Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Now open the Annual General Meeting 2022 of Munich Reinsurance Company, and to welcome you most cordially. My name is Nikolaus von Bomhard. As Chairman of the Supervisory Board, I will chair this meeting as stipulated in the articles of association. Mr. Wenning, the Chairman of the Board of Management, is sitting here next to me. The other members of the Board of Management follow the video and audio transmission of this annual general meeting, some of them in the room next door. The members of the Supervisory Board are also following the video and audio transmission of this annual general meeting. Sitting next to me, I welcome Mr. Jens Kirchner, Notary Public. He's going to take the minutes of today's virtual annual general meeting. The proxies of the company are also in attendance here.
Today's annual general meeting has been convened in due time and form when it was published in the Electronic Federal Gazette on the 18th of March 2022. This year, this annual general meeting is being transmitted in full on our company website. Moreover, shareholders and their proxies can follow this annual general meeting via our shareholder portal. You can find all required information on rights and possible choices of the shareholders and their proxies in the invitation on the shareholder portal or on our internet page. This especially relates to exercising voting rights by postal vote or authorizing proxies and issuing instructions to proxies. These choices are especially available to you on the shareholder portal until voting begins. Registered shareholders and their proxies had the opportunity to submit questions on our shareholder portal before and on the 26th of April 2022.
Later, the Board of Management and I will answer these questions. On a voluntary basis, which means going beyond legal requirements, the company resolved to allow follow-up questions during today's annual general meeting. As explained in the invitation in more detail, shareholders and their proxies who submitted questions in due time can ask follow-up questions on the shareholder portal. Later, I will determine beginning and end of the period of time during which this will be possible. In addition, our shareholders and their proxies had the option, also going beyond legal requirements, to submit written statements and video messages regarding items on the agenda to be published on the shareholder portal. These can be accessed on the shareholder portal until the end of this AGM. Moreover, some of the statements will be screened before your questions will be answered. Now briefly about countermotions and election proposals.
Submitted countermotions and election proposals, including the reasons for them, have been made available on the company's internet page insofar as is required by law. In addition, you have the option to lodge objections against proposed resolutions via the shareholder portal. Finally, I also must point out that recording any part of today's annual general meeting is not permitted. I will announce the attendance later. Now, ladies and gentlemen, I will now move on to the agenda items of the annual general meeting, which I will now call. You will find the full text of all agenda items and the resolutions as proposed by the management in the invitation to this annual general meeting, published in the Federal Gazette and on the internet page of the company.
All additional documents relevant to this annual general meeting have been available on the company's internet page since the announcement of this annual general meeting. Moreover, on April 19, 2022, we published my and Mr. Wenning's presentations in advance on the internet. Dear shareholders, before I give the floor to Mr. Wenning, I would like to elaborate on the report of the Supervisory Board and highlight a few topics the Supervisory Board particularly intensively dealt with in the previous financial year 2021. Among others, a key issue were the international Reinsurance activities. Next to the regions Asia-Pacific and Africa, the Supervisory Board in particular focused on the core market North America, on the market developments over there, and the business perspectives of Munich Re. In addition, a special focus was on the area of Risk Solutions.
Here, market environment, business strategy, and its inclusion in Ambition 2025 took center stage. In his presentation, Mr. Wenning will elaborate on the Risk Solutions business and in particular on its gratifying development during the previous financial year. In addition, we monitored various strategic initiatives and advised the Board of Management in these matters, particularly in the context of digitalization. As always, work in the committees of the Supervisory Board played a significant part. Most recently, the Supervisory Board discussed the situation in Ukraine. In his presentation, Mr. Wenning will detail repercussions of this geopolitical crisis on our business. I take this opportunity to state that we are very dismayed at this war of aggression. We express our deepest sympathies for everyone in Ukraine suffering from this war. During the previous period under review, we also had an in-depth look at corporate governance.
In other words, good and responsible corporate management. Nowadays, it matters more than ever. For this reason, we were very delighted in December 2021 to be informed that Munich Re has again been awarded the first place as a result of the evaluation by DVFA, the Society of Investment Professionals in Germany. Furthermore, we managed to defend the top position among the extended group of DAX 40 companies. According to the DVFA scorecard, corporate governance of Munich Re is excellent. This rating has not been given to any other company among the DAX 40 family. I believe this is a great acknowledgement and at the same time an incentive for the Supervisory Board to continue to further develop our corporate governance. At present, it is above all about suitable measures to address the challenges in the context of sustainability.
