Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, good morning and welcome to the 2025 Annual General Meeting of Swiss Re Ltd. Thank you for your presence today. Today I will be joined on stage by Andreas Berger, our Group Chief Executive Officer; Anders Malmström, our Group Chief Financial Officer; and Cristina Feistmann, our Group Company Secretary. I would like to extend a warm welcome to our Board of Directors, and in particular to Morten Hübbe and George Quinn, who have been nominated for election as new members of the Board of Directors. A special welcome also goes to our Honorary Chairman, Walter Kielholz.
Additionally, I would like to welcome the members of the Group Executive Committee, and it is also my pleasure to welcome Christof Helbling, representing Proxy Voting Services GmbH Zurich, our independent proxy; Frank Pfaffenzeller and Matthias Schiessl who are representing our auditor, KPMG Zurich; and Natascha Wyss from the Zurich Notary's Office. She will certify the resolutions on the amendments to the Articles of Association under Agenda Item 6. I would also like to welcome our scrutinners and thank them for volunteering their time to perform this task. Shareholders who wish to ask questions about individual agenda items are kindly requested to sign up at the speaker's registration desk as early as possible. The desk is located at the front of this hall on your left. Registration is now open.
We expect a large number of speakers, so I kindly ask all our speakers to limit their time to a few minutes to allow all shareholders to express themselves and make sure we address all questions efficiently. Simultaneous translation will be provided during the entire AGM. Headphones are available in the entrance area. Please select Channel 1 for German and Channel 2 for English. The meeting minutes are being recorded by our Company Secretary, Cristina Feistmann. Please note that today's AGM is also being video recorded. The invitation to the AGM was published in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce on March 13 of this year. The annual report, the compensation report, and the sustainability report for 2024 were published on the Swiss Re website on that same day. The Annual General Meeting was duly convened and can validly pass the resolution according to today's agenda.
Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, I would now like to revisit the major developments of 2024. Throughout the year, Swiss Re is focused on improving profitability and increasing the resilience of our businesses as we build a solid foundation for future growth. I am pleased with what we have accomplished so far. Decisive measures in several areas have already been implemented, including the strengthening of reserves and the phased withdrawal from iptiQ. Other measures, such as reinforcing our underwriting excellence and building capabilities for the future, are ongoing. That we were still able to deliver an improved 2024 result is a testament to Swiss Re's strong franchise and to our diligent underwriting across the group. The group's net income increased from $3.1 billion in 2023 to $3.2 billion in 2024, slightly below the target of $3.6 billion.
The return on equity was 15%, a level that exceeds our multi-year target. Swiss Re's overall performance, strong capitalization, and positive outlook support the Board of Directors' proposal to increase the dividend to $7.35 per share, which represents an 8% increase. As it is in the last two years, the dividend is declared in U.S. dollars and paid out in Swiss francs. This approach allows for a more transparent dividend growth policy since the majority of our earnings are in dollars, and the dollar is Swiss Re Group's reporting currency. Therefore, we have introduced guidance for dividend per share growth of 7% or more per year for dividends paid in the period 2025 to 2027. In 2024, Swiss Re demonstrated its value as a shock absorber and in helping to pave the way toward recovery.
As a group, we paid claims totaling more than $37 billion over the course of 2024, money that ultimately went to support individuals, institutions, and economies as they navigate costly challenges that would have been very difficult or even impossible to surmount on their own. Swiss Re does not merely mitigate risks. We help make risk-taking possible. Global insured natural catastrophe losses in 2024 totaled more than $135 billion, up from $115 billion in 2023 and above the $100 billion threshold for a fifth straight year. Hurricanes Helene and Milton in the U.S., hailstorms and wildfire in Canada, flooding in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and in Spain, all these events touched the lives of millions of people. As we work to support those who have been impacted, we have also been focusing on becoming more resilient ourselves.
To this end, our decisive action to strengthen reserves in 2024 was an important milestone in enabling Swiss Re to deliver on its full potential going forward. We maintain a steady focus on strengthening Swiss Re so we can fulfill our role as a global leader in reinsurance and insurance. While our 15,000 employees work in a network of 70 offices around the world, our roots are deep here in Switzerland, where Swiss Re was founded more than 160 years ago. We remain committed to conducting business in a sustainable manner, thereby delivering on our vision to make the world more resilient. Sustainability remains a key business lever, helping us to seize business opportunities as we support our clients. In 2024, we successfully delivered on our climate-related targets for the year, and we made progress toward achieving our mid- and long-term targets.
In addition to further decarbonizing our own business activities, we continue to engage with our stakeholders to jointly transition to net zero. Our strong performance in the area of sustainability was also recognized externally as reflected in Swiss Re's MSCI ESG AAA rating. Swiss Re also continued in 2024 to win accolades as a top employer, having attained this distinction in numerous markets across the world, including China, India, Slovakia, and Singapore. Swiss Re's solid business execution in the past year has also been recognized by the investment community. Last year, Swiss Re shares had the second-best performance of all companies in the Swiss market index. Our total shareholder return per Swiss Re share was 47.6% in Swiss Franc.
This means that if you invested CHF 1,000 in Swiss Re shares at the start of January 2024 and you reinvested your dividend, you end up with CHF 1,476 at the end of the year. Our stock price reaches its highest level in two decades following the publication of our 2024 results. However, like most other stocks, it has since been impacted by the market volatility that has accompanied the U.S. administration's tariffs action. Our business has started 2025 in a strong position, giving us confidence in the full year targets we announced in December. Still, a turbulent start to 2025 highlights the importance of continued vigilance. The Los Angeles wildfires, as well as the powerful winter storm that hit Europe in January, again illustrate why boosting societal resilience against natural catastrophe has never been more important.
Geopolitical fragmentation, macroeconomic uncertainty, and changing trade conditions are all factors that are driving volatility. It is therefore fair to say, and it's perhaps even an understatement, that we have entered in a new era marked by both uncertainty and opportunity. This reminds us why a strong insurance and reinsurance industry and a resilient, consistent, and stable Swiss Re are indispensable. Maintaining a sustainable insurance market that is geared toward protecting clients over the long term is in everyone's best interest. By serving the needs of our clients with reinsurance capacity, as well as advanced data-driven risk knowledge, we can help them to better understand, adapt, and respond to future perils as these perils evolve. Before I conclude, I would like to mention two important nominations to our Board of Directors: Morten Hübbe and George Quinn.
Morten Hübbe was Group CEO of Tryg from 2011 to 2023 and Group CFO from 2002 to 2011. Under his leadership, Tryg underwent a significant strategic and digital transformation, solidifying its status as a Scandinavian insurance leader. George Quinn was Group CFO at Zurich Insurance, one of our largest customers, and it was until last year. George is a familiar face to many of you, having held various leadership positions at Swiss Re from 1999 to 2014, including the important job of Group CFO. We are delighted to welcome George and Morten Hübbe to our board. Their extensive insurance experience, strong expertise in our core businesses, and proven strategic acumen will help Swiss Re navigate the challenges and the opportunities ahead of us.
I would also like to bid a fond farewell to Phil Ryan, a Swiss Re board member since 2015, and Sir Paul Tucker, a member of our board since 2016. Their combined service has been of immeasurable value, and we will miss their spirit and their expertise. On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Swiss Re's employees for their efforts during the transformation to help us achieve or improve performance. I would also like to express my gratitude to you, our valued shareholders. Thank you again for your support, for your trust, as we renew our commitment to fulfilling your expectations of Swiss Re. I would now like to hand over to Andreas Berger, who will present the 2024 result in more detail. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Jacques, and sehr geehrte Damen und Herren.
Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, it is now my turn to welcome you to Swiss Re's 2025 Annual General Meeting. I'm delighted to be here for the first time as Group CEO and to share with you a review of the last financial year. I will start by giving you a detailed overview of the group's results in a few moments. Before I do, I would like to take a moment to reflect. When I took on my new role last July, I met with many people from both inside and outside Swiss Re, including employees, clients, investors, and other stakeholders. I asked all of these people two questions: What is Swiss Re doing right? What should we change? Those two questions sparked many lively, thought-provoking, and enlightening conversations. They confirmed to me that our franchise is strong, that Swiss Re continues to be highly respected and widely admired.
There was, of course, also some criticism. Some people were unhappy with iptiQ, the digital B2B2C insurance platform we launched a number of years ago. Many clients perceived it as an attempt by Swiss Re to compete with rather than support them. Others said our decision-making was too slow and lacked consistency. I, along with my colleagues on the Group Executive Committee and the Board of Directors, took this feedback seriously, and together we implemented appropriate measures. Now, a little over half a year later, people are telling us that Swiss Re has changed for the better. The CEO of a major client told me how pleased he was that our decision-making has become more consistent and swifter. Another CEO recently remarked that the treaty renewal negotiations at the end of 2022 had been the best he had ever experienced with Swiss Re.
