Swiss Life

Swiss Life Holding AG
Formerly
 Rentenanstalt
Aktiengesellschaft
Traded as SIX: SLHN
Industry Financial services
Founded 1857 (1857)
Founder Conrad Widmer
Headquarters Zurich, Switzerland
Area served
 Mostly Europe
Key people
 Patrick Frost (CEO), Rolf Dörig (Chairman)
Products Life insurance, Risk, Pensions and financial solutions, Asset management,
Health insurance (France only)
Revenue IncreaseCHF 18.565 bn (2017)[1]
IncreaseCHF 1.5 bn (2017)[1]
IncreaseCHF 1.0 bn (2017)[1]
AUM IncreaseCHF 224 bn (2017)[1]
Total equity IncreaseCHF 15.6 bn (2017)[1]
Number of employees
 8,000 (FTE, 2017)[1]
Divisions
  • Swiss Life Switzerland
  • Swiss Life France
  • Swiss Life Germany
  • Swiss Life International
  • Swiss Life Asset Managers
Subsidiaries
Website https://www.swisslife.com

The Swiss Life Group is the largest life insurance company of Switzerland and one of Europe’s leading comprehensive life and pensions and financial solutions providers, with approximately CHF 224 bn of assets under management.[1] Founded in 1867 in Zurich as the Schweizerische Lebensversicherungs und Rentenanstalt cooperative, the company entered the Swiss stock market in 1997 and adopted its current name in 2002. In 2017 the group declared a premium income of CHF 18.6 bn, a 6% increase over the previous year. Net profit increased by 9% to CHF 1013 million.[1] Swiss Life is one of the twenty companies listed under the Swiss Market Index, as SLHN.[2]

History

Foundation and growth

Conrad Widmer established the Schweizerische Rentenanstalt in 1857 as the first life insurance company in Switzerland,[3] backed by guarantees from Schweizerische Kreditanstalt.[4] Prominent Zurich politician Alfred Escher was integrally involved in the development of the cooperative, whose goal was to provide Swiss families with a sufficiently solid foundation by providing insurance against the uncertainties of life: the company's Board included representatives of most Swiss Cantons.[5] In 1866, Widmer obtains a license in Prussia,[6] and a year later, the annuity establishment had business operations in Hamburg and Bremen. Beginning in 1894, the establishment was one of the first insurance institutions to offer occupational insurance. Between 1866 and 1987, Rentenanstalt expanded to Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Spain, Luxembourg, and Italy. In 1988 it took over La Suisse insurance company in Lausanne.

The first registered office of Rentenanstalt was in the Tiefenhoefe buildings on the Paradeplatz in Zurich. Rapid expansion saw the offices moving in quick succession from the Gruene Schloss on Zwingliplatz, to the Chamhaus on the Untere Zäune and finally to the Alpenquai, where the new head office was opened in 1898. Although this building was spacious for its time, further expansion in the interwar period necessitated yet another move. During 1937–1939 a modern building designed by the Pfister firm of architects was constructed close to the old head office. It is this building, extended during 1961–1963 and later, that houses today’s company head office in Zurich.[7]

Going corporate

In 1997 under the management of Martin Lopez, Rentenanstalt changed from a cooperative into a publicly traded company,[8] with Rentenstalt/Swiss Life shares debuting on the Swiss Market Index in 1998. Swiss Life then advanced on an expansionary strategy acquiring Livit, Banca del Gottardo, the Lloyd Continental and UTO Albis in 1999, Schweizerische Treuhandgesellschaft in 2000, a takeover of the real estate properties of Oscar Weber Holding AG in 2001. In 2002, this quick pace of acquisitions ceased as the company looked to restructuring itself and going back to its core business.[4]