Here we define more precisely the responsibilities of the audit committee regarding the ESG risks. Regarding agenda item seven, I would like to emphasize in particular the extended responsibilities of the standing committee, who from now on will deal with sustainability issues on a regular basis. As a result of this new key issue, the standing committees plan to be renamed Presidium and Sustainability Committee. Establishing the Sustainability Committee is a clear acknowledgement on the part of the Supervisory Board of the topics of environmental, social, and governance. In short, ESG. At the same time, this will determine a robust framework to accompany sustainability initiatives of the Board of Management in a competent manner. In his presentation, Mr. Wenning will elaborate on selected initiatives. Speaking of sustainability, please allow me to make the following statement. I've noticed occasional excessive expectations and inordinate legal requirements.
For instance, concerning the E.U. taxonomy. In practice, it is nearly impossible to meet all expectations. We must maintain the sense of proportion and may not, though agreeing to the substance of this important objectives of sustainability, obstruct the business of this company by making disproportionate or even unreasonable bureaucratic demands. I will now move on to the compensation or remuneration report, item six on our agenda. For the first time, the compensation report is published in a new format. Board of Management and Supervisory Board prepared this report in accordance with the requirements of SRD II, the second shareholder rights directive. Today, it will be presented to the annual general meeting for approval. It outlines compensation granted in each case and payable to the current and former members of the Board of Management and Supervisory Board in the 2021 financial year and provides explanations.
The compensation report includes all information about each remuneration component, the assessment basis of the variable components, and achievement of targets in the annual and multi-year bonus plans. For reasons of completeness and transparency and in response to the expectations of our investors, the compensation report also includes additional voluntary information, which is marked as such in addition to the information that is required according to Section 162 of the German Stock Corporation Act. This means that in our compensation report for the year 2021, we already informed you of the expected bonus amounts, which will be paid to the members of the Board of Management in 2022. Underlying targets and their achievement related to bonus plans ending in the year under review will also be reported one year in advance.
For this reason, our shareholders can form a comprehensive picture early on about the bonus payments expected in the context of the business success of the company and the achievements of the members of the Board of Management during the year under review. The compensation system for the Board of Management has included at least one specific sustainability target since 2022. This compensation report reveals that for the period 2022- 2025, a reduction of CO₂ emissions, an increase of the number of women in executive positions, and timely implementation of review-based recommendations have been defined as Board of Management targets. On a voluntary basis, we also show target compensation and stock held by members of the Board of Management, as well as information about the relationship between Board of Management and employees' compensation, which has not changed year on year.
In short, the compensation report contains all essential information about the compensation systems and the compensation of Board of Management and Supervisory Board members. From the company's perspective, the compensation report for the 2021 financial year presented for approval is clear and easy to understand and complies with the requirements of Section 162 of the German Stock Corporation Act. Now a few words about the election of the auditor, item five on our agenda. Based on the recommendation of the audit committee, the Supervisory Board submitted the proposal to elect Ernst & Young GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft, Stuttgart, abbreviated EY as auditor. The quality of the audits conducted by EY for financial years 2020 and 2021 was judged as being very positive in line with a structured catalog of criteria.
The professional qualification and the integrity of persons working on the audit team play a central role for the Supervisory Board. Persons EY authorizes to work at Munich Re show a high level of awareness and knowledge about Munich Re's business activities and, in the opinion of the Supervisory Board, have all necessary qualifications and experience to ensure a high-quality audit. Moreover, the quality assurance concept and the Trust in Quality program started in 2021, which were both established by EY, have been positively considered in the election proposal. In addition, there are no other known reasons which may bar EY from being elected as an auditor. Because of her retiring from the Board of Management, we bid farewell to our long-standing and esteemed colleague, Mrs. Höpke, who will leave the company at her own request on the 30th of April.
