Swiss Re

:"For the Swiss Re Tower, London, see: 30 St Mary Axe"Infobox Company
company_name = Swiss Re
company_
company_type = Aktiengesellschaft
foundation = December 19, 1863
location=Zurich, Switzerland
key_people =
industry = Reinsurance
products =
revenue = 40,266,000,000 CHF (2006)
operating_income =
net_income = 4,560,000,000 CHF (2006)
num_employees = 10,891 (2006)
homepage = http://www.swissre.com/

Swiss Re (SWX|CH0012332372CHF1|RUKN) is the world’s largest reinsurer, now that it has acquired GE Insurance Solutions ref_harvard|Ligi1|Ligi 2006|none. Founded in 1863, Swiss Re now operates in more than 30 countries. General Electric owns 8.9% of the firm.

History

Swiss Re was founded December 19, 1863 by the Helvetia General Insurance Company (now using the trade name of "Helvetia" insurance) in St. Gallen, the Schweizerische Kreditanstalt (Credit Suisse) in Zurich and the Basler Handelsbank (predecessor of "UBS AG") bank in Basel.

Corporate Headquarters

Swiss Re is headquartered in Zurich where the parent company’s main premises has stood on the shores of Lake Zurich since 1864.

London Headquarters

Its new London headquarters are located in the award-winning 30 St Mary Axe tower, which opened on May 25, 2004. 30 St Mary Axe is London's first environmentally sustainable tall building. Among the building's most distinctive features are its windows, which open to allow natural ventilation to supplement the mechanical systems for a good part of the year.

The landmark London skyscraper, designed by architect Norman Foster and popularly known as 'the gherkin’, was confirmed sold on February 5, 2007 for over £600 million (US$1.18 billion) to a group formed of IVG Immobilien AG of Germany and Evans Randall of Mayfair ref_harvard|FT|Financial Times 2007|none.

Americas Headquarters

The Americas headquarters of Swiss Re are located in Armonk, New York on a 127-acre (52 hectares) site overlooking Westchester County’s Kensico Reservoir. The facility, which houses more than 1,000 employees from the company’s Life & Health and Property & Casualty business units, was completed in 1999 and expanded in 2004.

Swiss Re also has offices in Atlanta, Avon, Boston, Calabasas, Chicago, Dallas, Fort Wayne, Hartford, Kansas City, Manchester, New York City, San Francisco, and Schaumburg, Illinois,

Subsidiaries

Broker dealer Swiss Re Capital Markets (SRCM), is a broker-dealer and leading underwriter and developer in the insurance-linked securities market. Since 1997 SRCM has underwritten over USD 15 billion of ILS including Insurance-Linked Bonds (ILBs) also known as Catastrophe Bonds (Cat Bonds) for third-party clients and its parent, Swiss Re.

Swiss Re Capital Markets has developed new security types such as earthquake bonds. Swiss Re Capital Markets also developed the parametric index trigger, the ILS shelf program, the first ILS synthetic CDO, and the first extreme mortality bond (linked to life risk)

Social Responsibility

Greenhouse Neutrality

Until 2011, Swiss Re supports its employees by refunding them up to 5000 Swiss Francs if they invest into technologies reducing CO₂ emissions. Payments depend on the technology, its efficiency and the price of the investment. Examples of such technologies comprise hybrid cars, heat pumps, energy-saving fridges, or better insulated windows ref_harvard|SRCarb|Swiss Re 2007|none.

References

Works cited

*note_label|FT|Financial Times 2007|nonecite web
url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/e6bb9114-b50c-11db-a5a5-0000779e2340.html
title=Swiss Re confirms £600m Gherkin sale
accessdate=2007-02-07
date=February 5, 2007
publisher=Financial Times
archiveurl=
archivedate=
quote=Swiss Re confirmed on Monday that it had sold the distinctive Gherkin building in the City of London for £600m to a joint venture between German property group IVG Immobilien AG and Evans Randall, the Mayfair based private investment group.
*note_label|SRCarb|Swiss Re 2007|nonecite press release
url=http://www.swissre.com/pws/media%20centre/news/news%20releases%202007/swiss%20re%20offers%20chf%205%20000%20rebate%20to%20each%20employee%20committing%20to%20reduce%20her%20or%20his%20personal%20carbon%20footprint.html
title=Swiss Re offers CHF 5 000 rebate to each employee committing to reduce her or his personal carbon footprint
date=January 4, 2007
publisher=Swiss Re
*note_label|Ligi1|Ligi 2006|nonecite web
url=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=71000001&refer=germany&sid=ataIbxBYbJI8
title=Swiss Re Completes $7.4 Billion GE Insurance Purchase (Update2)
accessdate=2006-06-27
last=Ligi
first=Antonio
date=June 12, 2006
publisher=Bloomberg.com

Bibliography

*cite web
url=http://www.swissre.com
title=Swiss Re
accessdate=2006-06-27
year=2006
publisher=Swiss Re