Acquisitions and divestments

In 2002, the company changed its name to Swiss Life for all its operations except in the Netherlands, where it remained under the old name Zwitser Leven (later sold off in 2007 to SNS Reaal together with the Belgium business[9][10]). In 2004, it sold its British operations to Resolution Life Group.[11] In November 2007, Swiss Life sold off Banca del Gottardo for 1.775 billion CHF.[12] On 3 December 2007, Swiss Life announced that it had launched a takeover bid of AWD Holding and, on 13 March 2008, had successfully acquired a total of 86.2% of AWD.,[13] which then becomes Swiss Life Select in 2013. The acquisition of Corpus Sireo, a German real estate asset management service provider, is completed in the summer of 2014,[14] and that of Mayfair Capital, a UK real estate investment management firm, in 2016.[2]

Corporate structure

The Swiss Life Group reports by country. Besides the three core markets Switzerland, France and Germany, the Group separately discloses its cross-border segments International and Asset Managers.[15]

Switzerland

Swiss Life Switzerland is a comprehensive life and pensions and financial solutions provider with the brands Swiss Life and Swiss Life Select, and is one of the leading providers with over one million insured persons.[16]

France

Swiss Life France specialises in personal insurance but also provides, through its Swiss Life Banque Privée subsidiary, asset management and insurance solutions combined with private banking for high net worth individuals.

Germany

The German branch of Swiss Life, founded in 1866, is based in Munich and offers private and corporate clients services in pensions saving and financial security. Core competencies are occupational disability insurance and occupational pensions. Swiss Life's financial distribution subsidiaries (Swiss Life Select, HORBACH, Tecis and Proventus) are headquartered in Hannover.

International

With locations in Switzerland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein and Singapore, Swiss Life International offers Private placement life insurance solutions for high-net-worth individuals in Europe and Asia, and acts as employee benefit providers for large corporate clients. The financial advisors from Swiss Life Select Austria, Czech Republic, Poland and Chase de Vere in the UK also operate under the Swiss Life International umbrella.

Asset Managers

Swiss Life Asset Managers offers institutional and private investors access to investment and asset management solutions. In Switzerland, it is one of the largest institutional asset managers and the third largest fund provider in the country.[17] In Germany, Swiss Life Asset Managers significantly strengthened its position in the market with the acquisition of the real estate asset management service provider Corpus Sireo in 2014.[14] The real estate management company Livit AG is also a subsidiary of the Swiss Life Asset Management entity, along with London-based Mayfair Capital Investment which was acquired in 2016.[2]

Corporate governance

Board of directors

The Board of Directors is responsible for the general direction of the Group and the supervision of the Corporate Executive Board. The Board is elected for one-year terms and is composed as follows:[18]

Board composition
Position Name Year appointed
Chairman Rolf Dörig 2002
Vice-chairman Frank Schnewlin 2009
Member Adrienne Corboud Fumagalli 2014
Member Ueli Dietiker 2013
Member Damir Filipovic 2011
Member Frank W. Keuper 2013
Member Stefan Loacker 2017
Member Henry Peter 2006
Member Martin Schmid 2018
Member Franziska Tschudi Sauber 2003
Member Klaus Tschütscher 2013

Corporate executive board

The group CEO directs the business operations of the group and works out the long-term objectives and strategic orientation of the group, together with the corporate executive board.[19]

  • Group CEO: Patrick Frost
  • Group CFO: Thomas Buess
  • Group CIO: Stefan Mächler
  • CEO Switzerland: Markus Leibundgut
  • CEO France: Charles Relecom
  • CEO Germany: Jörg Arnold
  • CEO International: Nils Frowein

Financials

According to Swiss law, shareholders are obliged to disclose information regarding their shareholdings in Swiss-based companies when these amount to or exceed 3%.[20] Shareholders currently holding registered shares (purchasing positions included) of Swiss Life Holding Ltd., are BlackRock Inc. (over 5%), and UBS Fund Management (Switzerland) AG (over 3%).[21]

CSR and sponsorship

The “Perspectives Foundation” of Swiss Life, established in 2005, promotes charitable initiatives in the Swiss home market in the areas of health, science, education, culture and sport, donating between CHF 1.3 and 1.5 million every year to social and charitable projects.[22][23]

Swiss Life also jointly founded the Swiss Climate Foundation with eleven other companies in 2008. All partners donate their net gains from redistributed CO2 levies to the foundation, which in turns supports projects helping small and medium-sized enterprises to reach voluntary target agreement with the Energy Agency of the Swiss Private Sector (EnAW), develop operational energy savings and climate protection solutions.

