Latest Swiss Re Headlines

All the headlines from our Swiss Re Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Swiss Re Names Strebel Head to Lead Latin American Unit

Mar 1 2006 // Swiss Re announced the appointment of Beat Strebel to head its Latin American unit.Strebel, who is based in Armonk, New York, is responsible for all of Swiss Re’s Property & Casualty and Life & Health...

Swiss Re <em>sigma</em> Report Notes $83B Insured 2005 Cat Losses

Feb 28 2006 // Swiss Re’s latest sigma report examines the natural catastrophes and man-made disasters of 2005. Among other findings it notes that “more than 97 000 people lost their lives” as a result of one of the...

Swiss Re Shareholders Approve Capital Increase for GE Deal

Feb 28 2006 // Swiss Re announced that its shareholders have approved the creation of additional equity capital related to the financing of the GE Insurance Solutions acquisition at an Extraordinary General Meeting, held yesterday, Feb....

S&P Keeps Swiss Re on CreditWatch as GE Deal Nears Closing

Feb 21 2006 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that it would keep both GE Insurance Solutions (GEIS) and Swiss Re on its CreditWatch list, as they continue to work on their agreement to sell GE’s insurance...

Swiss Re Upbeat after January Treaty Renewals; $7.1 Billion in Premium

Feb 14 2006 // Swiss Re appeared very upbeat after the completion of its January reinsurance treaty renewals. The Zurich-based reinsurer noted a “7 percent improvement in economic profit” and premium growth to CHF 9.3 billion...

Swiss Re Finalizes FPK Sale

Feb 13 2006 // Swiss Re announced that it has reached an agreement to sell its wholly-owned subsidiary, investment bank Fox-Pitt, Kelton (FPK), to a new company formed by J.C. Flowers & Co. LLC as well as FPK management.Swiss Re...

Swiss Re Completes $309 Million Credit Risk Transfer

Jan 23 2006 // Swiss Re announced that it has completed a its first credit reinsurance securitization – a €252 million ($309 million) issue transferring credit insurance risk to the capital markets, “thereby increasing...

Swiss Re Plans GE Job Cuts

Jan 20 2006 // While Swiss Re and General Electric are working to close the sale of GE Insurance Solutions, it seems that less GE employees will be working at all when the deal is completed. Swiss Re indicated on Wednesday, Jan. 18, that...

S&P Sees European Securitizations Gaining Acceptance

Jan 19 2006 // Standard & Poor’s newly issued report on Corporate Securitizations notes that these types of transactions are gaining increasing acceptance as a capital management tool by European insurers, with Swiss Re and...

Swiss Re Revisits the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire

Jan 18 2006 // Swiss Re has released “A shake in insurance history — The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake,” to mark the centennial of the catastrophe.The reinsurer notes that it was “an event that altered the course...

S&P, Swiss Re Predict More Securitization, M&A’s in Life Market

Jan 9 2006 // It’s hard to get anything close to a consensus from financial analysts, but one forecast seems to be gaining almost universal credibility. The life sector is set for further consolidation in 2006. This appears to be...

Estimates in Swiss Re <em>sigma</em> Study Confirm 2005 as Costliest Ever

Dec 21 2005 // Ever since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, 2005 looked certain to be a record-breaking year for insured losses. Swiss Re’s newly issued sigma report has now confirmed the sad fact.According to preliminary...

Swiss Re Reviews 2005, Takes Look Ahead at Upcoming Industry Year

Dec 14 2005 // Andreas Beerli, CEO of Swiss Re’s Property & Casualty business in the Americas, recently hosted the company’s annual year-end economic and insurance industry review and outlook and led the discussion about...

Swiss Re to Acquire GE Insurance Solutions for $6.8 Billion

Dec 4 2005 // In retrospect, the name GE Insurance Solutions (principal operating company Employers Re or ERC)-seems prophetic. Almost from the day that Jeffrey Immelt took over the reins at GE from its long-time CEO Jack Welch he began...

General Electric Exits Insurance; Sells Insurance Solutions, Employers Re to Swiss Re

Nov 18 2005 // General Electric has agreed to sell most of its Insurance Solutions business, including Employers Reinsurance Corp., to Swiss Re for $6.8 billion. It will retain some life insurance business.The transaction is subject to...

Fitch: Swiss Re on Watch for GE Buy

Nov 18 2005 // Fitch Ratings, the international rating agency, has placed Swiss Reinsurance Company on Rating Watch Negative and GE Insurance Solutions Corp. on Rating Watch Positive (see list of ratings below).The rating action follows...

Swiss Re Estimates Rita/Wilma Claims at App. $750 Million

Nov 4 2005 // Swiss Re announced that based on current estimates, it expects its aggregate claims for hurricanes Rita and Wilma to be approximately $750 million.CEO John Coomber commented: “This year’s hurricane season...

Swiss Re is Founding Partner in Red Cross Support Group

Oct 10 2005 // Swiss Re announced that it has joined seven other companies, including Zurich Financial Services, as a founding member of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Corporate Support Group, which will support the...

Grupo Catalana Acquires 7% Stake in Atradius from Swiss Re

Sep 20 2005 // Spanish insurer Grupo Catalana Occidente announced that it has acquired 3,969,466 shares in global credit insurer Atradius – an additional 7.01 percent stake – from Swiss Re, Atradius’ largest...

International Newsbriefs

Sep 19 2005 // European Insurers Estimate Katrina Losses: A disaster the scope of Hurricane Katrina hits everybody, not just U.S. carriers. The following are some of the preliminary estimates of anticipated losses from a number of...