39. Reinsurance

The Group Management Board determines, directly and indirectly, the strategic contents of its reinsurance policy with its decisions regarding risk and capital policy. The structure of the purchasing of external reinsurance is linked to the risk management process, thus enabling the risk capital to be relieved.

Reinsurance structures support the continuous optimisation of the required risk capital and the management of the use of this risk capital. Great importance is attached to the maximum use of diversification effects. Continuous analysis of reinsurance purchasing for efficiency characteristics is an essential component of internal risk management processes.

UNIQA Re AG in Zurich, Switzerland, is responsible for the operational implementation of these tasks. It is responsible for and guarantees the implementation of the reinsurance policy issued by the Group Management Board. UNIQA Re AG is available to all Group companies as the risk carrier for their reinsurance needs. The assessment of the exposure of the portfolios assumed by the Group companies is of central importance. Periodic risk assessments have been performed for years in the interest of a value-based management of the capital commitment. Extensive data are used to assess risk capital requirements for the units in question and their reinsurance programmes are structured in a targeted manner.

For the property and casualty insurer, promises of performance for protection against losses resulting from natural hazards frequently represent by far the greatest stress on risk capital due to the volatile nature of such claims and the conceivable amount of catastrophic damages. UNIQA has set up a specialised unit in order to deal with this problem. Exposure is constantly monitored and evaluated at the country and Group levels in cooperation with internal and external authorities. UNIQA substantially eases the pressure on its risk capital through the targeted utilisation of all applicable diversification effects and the launch of an efficient retrocession programme.

UNIQA Re AG has assumed almost all of the UNIQA Group’s required reinsurance business ceded in the reporting period. Only in exceptional cases, such as the purchase of facultative reinsurance, is a portion of the necessary cessions given directly to external reinsurance companies. The Group assumes reasonable deductibles in the retrocession programmes based on risk- and value-based approaches.