We are committed to continuing on this path with a clear focus on three key priorities. Firstly, maintaining a strong and resilient balance sheet. Secondly, concentrating on our core business and the needs of our clients. Thirdly, leveraging data and the latest digital technology. We cannot be a successful company if we do not have cutting-edge technology. Insurers have always worked with a large amount of data. One might even argue that without data, there would be no insurers. Data enables us to accurately capture, identify, model, and calculate risks to develop tailored products and solutions. In order to do that, we need the right data. One of the CEOs I mentioned emphasized that point to me. He said, "You have so much more data than we do.
We need the right data from you. To have access to that data, we must be in continuous dialogue with our clients. Data and dialogue need to go hand in hand. They are the keys to our long-term success. Let me now turn to our group results. Jacques de Vaucleroy has already informed you that we generated in 2024 a net income of $3.2 billion compared with $3.1 billion a year earlier. Our return on equity stood at 15%. In December 2023, we announced that we were targeting a group net income of $3.6 billion for 2024. As you know, we fell slightly short of that target. There is a specific, and I think a very good reason for this. In the third quarter, we increased our liability reserves by $2.4 billion in nominal terms.
This segment has been under pressure for several years, not only at Swiss Re, but across the industry. After repeated strengthening our reserves to reflect those ongoing negative trends, we decided to substantially increase the reserves for our U.S. liability reinsurance business. This positions the reserves across the entire non-life segment at the higher end of our best estimate range. We took this decision after carefully analyzing the latest data and trends and after weighing all the pros and cons. Today, it is clear that this was the right move, and the markets seem to agree, as evidenced by the reaction of our share price last November. The trade-off was that we are no longer able to achieve our 2024 net income target. Additionally, due to the increased reserves, we missed our combined ratio target of less than 87% for property and casualty reinsurance.
However, the fact that we still generated a net income of $102 million in the third quarter demonstrates the strength and resilience of our underlying business. This brings me to the results of our individual business units. Property and Casualty Reinsurance delivered a net income of $1.2 billion, a decrease of about 20% from the previous year due to the factors I just mentioned. Life & Health Reinsurance met its target with a net income of $1.5 billion. Strong investment performance contributed to the result. Corporate Solutions once again delivered a robust result with a net income of $829 million. That corresponds to a 26% increase compared with 2023. For 2024, we had set a combined ratio target of below 93%. We exceeded that target by achieving a combined ratio of 89.7%. Let me now say a few words about our investment performance.
We significantly increased our return on investments in 2024, which stood at 4%. That is double the return on investments achieved for the year before last. While the rise of interest rates contributed to this result, the targeted management of our investment also played an important role. In the fourth quarter of 2024, the reinvestment yield was 4.6%. At the beginning of my speech, I told you about the many discussions I had after I took on my new role. The Group Executive Committee and I then spent considerable time taking a thorough look at Swiss Re. Our conclusion was that Swiss Re has a proud history indeed and an incredible potential, which makes us confident about the future. However, we must ensure that we fully realize this potential.
That means we must focus on delivering consistent earnings at an attractive level over the long term, quarter after quarter, year after year. We don't need a revolution to achieve this, but we do need to keep a cool head and a steady hand while seeking to make improvements and changes. That is exactly what we have done with the implementation of a range of targeted measures and actions. Here are three examples. Firstly, by selling its European property and casualty business to Allianz Direct, we took the first step towards fully withdrawing from iptiQ. In the meantime, we're also able to sell the sales solution business in the U.S.. You may also have heard that the Australian and New Zealand business was sold as well. Secondly, we reorganized and realigned our fee business.
Thirdly, as mentioned earlier, in the third quarter, we bolstered the reserves for our U.S. liability reinsurance business. This was necessary. I would now like to turn to the market environment. As Jacques de Vaucleroy mentioned, we are currently experiencing one of the greatest periods of upheaval since the end of the Cold War. This turbulence has an impact on our markets. Core pillars of the previous world economic order, such as free trade, have come under fire. So far, the free flow of capital, which is central to our business, has not been affected yet by these upheavals, at least not more than in the past. However, we will be monitoring the situation very closely and will manage any volatility, particularly in the United States, which is our largest individual market.
This is one of the reasons why Urs Baertschi will be relocating to the U.S. to oversee our property and casualty reinsurance business from New York. To be present in the United States at the present time with the events that are unfolding is very, very important. Swiss Re renews more than half of its property and casualty reinsurance treaties at the beginning of each year. It did so on the 1st of January 2025. This round of renewals was successful. We achieved a price increase of 2.8% and a premium volume of 7%. The biggest premium volume increase was seen in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, in Africa at 11%. All of our business units started the year in strong position. As announced at our investor event in December 2024, we are targeting a group net income of more than $4.4 billion for 2025.
We are committed to achieving a return on equity of over 14% over the coming years. For the ordinary dividends, which will be distributed from 2025- 2027, we aim for dividend per share growth of at least 7%. Ladies and gentlemen, this year, we'll see some significant changes at the helm of Swiss Re. After 12 years of outstanding service, our Group Chief Financial Officer, John Dacey, is beginning his well-deserved retirement. John has consistently competently further developed our finance function. His crowning achievement was Swiss Re's smooth transition to the new IFRS Accounting and Reporting Standards, IFRS 17. The fact that this changeover was so seamless for the outside world and for you, our shareholders, is just one of John Dacey's many achievements.
Dear John, heartfelt thank you for all the good years of collaboration together and for the friendship.
Ich wünsche dir und im Namen des Verwaltungsrates und der Geschäftsleitung.
On behalf of the Board of Directors and the Group Executive Committee, I wish you all the best for the future.
Mit Anders Malmström konnte Swiss Re einen sehr würdigen Nachfolger gewinnen.
With Anders Malmström, Swiss Re has been able to win a new colleague, a worthy successor. A little over a week ago, we welcomed him on the first day at Swiss Re. Before joining us, Anders had served as Chief Financial Officer at Athora Holdings, a European financial services provider for savings and retirement products since 2021. Prior to that, he worked for Equitable Life, AXA, and Swiss Life. Anders, it's a pleasure to welcome you to our company. I wish you every success in your new role with this new challenge. It's great to see you next to me.
At the end of September, our Group Chief Risk Officer, Patrick Raaflaub, will also be leaving Swiss Re for well-deserved retirement. Patrick's combined 25-year tenure at Swiss Re was interrupted for a six-year period during which he served as CEO of the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, also known as FINMA. In 2014, he was appointed Group Chief Risk Officer of Swiss Re. Since then, he has vigilantly and effectively advanced the integrated management of current and emerging risks across the group. Patrick, it's been a privilege working with you for all these years. On behalf of the Board of Directors and the Group Executive Committee, I wish you all the best for the future. I would also like to thank you for agreeing to stay on until a successor is found. Or until we announce a successor.
With all of these departures, we are also happy to announce a new appointment. Kera McDonald will become our new Group Chief Underwriting Officer as of the 1st of June. Technical excellence and underwriting discipline are absolutely vital for us. Kera's work in Corporate Solutions has resulted in significantly improved pricing adequacy and portfolio management processes, which is a strong track record. I am convinced that she is the right person for this important role. I am particularly pleased that we have recruited her from within our own ranks, from within our own organization. At this point, I would like to express my gratitude to all of our employees. It is through their outstanding work and commitment that we achieved these robust results. I know it's not been easy. Ladies and gentlemen, yes, absolutely, feel free. Ladies and gentlemen, my final thanks go to you.
We require risk capital to be able to operate successfully. You provide that capital. The fact that you do so is a strong vote of confidence. We will do everything in our power to prove worthy of your trust and will continue on the path we have charted. Thank you for your support, ladies and gentlemen. We will now show you a video that demonstrates how we use data management and data science to develop products and solutions for our clients. Thank you very much.
Swiss Re is committed to making the world more resilient through strong partnerships, underwriting excellence, and innovative data-driven products. Our work covers a vast range of risks across the globe. Let's look at three examples. Swiss Re is proud to be a leading reinsurer in its home Swiss market. Switzerland faces a multitude of natural catastrophe risks.
A combination of smart mitigation measures and a robust insurance system allow us to keep the country resilient. August 2025 marks 20 years since Switzerland's largest flood loss. Economic losses across the country were well over CHF 3 billion. Zurich had a near miss that day. The River Sihl became choked with trees and debris blocking the river. After 2005, the Swiss government did their homework on flood mitigation. One of the major projects they undertook was a flood protection tunnel on the Sihl. For the Swiss insurance industry, this project is important. It significantly mitigates one of the country's biggest flood risks. A one-in-100-year flood in Zurich could cost over CHF 2 billion. Mitigation cuts that by 99%. In Switzerland, we have flood insurance for property owners with the cover provided by a mix of government-owned insurers and private insurance companies. The system is based on solidarity.
