2020
Performance
The Swiss Re Group is one of the world’s leading providers of reinsurance, insurance and other forms of insurance-based risk transfer, working to make the world more resilient.
Highlights
Net income/loss
USD2.2bn
Excluding COVID-19 impacts
USD-878m
Including COVID-19 impacts
USD727m
2019
Return on Equity
7.3%
Excluding COVID-19 impacts
-3.1%
Including COVID-19 impacts
2.5%
2019
Financial strength
AA-
Standard&Poor's
Dividend per share
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Message from the Chairman
During my years in the business, external upheavals in the ‘real’ world have repeatedly hit the ‘financial’ world with force. And on each such occasion, Swiss Re has had to react – and has done so successfully.
Walter B. Kielholz
Chairman of the Board of Directors
Message from the Group CEO
Our Group went into this crisis with a very strong balance sheet and capital position. Our operations continued uninterrupted and we took a prudent approach to building reserves.
Christian Mumenthaler
Group Chief Executive Officer
Swiss Re's business and strategy
We reveal how our business and strategy is evolving to enable sustainable growth over the long term.
Our purpose is to make the world more resilient. We do this by placing our clients and partners at the centre of our business. We address risks across the global economy in three ways:
1. Transfer:
Reducing our clients’ risk exposure and that of their
customers
2. Insights:
Helping our clients better understand and take risks
3. Partnerships:
Working with others to find new and innovative ways to
process, transfer and distribute risk
We act as “One Swiss Re”, leveraging strengths and capitalising on synergies across our businesses as we become a more integrated Group. Reinsurance is in the centre as the core of our business, alongside Corporate Solutions, a specialised risk partner for corporate clients, and iptiQ, a digital B2B2C insurance platform. We have specific strategic priorities for each business segment.
The business segments are supported by the Group foundation, with our people as the key asset driving the performance of the Group, along with Swiss Re’s three competitive differentiators.
Sustainability at Swiss Re
We take a look at what our Group Sustainability team is doing to ensure our business remains sustainable over the long term.
For us, sustainability is a strategic, long-term value driver and we embed this approach throughout our re/insurance value chain. Sustainable re/insurance spans both the liability and the asset sides of our balance sheet, as well as our own operations. It is also a key topic in our dialogue with stakeholders.
Major challenges that undermine sustainable development, such as climate change or health funding gaps, can weaken resilience because they create new risks or aggravate existing ones. Our focus on sustainability seeks to identify and address these challenges and to support sustainable progress in partnership with our clients.
Our 2030 sustainability ambitions
We have set ourselves three ambitions for 2030: we will help mitigate climate risk and advance the energy transition; we strive to strengthen societal resilience with our re/insurance solutions and investments; and we make insurance more available and affordable through digital solutions and risk knowledge worldwide.
Our sustainability topics
These sustainability ambitions create broad focus areas for our work. In addition, we have specified six topics that guide our efforts in driving Swiss Re’s sustainability performance.
Our principles
We have defined three principles that guide how we implement the Group Sustainability Strategy when conducting business. We embed sustainability in all of our business activities, develop sustainability-linked solutions and embrace opportunities, and we quantify sustainability performance and impact.
How we report sustainability
Alongside the stories from across Swiss Re contained in this report, we encourage you to look at our Sustainability Report 2020 at www.reports.swissre.com/sustainability-report/2020.
Making progress on key topics
Investing responsibly
By financing green solutions, we support climate change mitigation and the transition to a net-zero economy.
green government and corporate bonds
(2019: USD 1.8bn)
Managing sustainability risks
We manage ESG risks across Swiss Re’s balance sheet. In 2020, we began assessing the carbon footprint of our direct insurance book, building the foundation to reach net zero in our underwriting by 2050.
estimated average weighted carbon intensity of our direct insurance portfolio, measured in tonnes of CO2 equivalents per million USD of revenue
Engaging our people
We are an organisation where diverse talents come together globally to apply fresh perspectives and knowledge. For this, it is imperative that we build an engaged, inclusive and agile organisation.
of our employees agree that Swiss Re provides an
open and inclusive work environment
(2019: 68%)
Driving sustainable operations
We lead by example and work to minimise the environmental impact of our operations. We have been a climate-neutral company since 2003. Bringing our CO2 emissions to net zero by 2030 is our next key target.
of Swiss Re operations powered by
renewable electricity
(2019: 92%)
Ensuring good corporate governance and compliance
We conduct business ethically and with integrity, complying with all applicable laws and regulations to safeguard the trust our clients place in us.
of employees agree their colleagues act ethically
and with integrity
(2019: 86%)
Fostering resilient societies
Swiss Re Foundation partners with NGOs, social entrepreneurs, foundations and academic institutions. It leverages the expertise of Swiss Re employees and collaborative networks to help communities increase their resilience.
committed to 80 partners in 29 countries to support
COVID-19 response
Swiss Re's people and culture
Find out how Swiss Re’s strong work culture enabled us to rise to the challenge in 2020 and remain focused on our clients and partners.
