At a media briefing in Swiss Re’s Zurich headquarters yesterday, the reinsurance giant’s group CEO Andreas Berger and outgoing group CEO John Dacey shared insights into its full-year 2024 results. It was a strong year for the group which delivered a net income of US$3.2 billion and an ROE of 15% in 2024, though it was noted that its result delivery was partially impacted by decisive reserving actions in P&C Re in the third quarter of the year.
Turning his attention to the Jan. 1 renewal period, Berger (pictured) said Swiss Re considers the outcomes achieved in the January P&C Re renewals “a real success”, with 53% of Swiss Re’s treaty business renewing in January. “We managed to broadly defend our attractive margins,” he said. “But equally importantly, it was about protecting the structure of their terms and conditions. We achieved volume growth of 7.0% driven by increases in property and specialty lines. This was partially offset by our continued cautious stance in liability and casualty.”
The reinsurer locked in positive price increases (at 2.8%), particularly in casualty and specialty lines, with rate increases most pronounced in casualty. Swiss Re’s loss assumptions increased by 4.2%, which he said reflects a prudent view on inflation as well as loss model updates, particularly in casualty. “When taking into account yields levels, which means the discounting effect, the economic margin achieved at the recent renewals is broadly in line with last year’s.”
This affirms P&C Re’s combined ratio target for 2025 which stands at <85% and is supported by strong portfolio quality.
Looking closer at how the January renewals reflect growth across different regions and lines of business, he highlighted that from a business lines perspective, growth is stemming primarily from property and specialty, which is in keeping with Swiss Re’s unchanged portfolio strategy.
In nat-cat, the increase in exposure was partially offset by rate changes on certain programmes, while discipline was maintained on terms and structures. The budget for expected large nat-cat losses stands at US$2 billion for P&C Re in 2025. Gross written premium for nat-cat increased by 2%.
On property, again the strong premium growth in Americas and EMEA was noted, this included several large transactions. Gross written premium saw an increase of 28%. Specialty saw volume growth across various lines in the period, particularly in agriculture as well as gross written premium growth of 7%.
In line with Swiss Re’s unchanged strategy, Berger said the volume reduction in casualty reflects the reinsurer’s cautious approach, which is a continuing effort. “We went down from a peak 17% market share in the US casualty market to now a 5% market share, roughly,” he said. This was reflected in its 1% decrease in premium volume change in the period.
From a regions perspective, Berger noted that volume growth was driven by EMEA, again supported by targeted growth in property via some large transactions. EMEA saw its gross premium volume increase by 11% while the Americas rose by 4% and APAC increased by 2%.
Again, Berger emphasised that the main focus for Swiss Re during the January renewals period has been not just on outcomes but also on maintaining discipline in this present market environment. Looking at the financial targets set for 2025, he said these reflect positive momentum for all business units. Life & Health Re will target a net income of $1.6 billion for the year, while P&C Re’s target is a combined ratio of less than 85% and Corporate Solutions will target a combined ratio of less than 91.%.
Overall, the group is targeting a net income of $4.4 billion for the full year and has set a multi-year target of achieving an ROI of greater than 14%.
Reflecting on the year to date, Berger noted that 2025 started with a major catastrophe in the form of the Los Angeles wildfires. “Our preliminary estimate currently foresees a loss of less than $700 million for Swiss Re,” he said. “That is based on an industry market loss of approximately $40 billion.
“We remain committed to our natural catastrophe business. We are market leaders here and it’s the core of what we do in our portfolio. We are here to assist affected communities in their recovery and rebuilding efforts.”
