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2016 Corporate Responsibility Report

Emerging risks

Re/insurers operate in an ever more complex and rapidly changing risk landscape. New demographic, economic, technological, socio-political, regulatory and environmental developments are all capable of changing risks or creating new ones. In addition, growing interdependencies between these developments can lead to accumulations of risk and create significant knock-on effects. The general business environment is undergoing significant changes, as well. People’s risk perceptions are shifting, liability and regulatory regimes continue to evolve and stakeholder expectations are growing.

This complex landscape gives rise to “emerging risks” – newly developing or changing risks that are difficult to quantify and whose potential impact on our business is not yet sufficiently taken into account.

Emerging risks

We define emerging risks as newly developing or changing risks that are difficult to quantify and whose potential impact on our business is not yet sufficiently taken into account.

Detecting and investigating such risks early on forms an important part of our comprehensive approach to risk management. Our aim is to reduce uncertainty and prevent unforeseen losses, while raising awareness within the Group and across the industry. Therefore, we try to understand how risks are changing, assess their impact and seek to recognise potential links between them.