Swiss Re reports a net income of USD 2.2 billion for the first nine months of 2024

Swiss Re reported a net income of USD 2.2 billion and a return on equity (ROE) of 13.4% for the first nine months of the year. The result was driven by resilient underwriting and investment contributions from all Business Units, partly offset by the strengthening of reserves related to P&C Re’s US liability business in the third quarter.

Swiss Re’s Group Chief Executive Officer Andreas Berger said: “Enhancing the overall resilience of the Group has been a key priority for the management team. With the decisive actions in the third quarter, which follow a comprehensive review, we have reached our goal of positioning overall property and casualty reserves at the higher end of the best-estimate range[iii].”

Swiss Re’s Group Chief Financial Officer John Dacey said: “All our Business Units continue to deliver attractive underlying performance thanks to disciplined underwriting and capital allocation. This is further supported by a significant positive contribution from investment income.”

Swiss Re Group result continues to benefit from disciplined underwriting and recurring investment income
Swiss Re reported a net income of USD 2.2 billion and an ROE of 13.4% for the first nine months of 2024. For the third quarter, the Group reported a net income of USD 102 million. Outside the US liability reserving actions, the main drivers for this result were disciplined underwriting, helping the business to successfully navigate a third quarter with increased natural catastrophe activity, and recurring investment income.

Insurance revenue[iv] for the Group amounted to USD 33.7 billion. The insurance service result[v], which reflects profitability of the underwriting activity, was USD 2.9 billion.

The Group achieved a return on investments (ROI) of 3.9% in the first nine months of 2024, driven by a continued strong contribution from recurring income. The recurring income yield for the period was 4.0% and the reinvestment yield for the third quarter was 4.6%.

Swiss Re maintains a strong capital position with a Group Swiss Solvency Test (SST) ratio of 284% as of 1 July 2024. The Group SST ratio reflects methodology updates, which reduce the reported ratio, while significantly lowering the sensitivity to future interest rate movements.

P&C Re delivers strong underlying underwriting performance

P&C Re reported a net income of USD 603 million for the first nine months of 2024, as the strong current year underwriting performance more than offset the decisive strengthening of prior year US liability reserves in the third quarter. The insurance revenue for the first nine months of 2024 was USD 15.0 billion.

P&C Re added USD 2.4 billion[vi] to its prior year US liability reserves in the third quarter, bringing the total reserve additions to USD 3.1 billion for the first nine months of 2024. The additions were partly offset by releases in other lines of business, resulting in a net prior year reserve strengthening of USD 2.0 billion in the third quarter of 2024. The reserve strengthening has accelerated the achievement of the Group’s goal to position overall P&C reserves at the higher end of the best-estimate range. The recent introduction of an uncertainty allowance on new business will continue to support the strength of the reserves going forward.

Large natural catastrophe claims amounted to USD 813 million in the first nine months of 2024, with USD 743 million attributed to the third quarter. This mainly related to the severe hailstorm which affected Calgary, Canada; Storm Boris in Europe and hurricanes Debby and Helene.

P&C Re achieved an insurance service result of USD 1.0 billion and a combined ratio of 92.8%. The net impact of reserve strengthening in the third quarter accounted for 13.3 percentage points of the nine-month combined ratio; as a result P&C Re is now expected to miss its combined ratio target of less than 87% for 2024.

L&H Re’s result driven by large in-force book
L&H Re reported a net income of USD 1.2 billion in the first nine months of 2024. The result reflects strong investment income alongside healthy in-force margins. US mortality experience remained slightly favourable relative to expectations for the first nine months of 2024, offset by unfavourable developments mainly in EMEA.

L&H Re achieved an insurance revenue of USD 12.6 billion and an insurance service result of USD 1.2 billion.

Following a successful first nine months of 2024, L&H Re continues to target a net income of approximately USD 1.5 billion for the full year.

Corporate Solutions maintains strong business performance
Corporate Solutions reported a net income of USD 642 million for the first nine months of 2024. The continued strong result reflects a robust underlying business performance throughout the first nine months of the year, supported by solid investment income.

Insurance revenue for the first nine months of 2024 was USD 5.8 billion. Stringent portfolio steering and disciplined underwriting resulted in strong in-force and new business margins, complemented by low man-made loss experience. Large natural catastrophe losses of USD 294 million were mainly driven by Tropical Cyclone Megan in Australia, Hurricane Helene in the US, and the Calgary hailstorm.

Corporate Solutions achieved an insurance service result of USD 739 million and a combined ratio of 89.4% for the first nine months of 2024. The Business Unit is well on track to achieve a combined ratio below 93% for the full year.

Withdrawal from iptiQ proceeding as planned
iptiQ reported a net loss of USD 241 million for the first nine months of 2024, including one-off impairments of goodwill and intangibles of (pre-tax) USD 111 million related to the withdrawal from the business announced in May 2024.

As announced on 5 November 2024, Allianz Direct will take over iptiQ’s European P&C business, including more than 100 employees currently working in Switzerland, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and Italy, and all distribution agreements. The transaction is expected to close in 2025, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.

Outlook

As disclosed on 7 November 2024, Swiss Re expects to achieve a Group net income of more than USD 3 billion for 2024, assuming normal loss activity for the remainder of the year.

Swiss Re currently expects its losses resulting from Hurricane Milton to be less than USD 300 million, which will impact Group results in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Swiss Re’s Group Chief Executive Officer Andreas Berger said: “The significant strengthening of reserves in the third quarter creates a resilient base for success in the coming years. The Group’s capital position remains strong, putting us in a favourable position for the upcoming renewals. We expect to update the market with new targets for 2025 next month.”

Details of 9M 2024 performance

[i] P&C Re combined ratio is defined as [–Insurance service expense (net) / Insurance revenue (net)].

[ii] Corporate Solutions combined ratio is defined as [–(Insurance service expense (gross) + Reinsurance result + Non-directly attributable expenses) / Insurance revenue (gross)].

[iii] Swiss Re defines its best-estimate range as the distribution of reasonable estimates within which the currently booked reserves are expected to fall. Following the reserving actions of the third quarter, the Group estimates overall P&C reserves to be positioned at the 90th percentile of the best-estimate range.

[iv] Insurance revenue (gross) reflects the expected discounted claims and expenses, release of risk capital costs, as well as release of expected profit for the services provided in a period.

[v] Insurance service result reflects the discounted underwriting profit earned from providing insurance coverage in a given period, and comprises insurance revenue (gross) less insurance service expenses (gross) plus reinsurance result.

[vi] Represents a nominal (undiscounted) amount.