Our Group is split into the strategic business groups of Property & Casualty and Life & Health reinsurance.
Of the total gross premium of EUR 19.2 billion written in 2018, 62% was attributable to property and casualty reinsurance and 38% to life and health reinsurance. Our business activities are subject to extensive legal requirements, compliance with which is overseen by the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin).
An overview of the breakdown of gross premium by regions for the Property & Casualty reinsurance business group and by markets for the Life & Health reinsurance business group is published in our Annual Report.
In property and casualty reinsurance we assume risks from our clients in accordance with our margin-oriented underwriting policy. The risk transfer reduces the underwriting risks carried by our clients and optimises their capital requirements, hence enabling them to increase their underwriting capacity and take on additional attractive risks.
A centralised underwriting policy combined with local talent is the key to our success, since in this way we are able to ensure consistent underwriting decisions. Our cycle management and our margin-driven underwriting policy constitute the basis for selective growth: we prefer to expand our market shares during hard market phases or following market-changing events when demand for (re)insurance protection is rising.
Thanks to a prudent reserving policy, broad diversification and our low expense ratio, we are one of the most profitable property and casualty reinsurers in the world.
Key figures for Property & Casualty reinsurance | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
in EUR million | 2018 | + / - previous year |
2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 |
Gross written premium | 11,976.0 | +11.8% | 10,710.9 | 9,204.6 | 9,338.0 | 7,903.4 |
Net premium earned | 10,804.2 | +18.0% | 9,158.7 | 7,985.0 | 8,099.7 | 7,011.3 |
Underwriting result 2 | 372.8 | 15.5 | 503.1 | 452.4 | 371.9 | |
Net investment income | 1,035.1 | -14.4% | 1,209.3 | 900.9 | 945.0 | 843.6 |
Operating result (EBIT) | 1,322.6 | +18.1% | 1,120.2 | 1,340.3 | 1,341.3 | 1,190.8 |
Group net income | 929.1 | +11.0% | 837.3 | 949.9 | 914.7 | 829.1 |
Earnings per share in EUR | 7.70 | +11.0% | 6.94 | 7.88 | 7.58 | 6.88 |
EBIT margin 1 | 12.2% | 12.2% | 16.8% | 16.6% | 17.0% | |
Retention | 90.7% | 89.7% | 88.5% | 89.3% | 90.6% | |
Combined ratio 2 | 96.5% | 99.8% | 93.7% | 94.4% | 94.7% | |
1 Operating result (EBIT) / net premium earned 2 Including expenses on funds withheld and contract deposits |
The business written in life and health reinsurance is split into the areas of financial solutions and risk solutions. The latter area is, in turn, differentiated according to the risk types of longevity, mortality and morbidity (strict "any occupation" disability and disability). Our clientele includes life and health insurers, banks, sales companies and pension funds.
Our customers benefit from reinsurance concepts and solutions that are tailored to their needs. By giving them access to our extensive databases we assist primary insurers with medical underwriting and pricing, among other things. We support promising growth companies with financing for their initially high business acquisition costs.
We offer reinsurance concepts designed for both growth markets and companies in transition and we seek to find alternative sales channels and solutions for risks that are difficult to quantify. Furthermore, we support products for underserved end consumers in the life and health insurance market. We cultivate our customer relationships as long-term partnerships with the goal of developing needs-based solutions for our customers.
We act responsively, flexibly, efficiently and undogmatically. This makes us one of the leading life and health reinsurers with a global presence.
Key figures for Life & Health reinsurance | ||||||
in EUR million | 2018 | + / - previous year | 2017 | 20161 | 2015 | 2014 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gross written premium | 7,200.4 | +1.7% | 7,079.6 | 7,149.0 | 7,730.9 | 6,458.7 |
Net premium earned | 6,484.8 | +0.2% | 6,472.8 | 6,425.0 | 6,492.4 | 5,411.4 |
Investment income | 491.8 | -12.3% | 560.6 | 638.9 | 709.2 | 614.2 |
Claims and claims expenses | 5,341.6 | -5.7% | 5,666.8 | 5,480.3 | 5,459.0 | 4,636.2 |
Change in benefit reserve | (50.8) | 0.6 | (83.0) | 101.1 | 28.6 | |
Commissions | 1,263.6 | +16.8% | 1,081.8 | 1,020.4 | 1,075.1 | 946.4 |
Own administrative expenses | 216.9 | +2.9% | 210.7 | 202.0 | 197.3 | 175.7 |
Other income / expenses | 172.1 | +0.9% | 170.6 | 67.1 | 35.9 | 25.1 |
Operating result (EBIT) | 275.9 | +12.5% | 245.2 | 343.3 | 405.1 | 263.8 |
Net income after tax | 185.9 | +7.7% | 172.6 | 252.9 | 289.6 | 205.0 |
Earnings per share in EUR | 1.54 | +7.7% | 1.43 | 2.10 | 2.40 | 1.70 |
Retention | 90.7% | 91.7% | 90.4% | 84.2% | 83.9% | |
EBIT margin 2 | 4.3% | 3.8% | 5.3% | 6.2% | 4.9% | |
1 Restated pursuant to IAS 8
2 Operating result (EBIT) / net premium earned |
We transact primary insurance in selected market niches as a complement to our core reinsurance activities. In this context, we always work together with partners from the primary insurance sector.
In addition to the regional and treaty departments, our Group's main organisational units are Innovation Management and Risk Management, Controlling as well as Finance and Accounting, Information Technology, Investments, Human Resources Management, Group Legal Services and Compliance, Group Auditing, Corporate Development, Corporate Communications and Facility Management.