Jonathan's division focuses on financial market transactions. He is responsible for optimising Swiss Re's in-force L&H portfolio as well as providing quantitative analysis services across L&H and the Group.

With a long career in L&H Re at Swiss Re, Jolee now oversees Swiss Re's fifth largest market, with USD 817 million of premiums earned in L&H Canada alone in 2023.

When economic times get tough, life insurance can be cut from household budgets. On a large scale, mass cancellation of policies could significantly reduce a life insurer’s premium income and potentially cripple their business.

In 2023, Jolee Crosby, CEO Reinsurance Canada & English Caribbean, led a team which helped a large global client in North America strengthen its capital position against mass lapse.

Can you explain how Swiss Re approaches mass lapse events?
For over a decade, L&H Re has been assessing the threat of mass policy cancellations. Our work suggests that prevention is the best approach to avoid lapse – after all, we can only build resilience if people can stay insured.

We have data analytics tools which enable clients to scan their portfolios and identify customers who may be at risk of letting their life insurance lapse. We also have behavioural economists who can advise clients on how to proactively reach out to "at risk" customers to see if they can support those clients in keeping their protection.

How did the transaction you mentioned in North America add to our mass lapse toolbox?

This deal tackled lapse risk management from the point of view of a company's CFO and chief actuary, who are the guardians of their shareholders' capital.

This type of deal helps clients protect their reserves – and in turn their capital position – if a large mass lapse event cannot be prevented.

What has been the impact of the deal?

This deal stands out as an innovative and unique solution. Swiss Re is proud to have helped bring expertise to the market – and utilise a new strategy for tackling mass lapse risks. The deal sets a beneficial precedent for more clients to benefit from this work.

Michael leads one of the key businesses within Globals, the division that serves a large number of the world's largest insurance companies and contributes an impressive 30% of Swiss Re's technical results.

Michael Bacon leads a US-based team that manages relationships with globally active L&H clients. In 2023, his team and several colleagues partnered with one of Swiss Re's largest clients to help a large insurance company release capital from its life insurance business.

What was the strategic challenge for this transaction?

A large insurance company had a large book of US life insurance policies which required significant capital, expense and operational capabilities to manage. The company wanted to free up that capital and reduce their expense and operational complexity. We had a solution for a large portion of their need.

How did you solve the challenge?

Focusing on our strengths, we sought a partner with complementary strengths to provide a combined solution. We could take on the mortality risk, and we could provide a way to maximise the value of the business already in the portfolio. The partner we found was able to take on the asset risk, and they also had the operational capabilities required.

What demands did the transaction place on the team?

The first was the working hours required to support our portion of the transaction. Our piece alone unlocked over a billion dollars of trapped capital – but also involved hundreds of thousands of term life policies that protect real families. To accomplish this, we needed to ensure that the deal was priced correctly, which required a lot of dedication from our actuarial team to calculate the figures with precision.

The second challenge was the complexity of working with a partner to provide a comprehensive solution for the insurer, who is also a long-standing client. Thanks to their world-class expertise and technical skills, our structuring team successfully developed the solution. They were supported by our legal team, who worked tirelessly to formulate the contracts, and our client markets team, who helped us respect our relationships throughout the process.

There was a lot at stake, but ultimately it was worth every minute of the effort.

Having begun his career at Swiss Re 25 years ago, Yong now heads up Swiss Re's third largest Asian market, which generated USD 696 million in L&H premiums in 2023.

With tailored reinsurance transactions, insurers can protect themselves against financial volatility arising from changes in life expectancy trends, health trends, regulatory requirements or even changes in financial markets. In 2023, Yong Suk Kwon and Swiss Re's Korean team structured a deal that helped a life insurer manage investment risk.

What was the challenge faced by the client?

Life insurers need to set aside funds to cover the future claims in their portfolio. Although companies invest this money in safe assets, such as government bonds, these are still exposed to financial market fluctuations.

How did Swiss Re address the issue?

We optimised the underlying risk in our client's portfolio by using reinsurance to transfer that risk to Swiss Re. This meant that the client could, in turn, optimise the investments related to that book of business to a point where they were comfortable with any potential volatility in their long-term investments.

What made this deal a success?

In this case, Swiss Re's global capacity enabled our client to protect their portfolio against specific local issues, particularly interest rates. This highlights the benefits of Swiss Re’s global strength. We can use our international capacity and balance sheet to solve local issues.