All homeowners pay the same rate for catastrophe insurance regardless of their exposure. For decades, Swiss Re has participated as a key reinsurer on these insurance programs. This shows that Swiss Re is instrumental in building a strong insurance system for our home market. Now let's explore how Swiss Re leads the way in underwriting health risks. Everybody is different. So when we write life insurance, we need to get clarity on an individual's specific risks. Life Guide is Swiss Re's Life & H ealth underwriting manual. It supports underwriters in writing life insurance quickly, fairly, and at an appropriate rate. Life Guide is trusted by 800 companies and 25,000 underwriters globally. Each year, Life Guide has more than 23 million hits. In 2024, once again, our clients rated Life Guide the number one Life & H ealth underwriting manual. Life Guide connects the latest medical science with insurance.
An underwriter takes data from a life insurance application: age, weight, and existing medical conditions, and lifestyle factors such as smoking. Life Guide then applies an evidence-based assessment for rating the individual's risk. We also introduce Life Guide Scout, an AI-driven underwriting assistant. Swiss Re is moving life insurance forward, offering our clients clarity on their underwriting. This lets us protect more people and make families more resilient. Now let's see how Swiss Re builds resilience in vulnerable communities by using climate data. At 53 degrees Celsius, the 29th of May 2024 was the hottest day ever recorded in New Delhi, India. Schools were shut, businesses closed down. If you had to work outside, it was extremely hot, dry, and dangerous. For over 46,000 women in the Women's Climate Shock Insurance and Livelihoods Initiative, it was too hot to work, too hot to make a living. This initiative had them insured.
To achieve this, underwriters analyzed weather data from northwest India to assess the financial risks associated with heat waves. Starting with weather reports, going back to the late 1970s, we identified the maximum daily temperatures across Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Gujarat. We were looking for the peaks, the real outliers. Days so hot that you can't work. With 45 years of precise geolocated data, we were able to do that. If the temperature hits one of our defined triggers, we pay. In some cases, up to 100% of a day's salary. Our product covers thousands of people, and we've made 50,000 people more resilient. I'm very proud of this work.
Thank you, Andreas, for your words. This is now our company secretary, which will now address some formalities and administrative matters. Cristina.
Dear shareholders, before we begin, let me quickly go over a few formalities.
We kindly ask all shareholders who wish to ask a question regarding an agenda item to register at the speaker's registration desk. The desk is located at the front of the hall on your left. When registering, please indicate which agenda item and topic you would like to talk about. You will be asked to present your admission card as means of identification. When we get to the relevant agenda item, your name will be called. Please feel free to ask your questions in German or in English. You will find seats reserved for the speakers at the front of the hall near the registration desk. I will be taking you through today's voting ballots and a number of administrative items. For voting, we will be using an electronic system. You were provided with one of these devices when you entered the meeting.
For voting and elections, you can press one of the three buttons: the Y button for yes, the N for no, and the A for abstain. If you want to change your vote, please press the correct button. When you're sure that you have selected correctly, confirm your selection by pressing the tick button on the bottom right of your device to submit the vote. Once your vote has been successfully submitted, you will see "Vote registered" on the display. We will announce the results of the votes and elections in summarized form. Detailed information about the results will be displayed on screen. After the final Annual General Meeting, we will publish the results on our website. They will also be recorded in the AGM minutes. At the Annual General Meeting, resolutions are generally passed by a majority of votes validly cast, excluding blank and invalid votes.
The number of votes in favor must exceed the total number of votes against and abstentions. This means that an abstention has the same effect as a vote against. The last vote we will be taking today on amendments to the Articles of Association requires a qualified majority with at least two-thirds of voting shares represented. The independent proxy is required to maintain confidentiality about the voting and election instructions they receive until the Annual General Meeting. The independent proxy has kept the instructions for the votes and elections confidential until the Annual General Meeting. In accordance with Article 689C, paragraph 5 of the Swiss Code of Obligations, the independent proxy provided Swiss Re with a general report on the received instructions three business days prior to today's Annual General Meeting. Let's now look at the attendance figures for today's Annual General Meeting.
At 9:45 , attendance at the meeting was as follows: Voting shares, 210,075,884 shares represented, 145,043,861 in percentage of voting shares, 69%. There are 679 shareholders present representing 1,185,471 votes. The independent proxy represents 143,858,390. Let's go back to the chairman.
Thank you, Cristina. Let's now proceed with the first item on the agenda, the approval of the financial and non-financial reporting for 2024. This item is divided in three sub-items, and each requires a vote. Agenda item 1.1 is the approval of the annual report for the year 2024 and the annual and consolidated financial statements for 2024. The Group CEO has commented on the financial year 2024. The annual financial statements and the consolidated financial statements have been audited by our auditor, KPMG. The Board of Directors has taken note of the comments provided by the auditor.
The audit report contains no qualification or reservations, and the auditor has not added any additional remarks, and it recommends the approval by this Annual General Meeting. Therefore, the Board of Directors recommends that the annual report 2024, the annual financial statements, and the consolidated financial statements for the financial year 2024 be approved. Under agenda item 1.2, the Board of Directors is presenting the compensation report for 2024 for a non-binding consultative vote. The required information has been fully audited by KPMG. The compensation report 2024 and the KPMG audit report can be found in our annual report 2024. Here, also, the Board of Directors recommends that the compensation report for 2024 be accepted. Under agenda item 1.3, the Board of Directors is submitting Swiss Re's sustainability report 2024 for a non-binding consultative vote. This report provides comprehensive information about Swiss Re's group sustainability strategy, accomplishments, and targets.
It includes a climate transition plan. It meets all Swiss legal requirements and has been also independently reviewed by KPMG for the limited assurance conclusion. Here, also, the Board of Directors recommends that the sustainability report 2024 be accepted. Before I open for questions, I would like to remind for the last time, anyone who would like to ask a question to register at the speaker's registration desk. I also request that speakers keep their questions short and concise. We have many questions. We'll first hear all of the speakers and then address their questions afterwards. The first speaker is Mr. Fritz Peter. Please proceed to the speaker's desk. Thank you.
Sehr geehrter Herr. Dear Honorary Chairman. Sehr geehrter Herr ehemaliger Chairman. Sehr geehrter Herr Präsident.
Former Chairman, current Chairman, ladies and gentlemen. Grüezi miteinander. I am Fritz Peter.
Many of you already know me from previous years, but you may be surprised to see me again because I already said goodbye to you last year. Now, here I am again as a representative of Actares. A dear colleague had asked me to represent him today. Actares is an association of private shareholders that engages in dialogue with companies to encourage them to act responsibly and sustainably. Once again, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Swiss Re for the productive exchange, which we greatly appreciate. By the way, congratulations to all of you who are present. You are truly loyal shareholders. Since you are here, even if it was only for a welcome coffee, as there will be no traditional aperitif after the meeting.
Since most of you have probably not read our media release in detail, which we published yesterday, I will first briefly discuss our voting recommendations. Actares is very pleased to recommend approval of the sustainability report and, accordingly, to recommend discharge of the Board of Directors. Quite the opposite to two other heavyweights in the financial industry, where this was not the case the day before yesterday here and yesterday in Lucerne. It comes as a little surprise to you, however, that once again, we recommend voting no on all compensation-related agenda items. I am convinced that many of you here at the Harlem Stadion will do the same, even though we are all aware that it will not really change the outcome. Now, on to the questions from Actares. Mr. Chairman, why do you stick to a business policy that is still open to new fossil fuel projects?
Since 2016, Swiss Re has restricted its investments in coal through several measures. Nevertheless, Swiss Re continues to insure some oil and gas projects, including potentially new ones, while players such as Munich Re and AXA have introduced much stricter exclusions. Why this delay in the complete exit? Are you willing to put climate interests above the revenues indirectly coming from fossil fuels? What is the real impact of your ESG commitments? Have you really ever rejected one single client? You communicate extensively about your sustainability policies and client engagement, but can you single out a case, without mentioning a specific name, of course, in which Swiss Re has terminated a business relationship or rejected a contract for environmental or climate reasons? If not, are your ESG guidelines then not purely declaratory? Reconciling prudent risk management and resilience to climate disasters is my next issue.
The wildfires in California in January 2012 revealed the high losses from extreme weather events, a phenomenon that is likely to intensify with global warming. While the total losses from this event in the insurance market amount to $40 billion, Swiss Re estimates its losses at $700 million. You stated that Swiss Re has a lower exposure than other insurers due to a prudent underwriting policy and a reluctance to offer coverage for individual risks in California. Now, if such an event were to occur in a sector in which Swiss Re has greater exposure than its competitors, how does the company plan to reconcile a prudent approach to limiting financial risks with its goal of helping to make the company more resilient to such catastrophes? Thank you in advance for your answers, and thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for your attention.
Thank you very much, Mr. Peter. I'm calling now Mr. André Schäfer
Sehr geehrter Herr Präsident.
Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, I will express myself in German, or at least I'll try. I have only one topic I'd like to talk about. I've got two topics, sorry. First, about the retired colleagues, and then claims in the United States. First, I'd like to come back to my first point, which I already talked about last year at the AGM, adjusting the pensions for the retired colleagues. First of all, the good news, all pensioners got an additional contribution in March 2025, and I would like to express my gratitude both to Swiss Re and the Swiss Re Pension Fund for this. After my intervention in 2024, Chairman Vaucleroy was kind enough to write an email to me on the 26th of April.
In this email, he said that Swiss Re has spoken to the Swiss Re Pension Fund and that the pensions of the pension funds in Switzerland since 2007 haven't been adjusted to inflation. Chairman, Mr. Vaucleroy, I would like to turn your attention to the fact with my contribution that you were probably misinformed because some pensioners, those who went into retirement between 2015 and 2018, did get inflation adjustments for 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025, and they received quite substantial contributions, which other pensioners did not receive, as the following table will prove. Unfortunately, for technical reasons, I wasn't able to show the table on the big screen here. Now, the privileged pensioners in total obtained an additional amount of 31.5 monthly pensions at a monthly rate of CHF 3,500. That's an additional amount of CHF 110,250.
The icing on the cake is that there was only very little tax on these amounts. The Swiss Re Pension Fund provided technical explanations in order to justify this practice. Chairman, Mr. Vaucleroy, let me ask you two questions on this. Why this lack of transparency? I don't understand. The second question is, what do you think? How will the other pensioners respond if they realize that some of the pensioners are treated very favorably while others are not? This was the first issue I wanted to talk about. For those of you who would like to get this table, please just contact me directly. I have a second issue I would like to raise here, which I find quite difficult: claim liability in the United States.
For technical reasons, I will now switch to English to explain what I'm going to talk about because there are many technical terms I'm not familiar with in either French or German.
In the early 1980s, Swiss Re published a compact leaflet to the attention of its students under the title, "From Memory." I'm not that sure. The mass-thought claims that shake the foundation of liability insurance. During the past 40 years, the insurance and reinsurance industry has been struggling unabatedly with the aftermath of these claims, but also with a new generation of liability events with millions of victims resulting, for instance, from the subprime mortgage loan, from tainted silicone breast prosthesis, or from the Dieselgate. More recently, a new wave of such claims seems to be surfacing, the so-called PFAS, or forever chemicals.
They have been used since the 1950s in a vast array of consumer products, commercial applications, and manufacturing industries. While scientific disputes are ongoing as to the danger posed by PFAS, claimants allege that they are potentially linked to a variety of health conditions such as cancers, hormonal dysfunction, decreased level of immunity, high cholesterol, etc. Swiss Re Economic Insight, publication of September 2023, focused on the impact of social inflation. Pushing up liability claims does not fall to the point at PFAS as new emerging litigation risk alongside obesity, climate change, addictive software design, etc. PFAS litigation is a typical illustration of social inflation, i.e., enhanced consumer protection against the background of a growing sentiment that corporations should be held accountable for a wide range of issues. Class actions have already been initiated, for example, by customers of McDonald's and BIC, the French company BIC.
There are millions of them. Based on the latter's failures to disclose that their product, food packaging, and disposable razor blades, respectively, contain PFAS. There is no allegation of any concrete health condition presenting a causal link with the PFAS exposure. However, the alleged damage is of purely financial nature, based on the reasoning that the defendants abstain from disclosing the PFAS risk for the express purpose of inducing the customer to purchase the product at a substantial price premium or more than they would have paid had they known the truth about it. According to a study carried out by Bloomberg Legal, a great number of companies targeted face a growing risk of being forced into bankruptcy, knowing that the alleged liabilities are expected to reach trillions of dollars, trillions of dollars, and that multi-billion dollar settlements have already been achieved.
Surprisingly, the PFAS risk seems to remain below the Swiss Re radar, as there is no mention thereof in the last annual report, as far as I've checked out this morning again. That said, it's a common feature of long-tail claims that the case reserves are difficult to evaluate at the outset and then to update in view of the many remaining conditions. I have the following questions. Has Swiss Re already received numerous notifications of PFAS claims? Second question, have significant defense costs already been incurred, particularly in class action? The last question, what about settlement payments? All these questions are in reference to PFAS. Thank you, and thank you for listening to me. Have a good day.
Merci, Monsier Schäfer . I'm now calling Rosa Katarina Vollmer. Please proceed to the podium.
Hello. Thank you very much for giving me the space to speak.
I'm here on the invitation of Actares as well. I have a question regarding the sustainability of Swiss Re's insurances and operations. An in-depth investigation last year has shown that Swiss Re, or its Brazilian subsidiary, has insured agribusinesses that have illegally cut down rainforests and were involved in indigenous land grabs and slave labor. My question basically is relatively simple. What is Swiss Re and its leadership going to do about this? Are you canceling the contracts effective immediately of all these businesses who have committed these things? For example, with Manto Verde, which is one example in Brazil. How are you going to ensure that this will not happen again in the future? This clearly shows a lack of due diligence, and it imposes a high risk, reputational risk for you, and therefore also for your shareholders.
I actually want to ask, I'm also here today representing the global campaigning organization Ekō. We have a petition that more than 90,000 people have signed, calling on you to please do something about this problem. It would be great if I have an opportunity to deliver this petition symbolically to you after all the votes have happened. That would be really great. Thank you so much.
Thank you very much for your questions and for being concise. I'm calling now Peter Stefan Fischer. Please proceed to the speaker desk, please.
Sehr geehrter Präsident, sehr geehrte Damen und Herren.
Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, as I read in the compensation report, in 2024, CHF 26.2 million was spent for the salaries of the Group Executive Committee.
Apart from that, the fact that I, as a normal citizen, ask myself the question why these high salaries are necessary indeed and what you would do with that amount of money, I also see a very sad contrast to the salary of people who have been impacted negatively by the business that Swiss Re does. Swiss Re is insuring the liquid gas terminal, Calcasieu Pass, and Cameron in the U.S.. The corresponding contracts were only just renewed recently. The local population is suffering quite heavily because of these terminals. There is proof for pollution of the air and the water, and the tanks contaminate the fishing grounds of the local population. Fishermen tell stories about a reduction of fish that can be fished by 50% since the terminals were installed. These are people who have been living off fishing for centuries and who never learned a different trade.
They do depend on fishing in the local lakes in order to make sure to survive, to gain a living. My question to you is the following: Does the executive committee and do the employees of Swiss Re suffer from an amount of pressure that means that they have increased their profits for them to accept this kind of business? What diligence mechanisms does Swiss Re provide in order to prevent impacting these populations negatively? If these accusations are made against you, do you actually examine them, and do you examine possibly withdrawing yourself from these kinds of businesses? Thank you very much for your attention.
Thank you very much. I am calling now Karl-Einz Ritter, please.
Good morning, everybody. Yesterday, I was present at the AGM of UBS, so I saw Mr. Ermotti, and I was a bit disappointed by Mr.
Ramotti, not because of the profits he made, but he actually dared give me a cup like this one when we were having coffee in the morning, which is why I made sure to bring my own cup today, because I did assume that they would be giving us this kind of cup again. By using this kind of cup that you can purchase from Tchibo, for example, for very little money, which also means that you can get your coffee at a cheaper price. Now, my question is, Mr. Ermotti, when he was still with Swiss Re, there was still the normal cup to be had for the coffee, which was great. This was the case as well today. We are more than 690 people here today, more than 670 people here today.
I would ask you to actually use reusable cups, because you probably know the butterfly effect, that one bat of a wing in Europe will cause an earthquake in Africa, for example. The same goes for a cup that is thrown away here at an AGM that might cause flood in valleys or wildfires in California. Yeah, next year, I will presumably bring my own cup again. Presumably, there will be fewer people here than at UBS. Schmalanz is the chef here, so possibly we can do something for our health by not eating as much. There is SIG, SIG, or Earlycom , and Leonteq, they all provided reusable cups. I am sure that this could be doable at this AGM too. I wanted to be brief, so I am going to finish now.
Let me say the following: next year, if this doesn't work, I will have to say in Swiss German, "Du verbrennt die Zeine." I would be very disappointed. Thank you very much.
Thank you for your question and your remarks and your question. I am calling Hans Thomas. Can you please proceed to the desk? Hans Thomas Hiltbrunner, sorry.
Sehr geehrter Herr Präsident, sehr geehrte Damen und Herren.
Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Hans Hiltbrunner. I'm a student of medicine the second to the last year at the University of Bern, and I'm worried about the impact of climate change on our health already now and in the next decades. A study that was published in 2021 showed that there are 650 deaths to be mourned every year here in Switzerland because of the climate change, and this could be doubled in the next years.
Longer extended periods of heat can lead to more coronary diseases, more strokes, and more heavy psychiatric diseases, and this has been proven and is a well-known fact. We are all in danger of suffering from one of these diseases, but more so are women who are pregnant and people who are more than 65 years old, as well as children. Now, if I look into this room, I have to say that probably 90% are part of at least one of these groups. And just a small hint, it's not the small children and not the pregnant ladies. Now, insurers have a duty to help reduce the use of fossil fuels in order to reduce climate change. Into our future, this network showed that this industry is not shouldering its responsibility.
