Atlanta Boston Chicago Cleveland Dallas Manchester Montreal New York Philadelphia Phoenix San Francisco Toronto Vancouver
Life operations: Bavarian Re Swiss Re Australia Swiss Re Southern Africa Swiss Re UK Union Re
— The N orth America division has completed the restructuring o f reinsurance business in the USA. The new focus on non-proportional business resulted in a sharp decline in premium volume, an intentional development which creates the basis for a profit-oriented rebuilding o f the US business.
— Group-wide investment activity was reorganised and brought together in a unit which is managed directly by the C hief Investment Officer and assumes the asset management function for various Group companies. This measure should enable the planned realisation of a global investment strategy.
Japan / Korea Ongoing liberalisation o f the insurance market in Japan encouraged the founda­ tion o f a significant num ber o f new life and non-life companies. Moreover, previous pool agreements and joint pricing are no longer holding up in this new environment. Premium rates in the commercial lines are coming under growing pressure in both markets. We are therefore focusing on com m itting our capacity increasingly to business partners who will appreciate first-class security and service over the long term.
Special efforts to consolidate our position in the New Zealand market are already beginning to pay off.
In order to avoid further exacerbating the competitive struggle over prices and conditions, we are consolidating our portfolio and restricting the com m it­ m ent o f capacity where feasible.
Traditional crop and hail reinsurance posted another favourable result in 1996.
C om petition for satellite risks has also increased, due to the favourable claims experience in the preceding two years. Premium erosion remains modest in this line.
W ith the renaming o f the current ART division to Swiss Re New Markets, a division-wide reorganisation will be implemented on 1 July 1997. By gearing our business processes to our clients, we will be able to use our potential more efficiently and develop more new products and innovative solutions in the future which meet the special needs o f the individual client segments. We there­ by intend not only to avoid the predatory com petition in the commercial property and liability businesses, but also to have a significant influence on global developments in the field o f risk transfer solutions.
S truc tu re o f in ves tm en ts CHF m
The num ber o f staff increased by 157 employees to 6939. As we no longer hold a majority interest in the Thom as Howell Group, its 1490 employees are not included in these figures. T he reinsurance companies recorded growth o f 1647 employees, with 1350 accounted for by Mercantile & General Re.
Change in cash deposits (assets and lia b ilit ie s )
Cash flo w from non techn ica l opera tions 3. Tax paym ents
Cash f lo w fro m fina nc in g ac tiv itie s
In tang ib le assets are not cap ita lised . Purchased in ta n g ib le assets are am ortised in the year o f acq u is ition . G oo dw ill a ris ing on the acq u is itio n o f con so lida te d com pan ies and on com pan ies con so lida te d using the e q u ity m ethod is o ffse t th ro u g h reta ined earnings.
O ther investm en ts are va lued at th e ir nom ina l value, less p ro v is io n s requ ired fo r perm anent d im in u tio n in value.
D ebtors are va lued at nom ina l value. A ny necessary va lua tio n a d jus tm e n ts are deducted.
Share cap ita l and the share p re m ium account are d isclosed separa te ly .The retained earn ings b ro u g h t fo rw a rd show the cu m u la tive reta ined earn ings on the balance sheet date. The reva lua tion reserve is the d iffe rence between cost and m arket value o f land and bu ild in g s and shares, a fte r p ro v is io n fo r de ferred taxes. The reserve fo r ow n shares corresponds to the cost va lue o f shares in Swiss Re, Zurich , held by
P rofit on o rd inary activ ities a fte r ta x 549 709 1 092 1461
Technical p ro v is io n s ra tio no n -life 205 230 244 2681 * Refer to glossary fo r de fin ition ’ not includ ing M ercantile & General Re 2 before offset o f goodw ill from the acquisition of M ercantile & General Re 51 Swiss Re Group
For the first time, other liabilities also include loan liabilities in connection with the financing o f the acquisition of Mercantile & General Re.
Incom e fro m fixed incom e securities, loans and m ortgages 699 674
II Technical provis ions 1. P rovis ions fo r unearned prem ium s 2. P rovis ions fo r life re insurance 3. P rovis ions fo r c la im s ou ts ta nd ing 4. P rovis ions fo r p ro fit com m iss ion s 5. P rovis ion fo r ca tastrophe c la im s
The accounts o f the parent com pany are prepared in accordance w ith the reg u la ­
t io n s o f Sw iss C orpo ra tion Law. Sw iss Re's p ro fit and loss account and balance sheet are presented in line w ith European Union d irective-based accoun ting and rep o rting reco m m en datio ns fo r insurance com panies.
The currency exchange rates app licab le fo r key currencies are show n on page 38.
P ro v is io n s fo r life re in s u ra n c e 1 509 - 17 1 492 1 425 - 46 1 379
If the proposal o f the Board o f Directors is accepted, a dividend o f C H F 30.— per share will be paid.
N u m be r o f reg is te red shares e n title d to d iv ide nd 1 565142 12 468 742 13 045 373 14620 161 14620 161 14620 161
Crawford THG Lim ited • 40 e 229-230 Shoreditch High Street
foundation 1997 2 consolidated figures 3 previous year's figures; local accounts in 2nd half year
Swiss Reinsurance Com pany M anila • 100 19D Tow er One, Ayala Triangle
foundation 1997 2 consolidated figures 3 previous year's figures; local accounts in 2nd ha lf year
P u b lis h e d s h a re h o ld e rs 'c a p it a l an d re se rv e s in m ill io n s as o f
Each year, Swiss Re publishes its own considerations on global risks and ways o f dealing with them. This know-how is available in more than 70 different publications, which include the sigma series, and on video, as well as being directly accessible via the Internet.
Cash depos its (assets and lia b ilit ie s )
Sum o f the c la im s ra tio and the expense ra tio .T h is ra tio enables the assessm ent o f business pe rfo rm ance in no n -life re insurance before inc lus ion o f a lloca ted in ves t­
Insurance Acceptance o f the risks o f the p o lic yh o ld e r by the insurance com pany. A lso know n as p rim a ry o r d irec t insurance.
Surplus reinsurance: Form o f p ro p o rtio n a l re insurance in w h ich risks are re insured ove r a specified am ount.