Key Risk Management Bodies and Responsibilities

Independent risk controlling

Swiss Re’s Board of Directors is ultimately responsible for the Group’s governance principles and policies, including approval of the Group’s overall risk tolerance. It mainly performs risk oversight and governance through three committees:

• The Finance and Risk Committee defines the Group Risk Policy and reviews risk capacity limits, monitors adherence to risk tolerance, and reviews top risk issues and exposures.
• 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 (see Swiss Re’s risk landscape), 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 (CRO) as well as to the Business Units.

The Group CRO, who is a member of the Group EC, reports directly to the Group CEO, and 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 Group Risk Management function, which is responsible for risk oversight and control across Swiss Re. The Group Risk Management function is comprised of central risk management units providing shared services, along with dedicated teams for Reinsurance, Corporate Solutions and Admin Re^® (Life Capital since 1 January 2016) Business Units.

The three Business Unit risk teams are led by dedicated Chief Risk Officers, who report directly to the Group CRO, and have a secondary reporting line to their respective Business Unit CEO. The Business Unit CROs are responsible for risk oversight in their respective Business Unit, as well as for establishing 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 in their respective areas.

While the risk management organisation is closely aligned to the business organisation in order to ensure effective risk oversight, all embedded teams and CROs remain part of the Group Risk Management function under the Group CRO. This ensures their independence as well as a consistent Group-wide approach to oversee and control risk.

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

Group Risk Management is also in charge of actuarial reserving and monitoring of the reserve holdings of Corporate Solutions and Admin Re^®, whereas in Reinsurance the setting of the reserves is performed by valuation actuaries within the P&C and L&H Business Management units.

Risk management activities are supported by Group Internal Audit and Compliance units. Group Internal Audit performs independent, objective assessments of adequacy and effectiveness of internal control systems. It evaluates the execution of processes including those within Risk Management. The Compliance function oversees Swiss Re’s compliance with applicable laws, regulations, rules and Swiss Re’s Code of Conduct. In addition, it assists the Board of Directors, the Group EC and management in identifying, mitigating and managing compliance risks. For more information on our audit and compliance functions, see Board supervision of executive management.

Open risk culture

Swiss Re fosters and maintains a strong risk culture to promote risk awareness and support appropriate attitudes and behaviours towards risk-taking and risk management. Our risk culture provides the foundation for the efficient and effective application of our Risk Management framework. Risk Management reinforces the Group’s risk culture by ensuring risk transparency, and fostering open discussion and challenge in the Group’s risk-taking and risk management processes.

In regular training programmes, our employees are sensitised in key areas of risk culture, such as in taking accountability for decisions, learning from past actions and applying risk behaviours in daily work situations. In addition, Swiss Re’s annual Risk Dialogue Days create a platform where Risk Management exchanges and discusses with the business current and future risk themes and related risk strategies.