Swiss Re performs well, and I congratulate the company for that, but it only has 5.1 out of 10 points in this study, and you're very good with figures, and as you know, this is only half of the points you could be awarded. This is not satisfactory. You still invest or insure the extension of pipelines, liquid gas terminals, and gas-fired power plants, which brings me to my question. One of your core businesses is reinsurance of life insurances. With your oil and gas business, you fuel the climate change and therefore fuel the propagation of the illnesses I mentioned. Isn't that going to be expensive for you in the long run if every year you will have to pay more claims for life insurances every year? Will that not make your business suffer, and at the end of the day, your shareholders? A second very brief question.
What steps does Swiss Re undertake in order to increase its fight against the climate crisis? Finally, a quick pointer. You seem to like the word resilience. I myself, I'm not a big fan. I do believe that the word is a bit veiling. However, I would like to point out that health is the most important factor of resilience for a human life. Thank you very much for your attention.
Thank you very much. I'm now calling Pascal Dominique Muriens-Tederle, please.
Sehr geehrter Herr Präsident.
Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, I'm an engineer in energy and environment technology, and I do work as a lecturer, and I have several startups myself. I can tell you from my own experience that we have to make sure that we deal with the climate crisis in an active way. You already do a lot.
Thank you very much for that, but I believe you can do more. Andreas von Hagen, one of the largest insurance brokers, underlined recently the importance of insurers in the climate change. Unfortunately, renewable projects aren't supported enough because insurers still support fossil fuels. In your report, you report 22,000 investments or insured projects in renewable energies, but you don't say anything about your insurance in fossil fuels. As I read in your transaction report, you have clear goals for your investments that you want to make in renewables. For the insurance business, however, I didn't find a corresponding goal. My questions are thus: What does Swiss Re do in order to increase the premium in the area of renewables in order to become enablers of energy transition? And what goals does Swiss Re have in this respect? Are the goals included in the transition plan? Thank you very much.
The next speaker is Christina Marchand. Can you please proceed to the speaker desk?
Guten Tag, verehrte Versammlung. Nur kurz.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. There are other people who have brought their own cup or their own bottle, and the content of this one is even better for the environment than coffee. Let me say that. My name is Christina Marchand. I'm a researcher at ZHAW and also a lecturer at Zurich University for Applied Sciences, and I'm looking into climate topics there. We're part of a large national research project this era, which is looking into negative emission technologies. There are technologies looking into technologies that can retrieve CO2 from the climate. Because, as we all know, climate change is progressing rapidly. There is far too much CO2 in our atmosphere already. All of these technologies probably aren't very well known to most of you.
There is one example: direct air capture. There are huge fans using a lot of energy, sucking the air from the atmosphere and retrieving the CO2, purifying the air. Another area is waste incineration, where a lot of CO2 is produced as well. We introduce filters there and gather the CO2, which also requires a lot of energy. In addition to this, this CO2 is not a gas. You always imagine it to be very light, but no, it's actually a huge mass of material, very heavy indeed. If you only think about our waste incineration, gathering it there, it's five rows of tanks, of train tanks, that go one after another, one wagon after the other, going around Switzerland in five rows. This would be the amount of CO2 that we retrieve from our waste incinerations in one year.
You have to transport it somewhere and then save it somewhere, maybe in the soil, but who wants that? This shows that we do require these technologies, but at the same time, we should only use them for our last amount of CO2, because there are already large amounts there. My question is: We need to reduce CO2. What do you do about these negative reduction technologies? We know that we require them. What does Swiss Re do about this? My second question: You only recently submitted a transition plan, sorry. I do comment that; however, I don't think it's very ambitious. You only talked about a reduction of 6% because there are specific standards in the treaty reinsurance business, and then there are a lot of customer data as well.
Why don't you do this in the whole single risk and property and casualty reinsurance business? Why don't you apply it to this whole business? You can gather customer data yourself. Customers who want to work with you have to provide you with this data and set up standards themselves. My final question: We have heard about climate change, and I do believe that Swiss Re is doing a lot in this respect, but did you ever think about the worst-case scenarios? What could happen in the worst case if, for example, there were wildfires in Switzerland and there was no forest left? What would be the worst cases that you could imagine, and would we be able to uphold our economy with our insurances? Thank you very much.
Thank you very much. I'm calling now Norah Scheel, sorry, from the podium. Thank you very much.
Ladies and gentlemen, Chairman, Norah Scheel is my name. I represent Campax, an organization. British underwriters published a report which says between 2070 and 2090 we will see the business activity divided by half if we do not stop climate change. I do not need to tell you what underwriters are; they anticipate the risks, and the warnings come from the insurance industry itself. This comes as no surprise because you will be most affected by the changes. If natural disasters become more paramount, insurance companies and reinsurance companies have to cover the losses, at least part of the losses. Think of regions such as Florida. We are talking about an insurance crisis now because property insurance companies have gone bankrupt, and some insurance companies have decided to withdraw completely from these regions. As a result, homeowners find it hard to take out insurance with any company.
Some regions in Europe are also considered uninsurable. My question to you is: What do you think? What is the risk for you as an insurance company? What is the risk of climate change, of global warming? Where do you think the insurance company has a responsibility against society to contribute to the insurability of infrastructures and properties, real estate properties? As my previous speakers already said, Swiss Re has already taken important steps to reduce its exposure to coal, oil, and gas, but there are still some gaps, particularly as far as midstream, mid and downstream oil and gas is concerned. If I were to exaggerate, let me ask the question: Aren't you scoring an own goal by targeting your own business model? Thank you very much for your answer.
Thank you for your question, and sorry for having mispronounced your name. I'm calling Mr. Max Voegtli, please.
Sehr geehrter Herr Präsident.
Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, my name is Max Voegtli. I am a political activist, and I'd like to turn your attention to the climate crisis. For almost a decade, I worked in companies, and I worked in corporate sustainability. I left the corporate sustainability area because I felt the perspective was too short term. The fundamental question has to be: Does the existing business model keep working if we were to achieve a net zero value tomorrow? Of course, we don't want to have net zero by tomorrow, but by 2050. The question still stands, because this is the future, ladies and gentlemen, a future we have committed ourselves to. This is the backdrop against which we need to assess our investment in companies, and we need to challenge some of these investments.
Swiss Re has already decided on excluding part of fossil energy production, and I'd like to congratulate on this decision. However, you continue insuring oil and gas infrastructures and invest in companies which continue to extend their oil and gas business. We're talking about insurance policies for companies that run a big risk, because our energy procurement is being reinvented, and this transition to new energy won't be linear, but it will come in waves. Oil and gas companies that fail to adapt to these new changes will suddenly lose value dramatically or even go out of business altogether. A current MIT study calculates that if investment into infrastructure for fossil fuels will be continued by until 2030, 37% of the global capital, in other words, $557 trillion, will be jeopardized as stranded assets if we achieve, or when we achieve, net zero.
My question to you is the following: What is your assessment of stranded assets, of the danger of stranded assets in the short term and the midterm? Do not you think that your business with oil and gas companies that continue to extend their business and still have no transition plan is risky? Thank you.
Thank you very much. I am calling Mr. Daniel Jean Wilder.
Sehr geehrter Präsident.
Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, my name is Daniel Wiedler. I would like to be brief, because the issue has already been touched upon. Swiss Re insures various LNG terminals in the U.S., as identified by various non-governmental organizations. In such infrastructure, gas is made liquid and put into tankers that go around the world. A study from 2025 has shown that the LNG footprint from the United States is bigger than the one from coal.
There are various reasons, for example, the large energy consumption, the liquefaction of the gas, and the emissions, methane emissions along the production line. LNG isn't more favorable than coal and isn't suitable as a transition energy, as many believe. Ensuring LNG terminals pass, and Cameron LNG, for example, in Louisiana, causes enormous external costs for future generations. Swiss Re could reduce this cost by simply not insuring this LNG terminal anymore. What are Swiss Re's plans in this respect to reduce and avoid altogether these external costs? Because, according to the information I have, industrialized countries intend to, or should be, at net zero before 2050. Thank you very much.
Thank you for this question. Thank you to all speakers for all their questions. Now comes the time to provide answers.
Let me perhaps respond with one or two general statements before we address the question one by one. Sustainability is and remains a very important lever for Swiss Re. In accordance with our Swiss law, Swiss Re is committed to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 across its entire business, and we support our clients in the transition to the net zero economy. As a reinsurance company, we think long term, and we base our decision on facts, and sustainability is, has been, and is, remains a strategic priority. However, our own net zero transition depends on external factors, such as the availability of robust methodologies, reliable data, supportive public policies, but also, ultimately, the pace at which the real economy transitions. I want also to say there were a few specific questions that we do not comment on individual transactions, projects, or client relationships in general.