For many years, and with high-level expertise and skill, Mrs. Höpke has not only promoted our business in the EMEA region, but in her role as a labor director, she also supported and shaped employee matters. We thank Mrs. Höpke for her commitment and wish her the very best for her future. With Mrs. Höpke, the only female member will retire from the Board of Management. Appointing a woman as a member of the Board of Management at the earliest opportunity has a high priority for the Supervisory Board. Talking to him regularly, I know that this is a matter of great concern for Mr. Wenning. Mr. Wenning, I now ask you to present the report on the 2021 financial year and present an outlook for the current financial year.
Dear shareholders, dear colleagues, both current and former, welcome to Munich Re's annual general meeting. Today, I will be talking about this past financial year and our plans for the future. If I may, I would first like to say some words about the most important topic of the recent weeks. Now, of course, compared to the suffering of people in Ukraine over the past two months since the Russian invasion, everything else seems to pale by comparison. We feel devastated by the images from Ukraine that we see day after day. Many believed until recently that war in Europe was a relic of the dark past, but the bitter reality of war returned to Europe when the Russian military attacked Ukraine. This war of aggression violates international law, and we denounce it in the strongest possible terms.
Although our company does not have any branches or offices in Ukraine, some of our colleagues are Ukrainian citizens. We want to offer our heartfelt sympathy to all of them during this time. Now, in addition, we wish to express our full solidarity with people in Ukraine and their families. Millions of people have fled to other countries, many of them women and children who need our help. Colleagues around the globe have kicked off dozens of initiatives, donating time, money, and material aid. What's more, we as Munich Re have been donating to reputable charities in Germany and elsewhere, and we are helping make sure that displaced people have accommodations, receive care and support, and are integrated into the German society. We have earmarked as much as EUR 3.5 million in financial aid for refugees, many of whom are now in Poland.
Beyond providing humanitarian aid for Ukrainians, of course, we've also seen free provision for universities here in Germany because, of course, lots of refugees will come here to the universities. Now, again, beyond providing this humanitarian aid for Ukrainians, pressure must be exerted on the Kremlin to end its war of aggression. We therefore expressly support the sanctions initiated by Western governments, despite being fully aware of the tremendous resulting strain on our national economies. To this end, we are taking responsibilities in our own industry by not renewing any agreements in Russia or Belarus. In addition, Munich Re has suspended all new business in both countries, and we are handling our investments in the regions in the same way. Exceptions would only be made here if a change would harm people or companies in need of protection.
I will address the war's overall impact on our business a bit later during the AGM. Dear shareholders, there is only so much our industry can do to help affect the people who are affected by war. We can strive to prevent everyday risks from jeopardizing people's livelihood and companies' survival. That is what we do, after all. If we are to live up to our responsibilities, we need to stay competitive and strong. Now, our business performance serves as a foundation for all we accomplish on behalf of both the company and the society as a whole. Now, with this in mind, we presented our Ambition 2025 in December 2020. This targeted strategy is enhancing the growth drivers in our proven business strategies. For example, we are investing in data and digital transformation.
We are trailblazers when it comes to offering extensive flexibility in the working world of tomorrow. With a 12%-14% return on equity, we are consistently delivering excellent results. Last year, of course, was the kickoff for the implementation of the strategies. A key benchmark for our business performance is our annual results. After announcing a target profit of EUR 2.8 billion for 2021, we actually generated EUR 2.9 billion. This initial milestone is giving us tailwind for our achieving our Ambition 2025. Our return on equity amounted to 12.6%. When it comes to earnings per share, in 2021, we wanted to maintain the momentum of our normalized result of 2020. In fact, we did manage to boost earnings per share by 4.7%.
Until 2025, we expect this metric to increase annually by at least 5% on average. Our capital position remained very strong. Even after factoring in our dividend payout and share buyback, our solvency ratio is at 222%, which is even slightly above the optimum range. Now, as Munich Re shareholders, we want you to benefit from our solid business performance appropriately. As you know, our dividend policy has been one of our standout features for decades. Until 2025, we want to increase our dividend annually by at least 5% on average. For the 2021 dividend, we have outdone ourselves in this regard. Today, we are proposing to you an increased dividend of EUR 11 per share. That is a 12.2% increase compared to the previous year.
