In addition to the Corporate Governance principles, Hannover Rück SE has adopted a more extensive Code of Conduct
(www.hannover-re.com/resources/cc/generic/codeofconduct-e.pdf). Complementing our corporate strategy and the Corporate Governance principles, it establishes rules governing integrity in the behaviour of all employees of Hannover Rück SE and is intended to help members of staff cope with the ethical and legal challenges that they face as part of day-to-day work. The rules defined in the Code of Conduct reflect the high ethical and legal standards that guide our actions worldwide. It is our belief that integrity in dealings with our stakeholders constitutes the foundation of a successful enterprise. In both our strategic planning and our day-to-day business activities, we therefore aspire to consistently apply the highest ethical and legal standards; for our actions and the way in which every single one of us presents and conducts himself or herself are crucial in shaping the image of Hannover Rück SE.

Sustainability of enterprise management

Considerable time was once again devoted to the issue of sustainability. The strategic orientation of Hannover Rück SE towards sustainability constitutes an increasingly important element of the enterprise strategy. The aim here is to achieve commercial success on the basis of a solid business model in accordance with the needs of our staff and the company as well as with an eye to protecting the environment and conserving natural resources. We strive to reduce as far as possible the greenhouse gas emissions produced by our day-to-day business activities in order to come closer to reaching our goal of carbon neutrality. In so doing, we are demonstrably taking responsibility for a sustainable future. In 2011 we defined for the first time a concrete Sustainability Strategy setting out our primary objectives in this field. Not only that, in the year under review we again presented our Sustainability Report in the form of a so-called “GRI Report” (Global Reporting Initiative). Further information on the topic of sustainability is provided on our website (www.hannover-re.com/sustainability/index.html).

The goal defined in the Rules of Procedure to have at least two women sitting on the Supervisory Board was again surpassed in the year under review with three female members of the Supervisory Board. In addition, one of the members of the Supervisory Board’s Nomination Committee is a woman. Once again, the Executive Board and Supervisory Board considered the programme for the advancement of women that had been implemented within the workforce in 2012 and discussed the progress that had been made. The primary objective of this programme is to foster promising young female professionals through a variety of targeted measures and to enlarge the proportion of women in management positions.