Let me know, and we will address this question together with Andreas. Let me come to the first question about oil and gas ESG commitment, resilient climate disaster. It was a question of Mr. Fritz Peter from Actares. Andreas, could you address that?
Yes, thank you, Jacques. Herzlichen Dank für die Frage.
Thank you very much for this question, Mr. Peter. You talked about the impact of ESG if we also refuse to insure companies, if we exit contracts, etc., and what role reinsurance has to play with regard to the Los Angeles wildfires, where we announced that we are an exposure of less than $700 million. You also made a comparison to other reinsurance companies. I can only repeat what I said earlier and what Charles just said. Sustainability is extremely important. It has been extremely important for us for decades.
Actually, we started in the 1970s already to look into sustainability. There was a lot of sustainability research. A lot of effort has gone into this. We've got the most robust model that you can imagine in our industry. Every event is yet another source for data, and we try to keep our databases up to date. You asked about how we handle this. We've got a very robust ESG risk framework. That's the term we give it. It's part of our underwriting process, and we have been confronted with situations where we chose not to underwrite particular contracts, not to make the business. That's part of our process. I'm happy to say that, and I'm actually proud to say that we have a very good risk network. We also adjust the parameters to make sure we can take the latest developments into account.
As for the wildfires, what happened there was not unforeseeable. It could have been predicted if the right data and model had been used. Such events can be anticipated. You can quantify the impact. You can even make recommendations in order to limit the exposure or avoid the exposure altogether by avoiding risks. There are numerous different impacts, but we, as reinsurers, have to play the role we have. We are the shock absorber, which means that we've got to be available in very special situations, in unforeseeable situations, and irrespective of the severity of the blow. This brings me to resilience. I'm sorry to use the term again, but we are available. We make available our data and our models to homeowners, for example, but also to companies with assets, buildings, plants, etc.
We provide our information to them so that they themselves can determine what is my risk, how can we quantify the risk, how substantial is the risk, but also what can I do to mitigate the risk, to make the risk more foreseeable. We can use risk transfer solutions to cover the severity of the blow on the first and the primary insurance market, and then the secondary insurance market, the reinsurance market. You mentioned the $700 million. It does not sound like much, but it is a substantial part of our NatCat budget, which we allocated for 2024. The year already started with a substantial exposure and real loss. I think this answers the first question.
There was also a question about the Brazilian agribusiness. I want to repeat again that we do not comment on individual transactional projects.
We take our ESG commitment very seriously, and our ESG risk management team continuously works to monitor developments and therefore update policies and processes accordingly. For instance, last year, we refined our approach to include information from Brazil's National Foundation for Indigenous People and the Federal Conservation Units. Business that no longer meets the updated criteria will not be renewed. We take our due diligence obligations very seriously.
The next question was from Mr. Fischer, about oil and gas liquid LNG. Andreas, could you take that one?
Yeah.
Let me say, we've got a very robust ESG risk framework, and it covers not only the E aspect of ESG, but also the S in ESG. In our risk framework, we defined transactions and the risk appetite, and we've determined limits for the risk appetite.
In 2024, we were looking at 100,000 transactions that we carefully assessed based on sustainability and renewability. We screened those projects. We looked at our policies in oil and gas and put them down in writing. You can read up on them. We focused on the 10% of companies with the highest emissions on the entire globe, so truly global emissions. There were situations where we decided not to underwrite specific risks, special risks. All I can do is to recommend to you to read our sustainability report, because it contains a great deal of detail and is very transparent, not only as regards our own business activity and business behavior, but also the way we set ourselves up for greenhouse gas emissions. It is also about what we do in our core competence in underwriting, but also in asset management. The sustainability is a good read.
Thank you, Andreas. I would now like to take the question on carbon removal and emission reduction targets. On the first one, carbon removal, Swiss Re today supports several technologies, such as renewables or carbon removal. We recognize that while the net zero transition primarily requires that we decarbonize the business, there will be residual emissions that will need to be removed. What I want to say is that, as an example, we have signed the world's first long-term purchase agreement for direct air capture and storage of carbon dioxide in 2021. We are active on this front. On the subject of emission reduction targets, we have set goals, we have methods, and we have data available. We are involved in standard-setting efforts, because you cannot do it alone.
You need to work on standards, standard-setting efforts to ensure that methods are further developed and that data transparency is increased, such as in the case of treaty reinsurance. Let's move to the question from Mr. Wiedler on LNG. I think you addressed it already a bit, Andreas. Do you want to cover that?
Let me just see if I see the question. Yeah. Yes. Here we go. Yeah. I mean, same answer. I'll refer again to our ESG risk framework. LNG is part of our oil and gas policy. Again, we focus on the Swiss or German.
Let me speak German again. Now, we are concentrating on the highest risks when it comes to emissions, and this is based on independent data providers from outside our company. This is part of the entire oil and gas package, so to speak.
Good. We have a question on stranded assets.
We cover that also in our sustainability report. Stranded assets are a key transition risk, as they can reduce the asset value of particularly negatively exposed companies. We take that seriously as an example of action. We have significantly reduced the carbon intensity of our investment portfolio, such as the combined corporate bond and listed equity portfolio, which has been reduced by more than 50% relative to the base year 2018. This is a very dynamic area. We watch it, and we continue to evaluate our approach responding to the ongoing developments that we see in the marketplace. It is a very relevant area. There was also a question again on the new oil and gas and the impact of climate change on insurability. That was a question from Norah Scheel. Andreas, could you cover that?
Yes. Where is the question from?
Norah Scheel. Yes, absolutely.
It was about the impact of climate change on insurability. Yes. We have seen that there's enough data in the world, and very often we have not seen the question of insurability, but rather affordability of insurance. That is the main concern that we have in this whole context. We have seen the data of climate change, but you need to couple it also with specific trends. We müssen schauen, dass diese Bevölkerungswachstum.
We need to look into the growth of population, especially in exposed areas of this world, areas exposed to natural catastrophes. Populations have grown in those areas. This means that asset concentration also increased of maybe buildings that were endangered. This was a phenomenon that wasn't present in the past.
Now, if we had the same natural catastrophe maybe 50 years ago and then now compare it to today's situation, we wouldn't have had the same amount of claims or losses. This is an important aspect, and this is where we have a lever. We have to work together with private entities as well as public entities, thinking about how to prevent this sort of natural catastrophe or the losses. We can adapt construction policies. Let me come back to the wildfires in California in the U.S. Those buildings who were particularly impacted were obviously made from wood. Those houses that were built considering corresponding construction restrictions, they survived the wildfires.
We need to understand the risks and the events, and then we need to quantify them, and then we need to consider the financial impact for the individuals, for the families, but also for the public, for governments, and also for companies. This is what I wanted to say about insurability. I believe I have covered this.
Thank you, Andreas. We have the question of disposable cups versus multiple use. Thank you for the suggestion. We are constantly considering how we can improve the sustainability of our activities, including what we do here. The cups that were provided today, that are provided today, are made of paper and are therefore made of a recyclable material. Aspects of hygiene and at least potentially of noise have led us to choose for that solution, but we are open to progress, and we will consider that in the future again.
There was a question on the health impact of oil and gas and further steps to address climate change. That was a question from Mr. Hiltbrunner Would you take that, Andreas?
Yep.
Yes, absolutely. We cannot deny that there is an impact on our lives and our health insurance portfolio, especially if we look at the scenarios in extreme heat waves, for example. Overall, however, our models also tell us that the financial losses aren't as substantial as the biological factors. The biological factors are the ones that we're worried about, particularly that also have an impact on the mortality rates, and these are directly correlated with the climate change topic. We are constantly looking into that, and we constantly do research, and this also is integrated in our portfolio considerations. Here again, I can only recommend reading our sustainability report.
The next question was on renewables and targets and transition plan. As it was mentioned, we have increased our participation in renewables by roughly 50% from 2023- 2024. We have both in P&C and in CorSo a dedicated center of competence with the main focus on renewables, and we see that as an important opportunity for the future. Regarding the climate transition plan, it contains three levels. One is jointly transition alongside clients, investees, and vendors. The second is managing the portfolio, and the third one is reducing operational emissions. As part of managing our portfolio, we go net zero-related business with risk transfer solutions and services where price levels are adequate. We are making progress on this front also. Monsieur Schäfer, perhaps Andreas, you can take the first one on liability.
Yep.
I will take the second one on pension. Yeah.
PFAS is then a theme of us that has been on us for some time, also a few years.
PFAS is something that we're looking into, have been looking into for several years. This is no news to Swiss Re. However, these are topics that we consider in a broader context when it comes to liability insurance in the U.S. We do believe that the U.S. system, the class action system, is problematic. We have reviewed our entire portfolio, and we decided that especially the U.S. liability requires additional reserves. We bolstered our reserves, and we recognized that our market share was too large. Our share in there was up to 70%. We were market leaders there in the U.S.