The share buyback, which has already been approved, will further boost your return on investment. As you can see, Munich Re delivers on its promises. Our strategy is proven effective. Our clients trust us and rely on us. Last but not least, of course, our 39,000 staff members around the world work hard every single day to sustain our prosperity. I'm especially grateful to all of our Munich Re workforce. All of you, my esteemed colleagues, are the pillars of our success. Dear shareholders, the pleasant results of 2021 were by no means a foregone conclusion. After all, 2021 posed various challenges for our industry, including losses from natural catastrophes and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic in particular. Natural disasters last year caused nearly EUR 250 billion in worldwide losses, of which about EUR 105 billion were insured.
Out of those, EUR 3.1 billion fell to Munich Re in the Reinsurance business. In short, 2021 was one of the costliest years ever. The extreme flash floods in Germany and other European countries alone resulted in losses of EUR 46 billion, of which EUR 11 billion were insured. It was the costliest natural catastrophe to date, not just in Germany, but in the whole of Europe. Of course, this was only one of many severe weather events of last year, which are becoming more frequent and more severe due to climate change. In 2021, the pandemic also caused increasing claims expenses. Munich Re was particularly affected in its life and health Reinsurance business. Claims here totaled about EUR 800 million. In this regard, our risk portfolio, our range of business lines and our risk management once again proved their worth in 2021.
All fields of business showed strong operational performance. In turn, supporting the performance of our group. Our Primary Insurance entity, ERGO, exceeded expectations and contributed EUR 600 million to the result. It's focused business expansion and strict cost discipline certainly paid off. ERGO also made key structural improvements, such as replacing legacy systems with a modern IT infrastructure. The ongoing digital transformation of its processes further boosted customer satisfaction with the speedy handling of claims filed after the flooding in July, being just one example. ERGO continues to grow profitably. With overall premium income across all lines rising in 2021 by 3.7%. In the property-casualty segment in Germany, a successful renewal run in the motor insurance and the rising demand for commercial industrial business played key roles in spurring premium growth. Internationally, there were two key drivers of growth.
A strong showing in property-casualty business in Poland and Austria, as well as a high demand for health products in Spain and Belgium. In the life and health Germany segment, growth was a bit more moderate as expected, which of course, was also the result of the deliberate reduction of the traditional life insurance portfolio. By contrast, however, customers are showing great interest in our new investment-type product, where new business grew by 42%. Our Reinsurance business continues to benefit from the market cycle. With a return on equity of 13.5%, this field of business is highly profitable. Rate increases in property-casualty Reinsurance played a pivotal role here. Our renewals in 2021 generated premium growth of 11.7%, and prices rose by 2.3%.
The renewal result of January 2022, this trend will continue this year, and this has been made very clear. We're exploiting positive market conditions to foster more organic growth. We are consolidating our market position as market leader in business fields like cyber, while cautiously limiting liability per incident, client, and policy. As always, we exercise great discipline when underwriting risks. As mentioned before, our life and health segment was impacted by high COVID-19 losses in 2021. Now, adjusted for these losses, the big picture is altogether pleasing and the future looks very promising. Our Risk Solutions business likewise performed very well last year in its markets, where products underwriting and sales are highly specialized. Nearly all specialty markets are placed in the United States, where our premiums and our premium income rose by 18%. At the same time, the combined ratio decreased by 4%.
In short, Risk Solutions is reporting considerable growth and increasing earnings power, which is truly an outstanding combination. Dear shareholders, people understandably assess our group based on non-financial indicators as well. Of our own accord, we pledged in our Ambition 2025 to focus even more on environmental, social, and governance targets. Please allow me to briefly outline the progress we've made in this regard. We are, of course, completely committed to increasing the percentage of women in management positions. Specifically, our target is 40% by 2025. Whenever positions in senior management needs to be filled, we apply our diversity requirement anywhere in the Munich Re group across the board, and the board of management makes the decision. In addition, selection committees and lists of candidates featuring a diverse range of people have also become common practice, which is proving effective.
Last year, the percentage of women managers rose from 35% to about 38% group-wide. We're also committed to acting responsibly for the sake of society, which is exemplified by our dedication to greater climate protection. We are making good progress in realizing our climate strategy in 2021. We reduced the CO2 emissions from our investment portfolio by about 31% compared to 2019, the base year for Ambition 2025. We will, of course, have to wait a year to estimate the impact on our core business. In addition, we managed to reduce our own operational emissions by approximately 25% per employee between 2019 and 2021. We are not merely just continuing certain types of business. We're also pursuing customized insurance covers to facilitate new climate friendly solutions.
