We write retakaful business – that is to say, insurance transacted in accordance with Islamic law – in both Southeast Asia and on the Arabian Peninsula.
We maintain a dedicated subsidiary for this business in Bahrain (Hannover ReTakaful) as well as a branch that bears responsibility for writing traditional reinsurance in the Arab world. Political uncertainties in Arab countries and the slowdown in economic development were reflected in a lower gross national product in the year under review. This had a dampening effect on the (re)insurance industry. New market players further exacerbated the competition, prompting rates in primary business to fall. With this in mind, a prudent selective underwriting policy was called for across all business segments. The largest single market for our company is Saudi Arabia.

Our goal was to continue to generate profitable growth and to strengthen our position as market leader. Particularly in the construction sector and in the casualty lines we were able to expand our business, above all in Saudi Arabia. The fact that we succeeded in growing in the year under review despite an oversupply of reinsurance capacity can be attributed first and foremost to our excellent financial standing and our very good client relationships.

The largest single loss event in 2011 was flooding in the region around Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, which resulted in an estimated strain of less than EUR 5 million for our account; we also recorded a number of fire losses. The loss ratio consequently moved slightly higher.

In recognition of its market leadership Hannover ReTakaful was awarded the title of “Best International Retakaful Operator of the Year” in the year under review, the second year in succession that it has received this distinction. Mahomed Akoob, Managing Director of the company, was awarded the prize of “Retakaful Leader of the Year” for his achievements in the development of the international takaful and retakaful markets.