Group strategy
A strategy to help meet our financial targets and to make the world more resilient.
Over the past five years our strategy has worked — and now we have the chance to build on it.
At our December 2015 Investors’ Day we introduced the next phase in our Group’s strategic framework. It has four key areas, each of which we will emphasise even more strongly to better position ourselves for continued success.
The strategic framework shown to the right represents the next phase of a transformation journey that we accelerated in 2012, when we completed our Business Unit structure. Our aim then was to become the most successful capital allocator in insurance and associated asset risks while maintaining our strong balance sheet.
The framework is our roadmap for continuing on that path, focusing on four key areas.
The first area for strategic action is to systematically allocate capital to risk pools and revenue streams. Capital allocation is at the core of our Group’s strategy. We allocate capital to risk pools and measure performance over time. Disciplined and agile capital allocation is the key to outperformance and the engine to pursue our strategic ambitions.
The second area is to broaden and diversify our client base. Many lines of business face shrinking cession rates and competition is increasing overall. At the same time, new risks (such as cyber) are emerging while other underinsured risks continue to grow. We believe new client segments and distribution channels can strengthen our position as the supply and demand equilibrium shifts.
The third area is the optimisation of resources and platforms. We have more than doubled our workforce in high growth markets since 2011 and invested in strengthening our IT architecture, adding smart analytics and cognitive computing to our toolset.
Lastly, it is important to emphasise differentiation. This strategic priority builds on what makes us who we are: our financial strength, our client relationships and our status as a knowledge company. We must continue to offer superior service and a differentiated and unique approach to our clients.
We believe these four areas of strategic action will better position us to deliver on our new Group financial targets, which we communicated in February 2015.
This strategy is also designed to meet a larger goal: to make the world more resilient. Success in our industry means protecting society. That is why we claim “We make the world more resilient” as our vision for the future. We provide both the necessary risk management expertise and the re/insurance coverage to absorb risks and rebuild after a disaster strikes.
The strategy supports our overall mission: together, we apply fresh perspectives, knowledge and capital to anticipate and manage risk. That’s how we create smarter solutions for our clients, helping the world rebuild, renew and move forward.