Swiss Re Sets Up Task Force to Monitor Tariff Impact

Swiss Re AG has set up a task force to see how the tariffs installed by the United States against Switzerland and other countries is impacting the Zurich-based reinsurer.

Chief Executive Officer Andreas Berger said he doesn’t see the tariffs directly affecting the reinsurance industry, but the task force aims to find out how there are indirect impacts from the levies.

“For instance, are the costs for losses going up because repairs are being more expensive in the future et cetera- these things we monitor very closely,” Berger said in a Bloomberg TV interview on Thursday. “What we do is apply strategic patience,” he said.

Swiss Re reported half-year results on Thursday beating expectations of analysts. The reinsurer’s property and casualty division helped to boost the results.

Photograph: A logo sits on a sign outside Swiss Re AG’s headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland, on Tuesday, March 18, 2014. Photo credit: Philipp Schmidli/Bloomberg