We reduced it systematically to 5% market share because we were considering the social inflation, the report that we've read in 2024, the sigma report, which showed to us that there is this social inflation, which is why we set up a social inflation index. Definitely a topic that we are looking into. Secondly, we repriced or we adapted our pricing expectations. We are very prudent in this area, and we are trying to make sure that our market shares are not rising in this area, which doesn't mean that we're no longer subscribing to any liability insurance treaties in the U.S. However, we have become extremely prudent.
Thank you. The question on the pension fund.
We are proud to be one of the best companies to work for in Switzerland, and we feel that the Swiss Re pension fund is a very important part of that offering. We really feel that we have an attractive offering for all our employees, and this is recognized by them. We have an engagement score, which is above the bank and insurance benchmarks. However, the pension fund matters, and Mr. Schäfer, you were referring to one of the exchanges, but we had many exchanges during the recent year on this matter. The pension fund is a separate legal entity, which is completely independent of Swiss Re. The pension fund is making the decision to its board, trustee, and the AGM is therefore not the right forum for discussing pension fund topics. I really suggest that you get back in contact with the pension fund on all these matters.
I think we have one more speaker, and I call again Norah Scheel.
Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren, vielen Dank, dass ich die Möglichkeit...
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for providing me with the opportunity to ask yet another question. I was not quite satisfied, to be honest, with your answer regarding your business with new oil and gas plants. You said that all of your businesses are checked against ESG criteria, but can you tell me how insuring new oil and gas plants, so not existing ones, but new ones, can be reconciled with your commitment for 2050 if the World Climate Council and the International Climate Agency say that a further development of fossil plants or fossil fuel plants cannot be reconciled with our goals for 2050, but that we need to remove ourselves from even the existing plants as quickly as possible.
Thank you very much.
Thank you. Andreas.
The International Energy Agency has highlighted that gas still plays a very important role in the energy mix and energy supply, including the scenario net zero 2050. This is important, I believe. Now, we need to consider how we could be able to identify these new oil and gas plants. We need to set down criteria for transparency in reinsurance business, especially when it comes to treaties. I cannot go down into the details. We have to continue our dialogue there. However, our policy is very clear. We concentrate on those companies with the largest amount of emissions, as I already told you before, and we base all of our decisions on external data providers.
I have the impression that Monsieur Schäfer wants again to raise a question.
Thank you very much. Yes, I have a specific question regarding PFAS.
Has Swiss Re received notification of PFAS claims? Yes or no? Have significant defense costs already been incurred, particularly in class action? What about settlement options? I would like to have some figures. You were talking about a very high participation. You reduced it, but what have you paid already? That would be interesting. What is in the pipeline? I believe that would be—I am not a specialist in claim liability, particularly not in the U.S., but my feeling is that it could be very expensive. Remember, Bloomberg were speaking about trillion, not billion, but trillion. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you, Monsieur Schäfer. I think you heard from Andreas that PFAS is not in the norm, but it is by design that we did not, for the moment, say more. We do not comment on potential or ongoing claim matters more than what we have done.
You have to understand that, and I can guarantee that U.S. liability is a topic that we follow very closely. As Andreas has said, we have had a way more restrictive underwriting policy compared to the past, and when it requires, we will communicate on this in the future. Thank you for your comprehension. I think we are coming at the end of this series of questions and answers. Thank you to all the speakers for the question and for the interest to our business. We can now proceed with the voting. Cristina?
Wir kommen zu den Abstimmungen über die Traktaten 1.1 bis 1.3 betreffend Geschäftsjahr 2024. 1.1 Genehmigung des Geschäftsberichts, der Jahresrechnung und der Konzern...
Sorry. Approval of the annual report, annual and consolidated financial statements. 1.2 A consultative vote on the compensation report, and 1.3 A consultative vote on the sustainability report.
We will vote on all three items now. On your voting device, you will see agenda items 1.1- 1.3. Please vote yes, no, or abstain for each item. Once you have completed this step, you will be given an overview of choices. Confirm these by pressing the tick button on the bottom right side of your device. You have 30 seconds to cast your votes now.
Das Zeitfenster ist geschlossen.
The 30 seconds have elapsed, and the votes are being counted. This will take a moment. I confirm that you have approved the board of directors' motion under agenda item 1.1 with 99.4% votes in favor. I confirm that you have accepted, in a consultative vote, the board of directors' motion under agenda item 1.2 with 90.5% votes in favor.
Now, I also confirm that you have accepted, in a consultative vote, the Board of Directors' motion under agenda item 1.3 with 94.6% votes in favor.
Thank you very much. We will now proceed to agenda item 2, appropriation of available earnings. The figures and the proposed appropriation of available earnings for 2024 can be found in the invitation to today's AGM on page 3. This is about the available earnings of Swiss Re Limited, the holding company of the Swiss Re Group. According to the statutory accounts, the available earnings of Swiss Re Limited amount to 1,600,340,000. Sorry. The Board of Directors recommends allocating the available earnings to the voluntary profit reserves. The dividend will then be paid from the voluntary profit reserve. We recommend an ordinary dividend of $7.35 per share, which is declared in U.S. dollar, the Swiss Re Group reporting currency.
The dividend will be paid in Swiss franc, converted at the applicable U.S. dollar exchange rate as of April 14. The exchange rate will be published on the Swiss Re website on the ex-dividend date, which is April 15. In its report to shareholders, the auditor confirmed that the Board of Directors' motion regarding the appropriation of available earnings complies with the statutory regulation and the Articles of Association. The Board of Directors, therefore, recommends that a dividend of $7.35 per share be distributed to shareholders. I don't see that there are any speakers on this topic. Let's then move on to the vote.
Wir kommen zur Abstimmung zu Traktaten.
We now proceed to the vote on agenda item 2, the appropriation of retained earnings and a dividend of $7.35. You've got 10 seconds to cast your vote now.
Ich stelle fest.
I confirm that you have approved the Board of Directors' motion under agenda item 2 with 98.7% share of votes in favor.
Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. The dividend will be paid free of charge from 17 April 2025 onwards after a deduction of 35% for the Swiss federal withholding tax. It will be distributed to all shareholders who hold shares on 14 April 2025, and the shares will be traded ex-dividend starting from 15 April. We can now move on agenda item 3, discharge of the members of the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors recommends that all members of the Board of Directors who were in office during the year 2024 be discharged for the financial year 2024. There are no speakers registered. This allows us that we can move to the vote.
The members of the board of directors and the group executive committee as members of the governing bodies and their representatives are not permitted to participate in the decision about the discharge, not even by abstaining. Let's proceed with the vote on agenda item 3, discharge of the members of the board of directors. You have 10 seconds to cast your votes.
Ich stelle fest.
I confirm that you have voted to discharge the board of directors for the financial year 2024 with 98.4% of votes in favor.
Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the entire board of directors, I thank you for the trust that you have placed in us. We'll now move on to agenda item 4. It is about the election of the board of directors, the independent proxy, and the auditor.
The general meeting of shareholders is responsible for electing each member of the Board of Directors, the Chairman of the Board of Directors, the members of the Compensation Committee, the independent proxy, and the auditor. We will begin with the election of the members of the Board of Directors and the Chairman of the Board of Directors. As I previously mentioned, Phil Ryan and Paul Tucker are not standing for reelection. The Board of Directors recommends the individual reelection of 10 current members, as well as the election of two new Board members of the Board of Directors for one term of office until the completion of the next AGM. I am also standing for reelection as Chairman of the Board. You can find all our biographies on the Swiss Re website.
On behalf of the board of directors, I'm pleased to propose the election of Morten Hübbe and George Quinn as new board members. I already mentioned their extensive experience and expertise at the beginning. Before the vote, I would like to give Morten and George the opportunity to introduce themselves. Morten, the floor is yours.
Dear shareholders, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank the chair and the board for this nomination. It would be an honor and a privilege to join the board of Swiss Re. My name is Morten Hübbe . I am 53 years old. I am a Danish citizen, and I've worked in insurance all of my adult life. There was a strong connection to Switzerland from day one. Thirty-four years ago, I joined the Copenhagen office of Zurich Insurance, where I worked alongside my financial studies at Copenhagen Business School.
In 2001, at the age of 29, I became the CFO of the Nordic countries for Zurich Insurance. After Zurich, I spent 21 years in the Group Exco of Tryg Insurance, the largest Scandinavian insurance company, nine years as the group CFO, followed by 12 years as the group CEO, a period that made Tryg one of the best-performing insurance companies in Europe and allowed us to buy Royal Sun Alliance off the stock exchange in London. I retired from operational work two years ago. I currently chair two companies in the tech space, so I have more than sufficient time for a role with Swiss Re, and I would love to contribute to a strong future for this proud Swiss institution. Thank you.
Thank you, Morten. I would now like to invite George to introduce himself if necessary.
