Swiss Re Ltd is a Swiss

reinsurance Reinsurance is insurance that an insurance company purchases from another insurance company to insulate itself (at least in part) from the risk of a major claims event. With reinsurance, the company passes on ("cedes") some part of its own insu ...

company founded in 1863 and headquartered in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, Switzerland. It is one of the world's largest reinsurers, as measured by gross premiums written. Swiss Re operates through around 80 offices in 29 countries and employs over 14,000 people. It was ranked 519th on the

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Global 2000 list and ranked 316th on the ''Fortune'' Global 500 in 2023. Swiss Re is listed on the

SIX Swiss Exchange SIX Swiss Exchange (formerly SWX Swiss Exchange), based in Zürich, is Switzerland's principal stock exchange (the other being BX Swiss). SIX Swiss Exchange also trades other security (finance), securities such as Swiss government bonds and deriv ...

History

On 10–11 May 1861, more than 500 houses went up in flames in the town of

Glarus Glarus (; ; ; ; ) is the capital of the canton of Glarus in Switzerland. Since 1 January 2011, the municipality of Glarus incorporates the former municipalities of Ennenda, Netstal and Riedern.fire of Hamburg in 1842, which led to the foundation of the first professional reinsurers in Germany, the fire of Glarus made Swiss insurers demand more

coverage against catastrophic loss. As a result, Swiss Re was founded in Zürich as the first Swiss reinsurance company in 1863. Swiss Re was a lead insurer of the World Trade Center at the time of the

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, which led to an insurance dispute with the owner,

Silverstein Properties Silverstein Properties Inc. is an American family-held, full-service real estate development, investment and management firm based in New York City. Founded in 1957 by Chairman Larry Silverstein, the company specializes in developing, acquiri ...

. In October 2006, the New York appeals court ruled in favor of Swiss Re, stating that the destruction of the twin towers was a single event rather than two, limiting coverage to $3.5 billion. Swiss Re acquired the GE Insurance Solutions property/casualty business in 2006, which made it the world's largest reinsurer. In 2009

Warren Buffett Warren Edward Buffett ( ; born August 30, 1930) is an American investor and philanthropist who currently serves as the chairman and CEO of the conglomerate holding company Berkshire Hathaway. As a result of his investment success, Buffett is ...

invested $2.6 billion when Swiss Re raised more equity capital after it lost 6 billion francs in its financial market operations in the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

. Berkshire Hathaway already owns a 3% stake, with rights to own more than 20%. In May 2016, the Fort McMurray Canadian wildfires caused estimated damages of up to CAD10 billion, with Swiss Re having the most exposure among reinsurers. Swiss Re's Admin Re subsidiary began with the acquisition on 1 July 2004 of Life Assurance Holding Corporation in the UK. On 31 October 2008, Swiss Re completed a £762 million acquisition of Barclays PLC's subsidiary Barclays Life Assurance Company Ltd. In June 2014, the company, through Admin Re, acquired the UK pensions business of

HSBC HSBC Holdings plc ( zh, t_hk=滙豐; initialism from its founding member The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) is a British universal bank and financial services group headquartered in London, England, with historical and business li ...

Life (UK) Limited worth £4.2 billion. The Admin Re business, which was renamed ReAssure, was eventually sold to Phoenix Group Holdings for £3.2bn in July 2020. In February 2022, it was announced that Swiss Re had acquired Champlain Reinsurance Company (Champlain Re), a Swiss-based run-off reinsurance captive of Alcan Holdings Switzerland AG, a member of Rio Tinto Alcan, in a legacy transaction. Later that month, Swiss Re declared a net profit of US$1.6 billion, in a bounce back from previous losses in 2020. Still, the exposure to

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in America was excessive; together with increased damages from natural catastrophes, profits were well below the US$1.8 billion estimate. Swiss Re was able to make up for some of its losses due to its increased property business. At the same time, the board of directors assured investors that the company is only minimally exposed to losses during the Ukraine crisis. In December 2023, Swiss Re announced it had acquired research-led flood risk intelligence firm Fathom, which would retain its brand while working closely with the Reinsurance Solutions division to further develop and distribute its flood maps and models.

Business structure

Swiss Re Group operates through three business units: * Property & Casualty Reinsurance * Life & Health Reinsurance * Corporate Solutions

Leadership

Swiss Re's leadership consists of the Board of Directors and the Group Executive Committee. In April 2024, Swiss Re appointed Andreas Berger as Group CEO, effective 1 July 2024 replacing Christian Mumenthaler who has been Group CEO since 2016.

Offices

Zürich headquarters

Swiss Re is headquartered in Mythenquai, Zürich. Six buildings form Campus Mythenquai, with its historic headquarters being in the Altbau which was built in 1913. The majority of Swiss Re's headquarters staff are located in the adjacent Swiss Re Next building.

London office

Its

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

office is located in the

30 St Mary Axe 30 St Mary Axe, previously known as the Swiss Re Building, is a commercial skyscraper in London's primary financial district, the City of London. Its nickname, The Gherkin, is due to its resemblance to the vegetable. It was completed in Decem ...

tower, which opened on 25 May 2004. The landmark London skyscraper, designed by architect

Norman Foster Norman Robert Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank (born 1 June 1935) is an English architect. Closely associated with the development of high-tech architecture, Lord Foster is recognised as a key figure in British modernist architecture. Hi ...

and popularly known as "the gherkin", was sold in February 2007 for over £600 million to IVG Immobilien AG of Germany and the Evans Randall property investment firm.

New York offices

Swiss Re has two offices in New York, its Manhattan office is located in 1301 Avenue of the Americas. The larger of the two offices is located in Armonk and overlooks the Kensico reservoir.

Canadian offices

Swiss Re has two Canadian offices, in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

and

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

; Swiss Reinsurance Company Canada was named one of Greater Toronto's Top Employers by Mediacorp Canada, Inc., in October 2008, as announced by the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

''.

References

{{Authority control, state=expanded Insurance companies of Switzerland Reinsurance companies Financial services companies established in 1863 Swiss brands Companies listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange Companies in the Swiss Market Index Companies in the S&P Europe 350 Dividend Aristocrats