Technical risks in life and health reinsurance

All risks directly connected with the life of an insured person are referred to as biometric risks (especially the miscalculation of mortality, life expectancy, morbidity and occupational disability); they constitute material risks for our company in the area of life and health reinsurance. Our goal is to find a balance between biometric risks. Counterparty, lapse and catastrophe risks are also material since we additionally prefinance our cedants’ new business acquisition costs. The reserves are determined on the basis of secure biometric actuarial bases in light of the information provided by our clients. The biometric actuarial bases used and the lapse assumptions are continuously reviewed with an eye to their adequacy and if necessary adjusted. This is done using the company’s own empirical data as well as market-specific insights.

Our current risk profile in life and health reinsurance is dominated by mortality risks. This is due to the fact that for the majority of our insurance contract we pay death benefits rather than survival benefits. The volume of our annuity portfolio has continued to grow, as a consequence of which the longevity risk is now our second-largest risk within the life and health reinsurance business group. We calculate the diversification effect between mortality and longevity risks prudently in view of the fact that the contracts are normally taken out for different regions, age groups and individuals.

Diversification is a central management tool for our company. We seek to spread risks as far as possible across different risk classes and different regions. In our pricing of reinsurance treaties we provide incentives to further increase diversification.

Through our quality assurance measures we ensure that the reserves established by ceding companies in accordance with local accounting principles satisfy all requirements with respect to the calculation methods used and assumptions made (e.g. use of morbidity and morbidity tables, assumptions regarding the lapse rate). New business is written in all regions in compliance with underwriting guidelines applicable worldwide, which set out detailed rules governing the type, quality, level and origin of risks. These global guidelines are revised annually and approved by the Executive Board. Special underwriting guidelines give due consideration to the particular features of individual markets.

By monitoring compliance with these underwriting guidelines we minimise the risk of an inability to pay or of deterioration in the financial status of cedants. Regular reviews and holistic analyses (e.g. with an eye to lapse risks) are carried out with respect to new business activities and the assumption of international portfolios. The interest rate risk, which in the primary sector is important in life business owing to the guarantees that are given, is of only minimal relevance to our company thanks to the structure of our contracts. The actuarial reports and documentation required by local regulators ensure that regular scrutiny also takes place on the level of the subsidiaries.

We have confidence in the entrepreneurial abilities of our underwriters and grant them the most extensive possible powers. In our decentralised organisation we manage risks where they arise using a consistent approach in order to obtain an overall view of the risks in life and health reinsurance. Our global underwriting guidelines provide underwriters with an appropriate framework for this purpose.

Another major element of risk management in life and health reinsurance is the Market Consistent Embedded Value (MCEV). The Market Consistent Embedded Value (MCEV) is a ratio used for the valuation of life insurance and reinsurance business; it is calculated as the present value of the future shareholders’ earnings from the worldwide life and health reinsurance portfolio plus the allocated capital. The calculation makes allowance as far as possible for all risks included in this business. The MCEV is established on the basis of the principles of the CFO Forum published in October 2009 (the CFO Forum is an international organisation of Chief Financial Officers from major insurance and reinsurance enterprises).

For detailed information please see the MCEV report 2012 published on our website. The MCEV report for the 2013 financial year will be published on our website close to publication of this report.