Thank you, Jacques. Lieber Aktionärinnen und Aktionäre.
Shareholders, ladies and gentlemen. My name is George Quinn. Almost 60 years ago, I was born in Glasgow in Scotland. I'm an engineer by training, and for my whole professional life, I was engaged in assessing and consulting insurance companies. In 1999, I joined Swiss Re here in Zurich. I held various functions in the financial department, and I finally was CFO. In 2014, I joined Zurich Insurance, not far away from Swiss Re's headquarters, and worked for Zurich for 10 years. I have a great deal of experience in insurance and reinsurance activities, particularly big deals, and I understand reinsurance from the perspective of a manager. Even though I'm not born here, Switzerland has become my home, and I'm very honored to have been nominated as a member of the Board of Directors.
Thank you. Thank you very much, George.
As no speaker ever registered for this item, let's now proceed with the election.
Wie gesagt, stellen Sie sich.
As you heard, 10 existing members are standing for reelection, and two new candidates are standing for reelection. The Board of Directors also recommends the reelection of Jacques de Vaucleroy as Chairman of the Board. You will elect each candidate individually, but you will vote on all candidates in a single voting process as part of a single multiple election vote. When voting is complete, we will present all of the results together. On your voting device, you can see the names of the candidates proposed for election. Please vote for each candidate individually. Use the arrow on the bottom right of your device to scroll to the next page. Use the arrow on the bottom left to return to the previous page.
At the end, you will be given an overview of your choices. Confirm them by pressing the tick symbol on the bottom right. We will now see the election results for the first six candidates. You've got 60 seconds to cast your vote now.
Sie sehen nun die Wahlergebnisse für die ersten sechs.
You can now see the election results for the first six candidates. Each has been elected with a large majority. Auch die weiteren sechs Mitglieder. Who are the next six candidates? They have also been elected with a large majority.
Thank you, and congratulations to all my fellow board members. Also, thank you, ladies and gentlemen. It's an honor to have the opportunity to continue to serve as Chairman of the Board of Directors. I do appreciate your support and your trust. This concludes the election to the Board of Directors under item 4.1.
We'll now proceed with agenda item 4.2, which covers the election of the members of the compensation committee. The Board of Directors recommends the individual reelection of three current Board members of the compensation committee, as well as the election of Morten Hübbe as the new member of the compensation committee, each for one term of office until the completion of the next AGM. Here also, you have the biographies on the Swiss Re website. We are convinced that it is a highly suitable and experienced group of candidates that we are proposing for election to the compensation committee. We therefore recommend voting in favor of these four candidates. As there are no speakers registered for this item, let's move on to the vote.
Jedes Mitglied des Vergütungsausschusses wird einzeln gewählt. Auch hier in einem.
Each member will be elected individually in one go.
You have now 30 seconds time to cast your vote.
Ich stelle fest, dass Sie die vorgestellten ..
I confirm that you have elected the proposed candidates to the compensation committee in each case by a large majority.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your support and congratulations to my four colleagues for the election to the compensation committee. That concludes our board-related election. We'll now proceed to the next item on the agenda, which is the reelection of the independent proxy. The board of directors recommends that Proxy Voting Services GmbH be reelected as the independent proxy for a one-year term of office until completion of the next AGM. Proxy Voting Services has been elected as independent proxy by this AGM since 2014 and has performed this task competently and to the satisfaction of all shareholders. As there are no speakers registered, we can immediately move to the voting.
Wir kommen zur Wiederwahl der unabhängigen Stimmrechtsvertreterin.
You have now 10 seconds time to cast your vote.
Ich stelle fest, dass Sie die ...
I confirm that you have reelected Proxy Voting Services GmbH as independent proxy with 99.7% of shares of votes in favor.
Let's move to the next topic, which is the reelection of the auditor. The Board of Directors recommends that KPMG be reelected for another one-year term of office as auditor for the financial year 2026. KPMG was first elected as auditor at AGM 2020 for the financial year starting on the 1st of January 2021. KPMG has confirmed to the Audit Committee that it complies with the relevant independence criteria. I don't see any speaker requiring to ask a question. We can therefore immediately go to voting.
Wir kommen zur Wiederwahl der Revisionsstelle. Let's move on to the reelection of the auditor.
You have now 10 seconds to cast your vote. I confirm that you have reelected KPMG as auditor with 99.5% of votes in favor.
Congratulations to KPMG on this reelection. We have now concluded all elections, and we can move to agenda item 5, which is about the approval of compensation. Details about the compensation system and compensation paid can be found in the compensation report 2024, which is part of the annual report. We'll be holding three votes under this agenda item. The first vote concerns the maximum aggregate amount of compensation for the members of the Board of Directors for the one-year term of office starting after this Annual General Meeting. The second vote concerns the aggregate amount of variable short-term compensation for the members of the Group Executive Committee for the past financial year 2024.
The third vote concerns the maximum aggregate amount of fixed compensation and variable long-term compensation for the members of the Group Executive Committee for the financial year 2026. I will now briefly explain the three motions. Members of the Board of Directors received only fixed compensation. The Board of Directors recommends that shareholders approve a maximum aggregate amount of CHF 9 million for the members of the Board of Directors for the next term of office until the next AGM. Under agenda item 5.2, the Board of Directors recommends the approval of an aggregate amount of variable short-term compensation for the members of the Group Executive Committee for the past financial year 2024, amounting to CHF 12,400,930.792. The proposed aggregate variable short-term compensation amount reflects Swiss Re Group's IFRS performance.
The proposed aggregate amount includes the total annual performance incentive for 12 members of the Group Executive Committee who were in office in 2024, with pro rata where applicable. Under agenda item 5.3, the Board of Directors recommends the approval of a maximum aggregate amount of fixed compensation and variable long-term compensation of CHF 31 million for the members of the Group EC for the financial year 2026. The fixed compensation for the members of the Group EC consists of a base salary, allowance, regular employer pension contribution, any matching shares granted under the company global share participation plan, and additional benefits. The variable long-term compensation for the members of the Group EC, if any, will be granted in the first half of the financial year 2026. The maximum aggregate amount is considered the value of the awards at grant.
The effective amounts to be paid or to be granted to the members of the Group EC committee for the financial year 2026 will be disclosed in the compensation report 2026. More details on all three compensation motions can be found in the invitation to the Annual General Meeting. The Board of Directors recommends approving all three motions. There are no speakers registered. This allows us to immediately proceed with the voting.
Wir kommen zu den Abstimmungen über Traktaten 5.1.
We are now voting on agenda items 5.1- 5.3. This once again will be a multiple vote process. Agenda item 5.1 deals with the proposed aggregate amount of the compensation for the members of the Board of Directors. Agenda item 5.2 deals with the proposed aggregate amount of variable short-term compensation for the members of the Group Executive Committee for the past financial year 2024.
Agenda item 5.3 deals with the proposed fixed compensation, variable long-term compensation for the members of the Group Executive Committee for the financial year 2026. You will now see agenda items 5.1 to 5.3 on your voting device. Please cast your vote for each item and then confirm your vote by pressing the tick button on the bottom right. You have now 30 seconds to cast your vote.
Ich stelle fest, dass.
I confirm that you have approved the Board of Directors' motions under agenda item 5.1 with 86.1% of votes in favor.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Sorry, I was too fast.
Ich stelle fest.
I also confirm that you have approved the Board of Directors' motions under agenda item 5.2 with 93.7% of votes in favor.
I confirm also that you approved the board of directors' motions under agenda item 5.3 with 86.9% of votes in favor.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. This brings us to the last item: amendments to the Article of Association. The general meeting of shareholders is responsible for approving amendments to the Articles of Association. The capital bans approved at the AGM 2023 will expire tomorrow, on the 12th of April. The board of directors recommends the extension of the existing capital ban for another two years until the 11th of April 2027. Apart from that, the capital ban remains unchanged. The board of directors recommends that you vote in favor of this motion. As no speakers have registered for this item, let's move on the vote.
Im Unterschied zu den anderen Abstimmungen erfordert dieser Beschluss eine qualifizierte Mehrheit von.
Unlike the previous votes, this one requires a qualified majority of two-thirds of the voting shares represented. You have now 10 seconds to cast your vote.
Ich stelle fest, dass Sie die vorgeschlagenen.
I confirm that you have approved the proposed amendments to the Articles of Association with 93.2% of votes in favor, thus achieving the qualified majority of two-thirds.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your support. We have now addressed all of the agenda items of this year's Annual General Meeting. The next ordinary Annual General Meeting of Swiss Re Limited is scheduled for Friday, April the 10th, 2026. The minutes of today's meeting will be available on Swiss Re's website very shortly. This concludes now our meeting. Thank you again for being here today. Thank you for your support and the strong approval of all the agenda items. Thank you to the speakers for the question.
I wish you all a very nice and sunny afternoon. Please remember to not take with you your voting device. Please leave them as the headphones on your chair. Thank you again and great afternoon.