Our strategy
Meeting our financial targets and making the world more resilient.
Group strategic framework
Near term priorities & progress in 2018
Growth
Growth through systematic capital allocation will help us to deliver sustainable shareholder value
Large and tailored transactions
Near term priorities
Large and tailored transactions in Reinsurance provide an attractive growth opportunity. They reinforce our differentiation through tailored offerings, leveraging our strong risk knowledge base.
Progress in 2018
- Demand for large and tailored transactions remains strong with more than 154 transactions closed in 2018.
- Large and tailored transactions contributed 30% to economic profit in 2018.
Corporate Solutions
Near term priorities
Corporate Solutions represents a strategic platform to access the large pool of commercial risks. It remains core to our strategy to diversify into different risk pools.
Progress in 2018
- Expansion of Primary Lead capabilities: global network coverage for international programmes in over 120 countries.
- Growth in a gradually improving market environment whilst pruning underperforming segments.
Life Capital
Near term priorities
Life Capital increases access to attractive and growing risk pools in open and closed life and health books. It aims to build a balanced portfolio, benefiting from the diversity of the risks and differentiating itself through leading underwriting and servicing capabilities.
Progress in 2018
- Life Capital continued its strategy to grow its individual and group business in Europe and in the US. iptiQ’s B2B2C digital insurance offering is attractive to an increasing number of distribution partners, with 19 having been onboarded to date. In Q4 of 2018, the number of policies sold weekly averaged 2 600.
High growth markets (HGM)
Near term priorities
We intend to maintain our leading position in high growth markets, establishing a strong presence. These world regions continue to remain a key element of our strategy, even when they are temporarily challenged.
Progress in 2018
- 22% of total net premiums earned (NPE) were generated in HGM. Asia contributed more than 50% of NPE in HGM; China remains a key driver of growth.
Risk Knowledge
Swiss Re is a risk knowledge company that invests in risk pools. We apply our knowledge to support capital allocation
Research and development
Near term priorities
Building knowledge and competence through R&D has historically been our core focus. The creation of the Swiss Re Institute further strengthens our steering of R&D activities.
Progress in 2018
- Through the Swiss Re Institute, which celebrated sigma’s 50-year anniversary in 2018, we continued to deliver thought leadership through a wealth of expertise publications, conferences and articles on the evolving risk landscape and its impact on the industry.
Technology
Near term priorities
Our technology strategy is tightly embedded in the business strategy. Technological innovation gives us the opportunity to further differentiate and support our clients.
Progress in 2018
- In 2018, we continued to leverage technology to develop digital insurance solutions that address nascent risk pools. Predict. Prepare. Protect. of the Business Report showcase examples of such developments.
People and culture
Near term priorities
Our employees provide a wide range of skills and technical expertise. Their diverse backgrounds enable us to develop unique solutions to best support our clients.
Progress in 2018
- We have grown our workforce and now employ 14 943 employees in 30 countries, of which 17% are located in high growth markets.
- Changes in geographic footprint continued to shape our workforce profile, with millennials now accounting for 46% of the Group’s workforce.