19 February 2008
Press release
Great interest in Munich Re’s second investors’ day / Presentation in London of strategy on property-casualty business / Central topics: Portfolio and cycle management, business opportunities in specialty classes, and innovative products
At its Investors’ Day on Property-Casualty Reinsurance in London, Munich Re will present its strategy for promoting the sustained profitability of property-casualty business in the reinsurance segment. This is the second in a series of investor conferences with which Munich Re seeks to further intensify and strengthen dialogue with its investors.
Munich Re’s business model is solidly based on the excellent knowledge of risk it has built up over many decades, good client relations, and a deep understanding of a wide variety of markets. This enables it to manage the cycle in reinsurance business, systematically conceive new products, further develop existing ones, and adopt a targeted, controlled approach to gaining greater access to business.
Portfolio and cycle management in traditional reinsurance business, the exploitation of business opportunities in specialty areas, and the development of innovative products will be dealt with in depth in three workshops. At the same time, Munich Re will again seek to impress on investors its determination to pursue a strictly profit-oriented business policy with disciplined risk and capital management. One of the key underlining factors is the good combined ratio in property-casualty reinsurance business (with a premium volume of €14.2bn) of 96.4% for 2007 (2006: 92.6%). For 2008, Munich Re reckons with a combined ratio in the order of 98% – including 6.5 percentage points for natural catastrophes – given normal claims experience. The slight increase is essentially due to moderate price falls, about which we already reported on 30 January. On average across the market cycle, the Group is confident of achieving a combined ratio of 97% due to its strong market positioning.
Torsten Jeworrek, Chairman of Munich Re’s Reinsurance Committee: "We have the expertise, specialists and the right processes and systems in place to offer solutions that meet today's and tomorrow's demands on our business. Our insurance and reinsurance set-up allows us to occupy the whole value chain to turn risk into value, for our shareholders, clients and staff."
The Munich Re Group operates worldwide, turning risk into value. In the financial year 2006, it achieved a profit of €3,519m, the highest since the company was founded in 1880, on premium income of approximately €37bn. The Group operates in all lines of business, with around 37,000 employees at over 50 locations throughout the world and is characterised by particularly pronounced diversification, client focus and earnings stability. With premium income of around €22bn from reinsurance alone, it is one of the world's leading reinsurers. Its primary insurance operations are mainly concentrated in the ERGO Insurance Group. With premium income of almost €17bn, ERGO is one of the largest insurance groups in Europe and Germany. It is the market leader in Europe in health and legal expenses insurance, and 33 million clients in 25 countries place their trust in the services and security it provides. The global investments of the Munich Re Group amounting to €177bn are managed by MEAG, which also makes its competence available to private and institutional investors outside the Group.
Disclaimer
This press release contains forward-looking statements that are based on current assumptions and forecasts of the management of Munich Re. Known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the forward-looking statements given here and the actual development, in particular the results, financial situation and performance of our Company. The Company assumes no liability to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.
Note for editorial departments:
In case of enquiries, please contact Dr. Christian Lawrence on +49 (89) 38 91-54 00 or Anke Rosumek on +49 (89) 38 91-23 38.
Munich, 19 February 2008
Münchener Rückversicherungs-Gesellschaft
signed Dr. Jeworrek signed Dr. Lawrence