for risk oversight and establishing risk governance in their respective Business Units; supported by functional, regional and legal entity CROs and risk teams

 

Manages compliance risks, and oversees compliance with applicable laws, regulations, rules and Swiss Re’s Code of Conduct

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Independent risk controlling

The Group Board of Directors is ultimately responsible for Swiss Re’s risk governance principles and policies. It defines fundamental risk management principles and the risk appetite frame-work comprising the Group’s risk appetite and risk tolerance; in addition, it approves the Group’s risk strategy. The Group Board of Directors mainly performs risk oversight and governance through three committees:

  • The Finance and Risk Committee defines the Group Risk Policy, reviews risk capacity limits, monitors adherence to risk tolerance, and reviews top risk issues and exposures of our assets and liabilities.
  • The Investment Committee reviews the financial risk analysis methodology and valuation related to each asset class, and ensures that the relevant management processes and controlling mechanisms are in place.
  • The Audit Committee oversees internal controls and compliance procedures.

The Group EC is responsible for developing and implementing Swiss Re’s Group-wide risk management framework. It also sets and monitors risk capacity limits, oversees the Economic Value Management framework, determines product policy and underwriting standards, and manages regulatory interactions and legal obligations. The Group EC has delegated various risk management responsibilities to the Group Chief Risk Officer (Group CRO) as well as to the Business Units.

The Group CRO is appointed as the principal independent risk controller of Swiss Re. He is a member of the Group EC and reports directly to the Group CEO as well as to the Board’s Finance and Risk Committee. The Group CRO also advises the Group EC, the Chairman or the respective Group Board Committees, in particular the Finance and Risk Committee, on significant matters arising in his area of responsibility.

The Group CRO leads the independent Risk Management function, which is responsible for risk oversight and control across Swiss Re. It thus forms an integral part of Swiss Re’s business model and risk management framework. The Risk Management function is comprised of central teams providing specialised risk expertise and oversight, as well as dedicated risk teams for the Reinsurance, Corporate Solutions, and Life Capital (formerly Admin Re®) Business Units.

The three Business Unit risk teams are led by dedicated Chief Risk Officers who report directly to the Group CRO, with a secondary reporting line to their respective CEO. The Business Unit CROs are responsible for risk oversight in their respective entities, as well as for establishing the proper risk governance to ensure efficient risk identification, assessment and control. They are supported by functional, regional and legal entity CROs who are responsible for overseeing risk management issues that arise at regional or legal entity level.

While the risk management organisation is closely aligned to Swiss Re’s business structure, in order to ensure effective risk oversight, all embedded teams and CROs remain part of the Group Risk Management function under the Group CRO, thus ensuring their independence as well as a consistent Group-wide approach to overseeing and controlling risks.

The central teams support the CROs at Group, Business Unit and lower levels in discharging their oversight responsibilities. They do so by providing services, such as:

  • Financial risk management
  • Specialised risk category expertise and accumulation control
  • Risk modelling and analytics
  • Regulatory relations management
  • Maintaining the central risk governance framework

The central departments also oversee Group liquidity and capital adequacy and maintain the Group frameworks for controlling these risks throughout Swiss Re.

Risk Management is also in charge of actuarial reserving and monitoring of reserve holdings for Corporate Solutions and Life Capital, while for Reinsurance and its subsidiaries the setting of the reserves is performed by valuation actuaries within the P&C and L&H Business Management units.

Risk management activities are complemented by Swiss Re’s Group Internal Audit and Compliance units:

  • Group Internal Audit performs independent assessments of adequacy and effectiveness of internal control systems. It evaluates the execution of processes within Swiss Re, including those within Risk Management.
  • The Compliance function oversees Swiss Re’s compliance with applicable laws, regulations, rules, and the Group Code of Conduct. It also assists the Group Board of Directors, Group EC and other management bodies in identifying, mitigating and managing compliance risks.

For more information on our audit and compliance functions, see Board supervision of executive management.

Transparency

Swiss Re’s risk culture builds upon the Group Code of Conduct as well as the Group Risk Policy and stands for the risk and control related values, knowledge and behaviour shared by all its employees. Swiss Re fosters and maintains a strong risk culture to promote risk awareness, rigor and discipline. It also serves to influence appropriate behaviour in four key cultural aspects, which are assessed annually in the performance and compensation process:

  • Leadership in providing clear vision and direction
  • Consideration of risk relevant information in decision-making
  • Risk governance and accountability of risk takers as well as transparent flow of risk information
  • Embedding of risk management skills and competencies

Swiss Re’s risk culture provides the foundation for the efficient and effective application of its Group-wide risk management framework. Group Risk Management reinforces the risk culture by ensuring risk transparency and fostering open discussion and challenge in the Group’s risk-taking and risk management processes.

Risk culture is directly linked to performance management, which is based not only on business results but also on behaviours. Swiss Re performs annually a risk culture assessment across all areas of Swiss Re, including a trend analysis as well as a high-level industry benchmarking. The assessment involves all employees.

In regular trainings, Swiss Re employees are sensitised in key areas of risk culture, such as taking accountability for decisions, learning from past actions and applying risk behaviours in daily work situations.