Our mission and priorities

Swiss Re continues to sharpen its focus on core business. Our mission is clear and simple: to be the leading player in the wholesale re/insurance industry.

What ‘wholesale’ means to us: focusing on large and complex re/insurance transactions with insurance clients, corporate clients and public sector clients – as well as with pension funds. We anticipate extreme scenarios and enable the risk taking that is essential to the development of enterprise and progress in society. This is what Swiss Re is all about.

Being the leading player in the wholesale re/insurance industry means that we strive to be:

The preferred partner

For our clients, we want to be the preferred partner. This means winning clients’ trust and confidence, and delivering a service unmatched elsewhere in the market. It also means delivering tailored solutions that meet specific needs. To measure these efforts and their success, we ask our clients and broker partners to give us their feedback through an annual survey, introduced in 2007. Over 3 600 responses in 2010 revealed an improvement in average satisfaction ratings of more than 30% from 2007 for our flexibility and our tailoring of coverage, and of over 20% for our account management, ease of doing business and claims service.

An excellent investment

For our investors, we want to be an excellent investment. Investor confidence is fundamental to our success. In November 2010, we reached an agreement for the early repayment of the convertible perpetual capital instrument (CPCI) issued to Berkshire Hathaway, with no additional charge for bringing forward the repayment date from March 2011, thereby removing a risk of dilution to our investors. In 2011, we have taken steps to normalise our dividend, offering attractive returns to investors.

The place to succeed

For our employees, we want to be the place to succeed. Our corporate culture attracts and develops top talent from around the globe. Representing more than 80 nations, our employees contribute their skills,diversity and talent to a work culture shaped by mutual respect, thriving in an environment designed to make each of them a success.

A serious challenge

For our competitors, we want to represent a serious challenge. This means being a top competitor for every opportunity for which we have an appetite to write business. We also want to be known as the innovator and thought leader in the industry.

A trusted partner

For society, we want to be a trusted partner. This means being socially responsible and a leader in creating public-private partnerships that help secure prospects of societies in the event of a disaster. In 2010, for example, Swiss Re introduced an index-based insurance programme – a first in Southeast Asia – that was developed for the Vietnam Agribank Insurance Joint Stock Company to cover loans to rice farmers in Vietnam.