Nationale Suisse has been part of Helvetia Group since October 2014. Nationale Suisse is an innovative and international Swiss insurance group which offers attractive risk and pension solutions which focus on tailor-made specialty lines. Nationale Suisse, with around 1,900 employees, shall be fully integrated into Helvetia. The consolidated gross premiums from Nationale Suisse were CHF 274.5 million in 2014. During the course of the integration, Nationale Suisse (NATN) shall be delisted from the SIX Swiss Exchange.
The acquired company Basler Austria now operates under the brand name, Helvetia. The new sales organisation has been launched with the sale of the consolidated product range in life insurance.
Directors from 2003. It is no exaggeration to describe Erich Walser as the architect of Helvetia today.
In the past financial year Helvetia was able to make two strategically important acquisitions: On 15 May 2014, Helvetia Group announced the acquisition of Basler Versicherungs-Aktiengesellschaft in Austria, a subsidiary of Bâloise
The conditions for achieving sustained profitable organic growth remained difficult in 2014.
Although we noticed a recovery in our core markets, the overall economic environment remains challenging, especially in the Southern
The continuing low level of interest rates poses the greatest macroeconomic challenge for asset management. In the past, Helvetia has always succeeded in achieving attractive returns with the capital employed. Despite continuing low interest rates, in 2014, we again managed to achieve stable interest margins between current income and the guarantees given, from which customers and shareholders benefit.
Non-life insurance The emphasis in our non-life business is on service quality, sustainable pricing and opening up new access to sales. With the takeover of
This allows us to quickly recognise and react to shifts in demand. Helvetia pursues the multichannelling approach, i.e. accessing to customers through various sales channels. In addition, we work with renowned distribution partners.
Focus on customer needs Trust in our company, high levels of satisfaction with our products and services, recommendations and long-term business relationships form the basis of our business success. Helvetia primarily differentiates itself as a quality provider by being very highly service-oriented. It achieves a good level of customer loyalty through quick, personal and competent customer care. Our customers ’ feedback is important to us. Depending on the sales focus in the individual countries, feedback is gathered via a Helvetia hotline, the sales force, the broker channel or our distribution partners. We obtain important information from our workshops about how we can make our processes, correspondence and product information simple and comprehensible. Customer questionnaires add an extra level to this feedback and enable us to carry out a detailed assessment of our products and advice quality. An independent market research institute surveys our retail customers every two years. These surveys are coordinated at the Group level and take place at the same time for all the individual country companies and product areas. Following the surveys, benchmark studies are prepared which serve to assess the location with regard to our image and the satisfaction and loyalty of various customer target groups. We collect information separately for the product areas of non-life, group life and private pension provision. In addition, we carry out regular broker surveys and participate in external surveys.
Any initial uncertainties were quickly cleared up thanks to the good communication: “First of all, I asked myself what the outcome would be for the employees but also the apprentices. Luckily, I didn’t have to wait long before my mind was put at rest.”
Anti-fraud software Insurance fraud is not only a punishable offence, it also affects insurance companies. Software solutions help to identify such cases in a targeted manner. Since the past financial year, a software solution specially developed for Helvetia
Germany has been used to identify circumstances that could potentially be fraudulent.
It provides resources for institutions who work to help socially disadvantaged children and supports the specific culture, sport and health activities of associations and youth groups.
Gérald Kanis Chief Reinsurance Executive sees the merger of Nationale Suisse and
Investment management Helvetia Group pursues a sustainable investment policy tailored to the liabilities arising from the insurance business. The objective is to generate attractive medium- and long-term returns for the shareholders and to make a reliable contribution to the Group result.
Secretary of the Board of Directors: Christophe Niquille, doctorate in economics (Dr. oec. HSG)
Executive Management, Business Development; Head of Staff Group Executive Management; 2000 Head of Business Development; Director; 2002 ANKER, Vienna: Head of Finance and IT; Member of Executive Board; 2005 ANKER,
Professional background 1987 joined Patria: various management positions, including: Head of Portfolio Strategy and
As of 20 October 2014, within the scope of a public purchase and exchange offer, Helvetia has acquired 96.29 % of the registered shares in the Schweizerische National-Versicherungs-
Board of Directors also includes citizens of different countries and members who have extensive international experience. Members of the Board of Directors should possess strong personal values (including integrity), specialised financial, business and insurance knowledge, experience in strategic and executive management, the ability to think in a visionary manner, social skills and a belief in sustainability. They must also have the necessary amount of time at their disposal for the efficient and proper performance of a director ’s term of office. As far as the independence of the Board members is concerned, Helvetia complies with the basic requirements of the Swiss
which is regularly the case. The CEO participates in an advisory capacity. The SGC met two times in 2014. At one meeting, one Board member was absent. Most of the meetings lasted half a day.
