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Swiss Re |
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| Type | Aktiengesellschaft |
|---|---|
| Founded | December 19, 1863 |
| Headquarters | Zurich, Switzerland |
| Industry | Reinsurance |
| Revenue | 40,266,000,000 CHF (2006) |
| Net income | 4,560,000,000 CHF (2006) |
| Employees | 10,891 (2006) |
| Website | http://www.swissre.com/ |
Swiss Re (SWX: RUKN) is the world’s largest reinsurer, now that it has acquired GE Insurance Solutions (Ligi 2006). Founded in 1863, Swiss Re now operates in more than 30 countries. General Electric owns 8.9% of the firm.
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Swiss Reinsurance Company in Zurich was founded on December 19, 1863 by the Helvetia General Insurance Company (now using the trade name of Helvetia insurance) in St. Gallen, the Schweizerische Kreditanstalt (Credit Suisse) in Zurich and the Basler Handelsbank (predecessor of UBS AG) bank in Basel.
Like the fire of Hamburg in 1842, which had led to the foundation of the first professional reinsurers in Germany, the great fire of Glarus in 1861 also showed that insurance coverage is totally inadequate in Switzerland in the event of a catastrophe. To provide more effective means of coping with the risks posed by such devastation.
On 10/11 May 1861, more than 500 houses go up in flames in the town of Glarus. Two thirds of the town sinks into rubble and ashes; around 3000 inhabitants are made homeless.
The company’s articles of association are approved by the government of the Canton of Zurich on 19 December 1863. The foundation capital, which is 15% paid up, amounts to 6 million Swiss francs. The official foundation document bears the signature of the poet Gottfried Keller, who at the time was first secretary of the Canton of Zurich
Swiss Re is headquartered in Zurich where the parent company’s main premises has stood on the shores of Lake Zurich since 1864. In 31 October 2008, Swiss Re completes GBP 762 million acquisition of Barclays PLC's Barclays Life Assurance Company Ltd.
Its new London headquarters are located in the award-winning 30 St Mary Axe tower, which opened on May 25, 2004. 30 St Mary Axe is London's first environmentally sustainable tall building. Among the building's most distinctive features are its windows, which open to allow natural ventilation to supplement the mechanical systems for a good part of the year.
The landmark London skyscraper, designed by architect Norman Foster and popularly known as 'the gherkin’, was confirmed sold on February 5, 2007 for over £600 million (US$1.18 billion) to a group formed of IVG Immobilien AG of Germany and Evans Randall of Mayfair (Financial Times 2007).
The Americas headquarters of Swiss Re are located in Armonk, New York on a 127-acre (52 hectares) site overlooking Westchester County’s Kensico Reservoir. The facility, which houses more than 1,000 employees from the company’s Life & Health and Property & Casualty business units, was completed in 1999 and expanded in 2004.
Swiss Re also has offices in Atlanta, Avon, Boston, Calabasas, Chicago, Dallas, Fort Wayne, Hartford, Kansas City, Manchester, New York City, San Francisco, and Schaumburg, Illinois,
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This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (January 2008) |
Broker dealer Swiss Re Capital Markets (SRCM), is a broker-dealer and leading underwriter and developer in the insurance-linked securities market. Since 1997 SRCM has underwritten over USD 15 billion of ILS including Insurance-Linked Bonds (ILBs) also known as Catastrophe Bonds (Cat Bonds) for third-party clients and its parent, Swiss Re.
Swiss Re Capital Markets has developed new security types such as earthquake bonds. Swiss Re Capital Markets also developed the parametric index trigger, the ILS shelf program, the first ILS synthetic CDO, and the first extreme mortality bond (linked to life risk)
Conning Asset Management{www.conning.com} does third party asset management and is headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut.
Until 2011, Swiss Re supports its employees by refunding them up to 5000 Swiss Francs if they invest into technologies reducing CO2 emissions. Payments depend on the technology, its efficiency and the price of the investment. Examples of such technologies comprise hybrid cars, heat pumps, energy-saving fridges, or better insulated windows (Swiss Re 2007).
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