In the extraordinary year that was 2020, we increased our efforts to service our clients. We did so by ensuring that our business continued to run without disruption during lockdown. We also increased our focus on employee wellbeing as our people dealt with the added challenges of juggling working from home, lockdowns, family life and day-to-day business.
It was a year in which diversity was a major social theme and we responded to this challenge with initiatives that increased inclusivity across our global workforce.
81
office locations in 29 countries
(2019: 80 office locations in
31 countries)
13 189
employees
(2019: 15 401)
121
nationalities
(2019: 115)
Inclusion and diversity
At Swiss Re, we are aware of the value that Inclusion & Diversity (I&D) brings to our company. We work hard to ensure that every employee feels that they belong and are able to contribute and thrive.
As our own understanding of what constitutes an inclusive organisation evolves, so too does our approach to I&D. In 2020, triggered by the Black Lives Matter movement, we increased our employee engagement on issues of race and ethnicity.
One example is the expansion of “Mosaic”, an employee resource group that promotes an inclusive and productive environment. The group aims to enhance the professional and personal development of people of colour and ethnic minority groups.
Mosaic was established in the US and Mexico in 2019. By the end of 2020, it had expanded beyond the Americas, with local branches established in South Africa, Switzerland and the UK.
Alongside Mosaic, we have several active employee resource groups focusing on inclusion through the lens of topics such as gender diversity, LGBTI+ and mental health.
These groups build awareness about I&D topics across the organisation and represent the voice of our employees by providing feedback, sharing ideas and co-creating impactful I&D solutions.
Building employee resilience
Our vision to make the world more resilient can only be achieved if our employees themselves are resilient. This became all the more apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic, when we had to change our normal working patterns to accommodate working from home, home schooling and dealing with new emotions and worries – all while maintaining a seamless business flow. In recognition of our employees’ extra efforts in 2020, we introduced a special Swiss ReSilience Day on 15 January 2021, where each of our employees was given the day off to rest and recharge their batteries.
The benefit of an established culture
Swiss Re’s flexible ‘Own The Way You Work’ culture paid dividends as the COVID-19 lockdowns were rolled out across the globe. On the technical side, our well-established IT infrastructure enabled teams to operate remotely from home without any disruption. We were therefore grateful that we could draw on our established culture of flexibility.
The result was uninterrupted service for our clients – in fact, our Asian Treaty team even increased the number of renewed contracts it processed versus 2019.
Wellbeing, not just performance
Health and safety was a focus area for us in 2020. We know that prolonged working from home comes with its challenges for both physical and mental health.
Throughout 2020, we ran surveys with our workforce to feel the pulse on their wellbeing. We learned that a large majority of employees feel Swiss Re responded strongly to the COVID-19 crisis and took timely decisions showing care and support.
In Zurich, our mental health survey in November 2020 showed that 72% of all employees felt Swiss Re had increased awareness for mental health issues. Also, 88% of people said that they would approach a colleague who they believed was mentally unwell to check on their wellbeing.
Further action beyond 2020
We are committed to continuing on this path and further developing our employee support initiatives.
Pathways, Swiss Re’s mental health network, allows employees in all locations to raise their hands and become Mental Health Champions. By the end of 2020, we had over 200 Champions offering support such as mental health talks, mindfulness sessions and desk yoga.
The Champions raise awareness of mental health issues among employees, challenge mental health stigma and provide peer support to colleagues. They lend an ear to anyone in need of support, including those who are experiencing mental health issues or emotional distress. They also spread the word about the wellbeing support available.
Our passion is to drive the development of our people and our culture to create impact for our business.
Monika Waber
Head Organisation & People Development
As a risk knowledge company, we need to enable continuous learning and development for our people to ensure we jointly shape the success of our company today and in the future. We want a culture where working for Swiss Re leads to fulfillment for our people and where they are able to continuously grow and realise their full potential.
Our overall mission remains to shape the culture of the company for business impact. Within this, one clear priority for 2021 and beyond is to push our Inclusion & Diversity agenda to the next level. We want to build on the strong foundation Swiss Re has and create an even more inclusive work environment, enabling everyone to be at their best and succeed.