5. Co-determination rights of shareholders Helvetia observes the principle of equal treatment of shareholders.
Company profile Corporate governance 7. Statutory auditor 7.1 Duration of terms of office and tenure of office of lead auditor The independent auditors KPMG AG, Zurich, have served as the auditors of Helvetia Holding
The practice of “golden parachutes” does not apply at Helvetia. Normal periods of notice apply (maximum twelve months for members of the Executive Management, six months for other managerial staff), during which the rules for contractual and variable compensation components remain applicable.
– it is reasonable when the lowest and highest salaries within Helvetia are compared.
Compensation Committee to ensure that they are still appropriate and in line with the market; a proposal for appropriate adjustments to the total sum is then submitted to the Board of Directors and then to the Shareholders’ Meeting at which final approval will be granted.
Management an individual performance bonus in addition to the bonus based on the attainment of personal targets. This bonus is recognised separately as part of variable compensation in the compensation report.
Management in cash. The amount of the resultsbased compensation is based on the operating result and the achievement of the budget goals set for the respective financial year with a special consideration of developments in Switzerland.
The variable compensation is paid to the members of the Board of Directors in the form of shares (see b). They do not participate in any employee share purchase plans. They also do not participate in any previous share option programmes.
– Shareholder value: The reference figure is the overall performance (total return; share performance incl. dividends) of the Helvetia registered share compared with the performance of the Stoxx Europe 600 Insurance index (index of comparable European insurance shares).
Board of Directors, taking account of the financial results and the functions of the employees concerned. The purchase price is calculated on the basis of the average stock market price during the five trading days following the publication of the financial results. Participation in this scheme is voluntary. As these shares are subject to a mandatory vesting period of three years, they can be sold by the company at a tax-exempt discount of 16.038 %. The members of the Group
that is granted because these shares are blocked for three years. There have not been any share option programmes since 2003.
Members of the Group Executive Management may conclude insurance contracts, loans and other services under the terms and conditions currently in effect for employees. At the reporting date, a mortgage loan had been granted to Philipp Gmür for CHF 1,000,000 (previous year: CHF 1,000,000). In the reporting year the loan, a fixed mortgage at employee conditions, had an interest rate of 1.65 % (previous year: 1.65 %). There are no other insurance contracts, loans or guarantees.
They did not receive additional benefits in kind or bill the company for any additional services.
– Employer contributions to pension funds with respect to the variable compensation (as of 2014 incl. contributions to AHV/IV/EO)5 276 471 79 271 1 2013 AHV/IV/EO contributions of CHF 188,119 were paid with respect to the fixed compensation amount 2 Total bonus amount based on personal and results-based target achievement 3 Special bonus “Nationale Suisse Project” 4 Comprises the value of the deferred shares allocated as part of LTC 5 2013 AHV/IV/EO contributions of CHF 136,242 were paid with respect to the variable compensation amount
Shareholders’ Meeting) was approved for the members newly admitted to the Board of Directors as of 20 October 2014 and as of 1 January 2015 for the period from admission to the Board of Directors until the 2015 Shareholders’ Meeting in accordance with the compensation regulations. The new members of the Board of Directors will in future receive remuneration for the whole period. The changes to the composition of the
She’s fully aware of the difficulties of such a merger: “This process represents a challenge for all those involved and brings with it an increased workload. If those affected can become participants in the process, then they can have the positive feeling of being part of a large-scale project that has been brought to a successful conclusion.”
Germany, Italy and Spain are among the highest volume insurance markets in the world, with over 5 %, 3 % and 2 % of global market share respectively1. As Helvetia’s market share in these markets is lower (see figure), we expect further growth in these markets. We utilise this growth potential by focusing on the needs of our customers and sales partners, for whom we are a good match due to our size, sales structures and geographical scope.