In this way, we are making a significant contribution towards the insurability of those risks involved in generating renewable energies. Our Green Tech Solutions unit has underwritten risks in over 1,000 projects worldwide. With generation capacity totaling about 42 GW. For comparison, this corresponds to more than 2/3 of the capacity of all photovoltaic systems installed in Germany. Now, by assuming guarantee and availability risks, we are helping the renewable energy sector to expand further. Dear shareholders, we are taking the next step now in 2022 towards meeting our ambitious targets. We have set a profit target of EUR 3.3 billion for 2022, and group premium income is expected to increase to about EUR 61 billion this year. I am sure that is not the full extent of our potential.
Now, for one thing, we are well on track to bolstering our earnings trajectory by diversifying and thus stabilizing it. The combination of Primary Insurance and Reinsurance under one roof distinguishes us from the competition. We want to capitalize even more on our competitive edge going forward. Now, it was not so long ago that our group's performance was determined largely by Property-Casualty Reinsurance. These of course, were significantly shaped by market cycles. We really had to tolerate considerable fluctuations in our consolidated results. That has changed. ERGO, Risk Solutions and our Life and Health Reinsurance segment will reliably make key contributions to our consolidated profit as part of our Ambition 2025 strategy, combined with lower volatility on a comparable basis. We are putting our group's consolidated result on more stable footing.
We can offer more capacities in a hard market and then scale down considerably in a soft market. Now, given the latest developments, allow me to say a few words on the consequences of the war in Ukraine for Munich Re. Now, first of all, Munich Re does a negligible amount of insurance business in Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. We have, as previously mentioned, suspended all new business in Russia and Belarus. Moreover, in classic property insurance, the line with the greatest potential exposure, war is a standard exclusion. Not just in the regions affected currently, but around the globe. Consequently, we will not be affected in this regard and will therefore be able to easily absorb the direct effects on our business. Now, that being said, we do offer limited cover for the direct and indirect impacts of war in certain specialty lines.
These include, in particular, aerospace, transport, and credit, as well as political risks. In many cases, it cannot yet be determined to what extent cover and coverage applies. In comparison to our overall portfolio, Munich Re investment exposure in the three above-mentioned countries is relatively low. From today's point of view, the effect on Munich Re earnings resulting from changes in the value of our investment is manageable. However, I cannot guarantee that no negative consequences will emerge in the future. After all, the longer the war drags on and the sanctions on Russia and Belarus are maintained, the greater the political and economic upheavals in Europe and elsewhere will become. Dear shareholders, Moscow's war of aggression in Ukraine represents a threat to peace in Europe. In addition, Europe finds itself caught up in an increasing rivalry of systems between the USA and China.
An escalation in one of the world's regional trouble spots could have significant global repercussions. Against this backdrop, only a strong Europe as a guarantor of freedom, democracy, and prosperity can endure. Accordingly, making Europe more competitive must become a central political priority. Europe's interests can be better represented from a position of strength. When, as we have seen for years, the complete political integration of Europe falters, we should at least focus Europe on those topics for which a joint European response is better than a national one. Now, these include, firstly, a targeted migration and essential integration of hardworking individuals who are committed to working in and for Europe. Secondly, promoting digitalization for the benefit of the people, state, and economy. In addition, a transformation from fossil to renewable energies. Fourthly and lastly, now more than ever, defense.
Now, although insurance cannot solve and resolve geopolitical conflicts, our industry certainly can do its part to protect both the safety and the livelihood of people and the resilience of companies on a day-to-day basis. When we cover risks, we also foster development, innovation, and progress in our society. Therefore, I would like to also thank all of you for the trust you've placed in our company. We greatly appreciate your loyalty to Munich Re, and thank you very much.
Right. Thank you very much, Mr. Wenning, for your clear and succinct overview of the financial 2021 business year and the current situation of Munich Re.
On behalf of the Supervisory Board, I would also like to take the opportunity to thank the members of the Board of Management and all employees worldwide for your great personal commitment and the success you have achieved, which of course, resulted in a very gratifying operating result in 2021.