Once again, a positive trend prevailed in the non-life business3, particularly in Southern Europe. After the still evident effects of last year’s recession, the Spanish economy showed signs of a recovery. Experts believe that the Spanish market has grown again by 0.8 % in financial year 20144. Nevertheless, the strong pressure on prices and costs continued to prevail in the
Spanish non-life market. The Italian market continued to experience a very hard price war, particularly in the motor vehicle business. According to estimates from the supervisory authority
With a strong top 3 positioning, Helvetia is a leading all-lines insurer in Switzerland. In Austria,
Business development Development of business activities strong demand for traditional insurance solutions, the growth of the business volume (+9.1 %
In terms of country markets, the acquisition -related increase was most pronounced in
Business units Switzerland Helvetia Switzerland can look back on a successful fiscal year 2014. With the acquisition of
(2013: CHF 301.1 million). While the sale of traditional insurance solutions with single premiums was intentionally curtailed, the volume of investment -linked insurance solutions increased by 10.8 % (in OC). In line with strategy, Helvetia pushed the growth of modern and investmentlinked insurance. The growth was exclusively achieved organically, as Nationale Suisse did not have a life insurance portfolio in Germany.
[in OC]), liability (+10.5 % [in OC]) and health / accident (+13.7 % [in OC]) insurance also developed positively, although here the
In total, Nationale Suisse contributed CHF 18.1 million in premiums to the business volume on a prorated basis. But Helvetia Spain was also able to increase volume organically by a very positive 4.5 % (in OC), which was significantly better than market growth at 0.8 %9.
The net combined ratio increased slightly from 97.7 % in the previous year to 98.2 % in finan cial year 2014. The increase is attributable to the slightly increased cost ratio, while the claims ratio was 1.5 % below that of the previous year on account of fewer major claims.
Summary of significant accounting policies 131 Segment information 141 Foreign currency translation 142 Property and equipment
Purchase of money market instruments – 4 094.5 – 5 635.3
The other intangible assets also include intangible assets developed by the company, principally proprietary software that is recorded at cost and amortised on a straightline basis. Depreciation is recognised in the income statement under “Operating and administration expenses”. The useful life is usually between three and ten years.
Indirect business accepted from another insurance company is called active reinsurance. As in primary insurance business, technical provisions are included in the respective technical items on the liabilities side, and are similarly estimated using mathematical -statistical models and the most up-to-date information available. They also reflect uncertainties. Non-traditional insurance contracts are treated as financial instruments and are reported under “Reinsurance assets” or “Financial liabilities from insurance business” if no significant insurance risks have been transferred. Net commission is reported directly in the income statement.
Share of profit or loss of associates 0.2 14.8 0.8 0.4
Claims incurred including claims handling costs (non-life) – – – 1 794.8 – 1 620.0
Cash flow from investing activities (net) 337.0 39.6 21.9 3.9 6.9 – 9.2
Depreciation and amortisation on tangible and intangible assets – 11.4 – 11.2 – 62.4 – 21.2
7.1.2 Direct yield from interest -rate-sensitive financial assets 7.1.3 Gains and losses on investments
Helvetia Holding AG CHF 150 Mio. 1.125 % 2013 08.04.2019 1.17 % 149.7 149.6
CHF 300 Mio. Subordinate bond then variable 2010 perpetual1 300.0 300.0
Change in liabilities for contracts with participation features – 989.0 395.6 244.3 – 91.0 – 744.7 304.6
There are several foundations in Switzerland designed to provide benefits to employees upon retirement and in the event of disability as well as after their death to their surviving dependants in accordance with the Swiss Federal Law on Occupational
Fair value of plan assets as of 31 December 2 672.9 1 581.0 1 This item includes paid-in and withdrawn vested benefits as well as pensions and annuities.
Various influencing factors and sensitivities are presented separately below. Please see section 16.5.2 (from page 204) on the effect of a change in interest rates on equity and the income statement.
If, in the portfolios exposed to greater mortality, more policyholders die than expected, shareholders may suffer losses once the buffer of profit participation has been exhausted. The analyses carried out show that this risk can be considered very low.
Financial liabilities from insurance business 2 066.3 27.5 2.0 1.3 1.8 74.3 2 173.2
Current income tax liabilities 20.1 22.6 – – 42.7 1 Voluntary change in presentation (see section 2.3 on page 117)
Policy and other loans – – – – – 89.6 89.6 as of 31.12.2013 AAA AA A BBB BB and lower Not rated Total in CHF million
Schweizerische National-Versicherungs-Gesellschaft in Liechtenstein AG, Vaduz Non-life 100.00 full CHF 5.0
Genossenschaft, Basel, with 30.12 % (previous year: 30.09 %), Vontobel Beteiligungen
Economic changes, including changes to unrealised gains and losses on investments (equities and real estate) – 467.1 136.0