In March 2016, the Swiss Life Group presented its first Corporate Responsibility Report[24][25] in accordance with the guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), as an integral part of the Annual Report 2015. The Corporate Responsibility Report focuses on business activities, society, employees and the environment and is guided by the principle of materiality. The report is published annually.

Swiss Life has been involved as a sponsor for the Swiss national football team since 2004.[26]

In the field of culture, Swiss Life supports, among others, the Zurich Film Festival (ZFF)[27], the Lucerne Festival, the Zurich Opera House, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich and the Davos Festival[28].

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Annual Report 2017".
  2. 1 2 3 "Swiss Life Asset Managers to acquire Mayfair Capital". Property Funds World. 2016-10-10. Retrieved 2016-12-05.
  3. ↑ Christian Baertschi (29 October 2013). "Widmer, Johann Conrad". Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
  4. 1 2 Bernard Degen (23 December 2011). "Rentenanstalt". Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
  5. ↑ Chronik der Stadt und des Bezirkes Zürich, Zürich 1964, S. 624f
  6. ↑ 150 years of Swiss Life (PDF). Swiss Life. 2012.
  7. ↑ Chronik der Stadt und des Bezirkes Zürich, Zürich 1964, S. 624f.
  8. ↑ "Die Rentenanstalt geht gestärkt ihren Weg" (in German). 28 April 2001.
  9. ↑ NRC Handelsblad, SNS Reaal koopt Zwitserleven, 19 November 2007 klik hier voor artikel, geraadpleegd op 9 November 2012
  10. ↑ "SNS Reaal koopt Zwitserleven". vorige.nrc.nl. NRC Handelsblad. 19 November 2007. Retrieved 2016-12-14.
  11. ↑ Goellner, Philipp (9 December 2004). "Swiss Life to Sell U.K. Unit for 205 Million Pounds". Bloomberg. Retrieved 1 March 2009.
  12. ↑ "Medienmitteilung von Swiss Life zum Verkauf der Banca del Gottardo". Archived from the original on 8 November 2007.
  13. ↑ "Swiss Life hält 86,2% an AWD". 19 March 2008. Archived from the original on 11 June 2008.
  14. 1 2 "Swiss Life boucle le rachat de l'allemand Corpus Sireo". 24 heures (in French). 1 October 2014.
  15. ↑ "Annual Report 2017 > Segment reporting". Swiss Life.
  16. ↑ "Case study". Branders. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  17. ↑ "Swiss asset manager tables 2017". IPE reference hub. Retrieved 2018-07-12.
  18. ↑ "Board of Directors". Swiss Life.
  19. ↑ "Corporate executive board". Swiss Life.
  20. ↑ Federal Act on Stock Exchanges and Securities Trading (PDF). Federal Assembly of the Swiss Confederation. p. 8.
  21. ↑ "Major shareholders". Swiss Life. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  22. ↑ "Swiss Life - Annual Report 2017 - Responsibility in society". Retrieved 2018-07-12.
  23. ↑ "Swiss Life > Gemeinnütziges Engagement > Stiftung Perspektiven". Swiss Life. Retrieved 2018-07-12.
  24. ↑ "Swiss Life Holding - Corporate Responsibility Report 2015". Sustainability Disclosure Database. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  25. ↑ "Corporate Responsibility". Swiss Life. 2016. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  26. ↑ "Swiss Life > Sponsoring > Fussball". swisslife.ch (in German). Retrieved 2018-07-12.
  27. ↑ "Swiss Life > Sponsoring > Film". swisslife.ch (in German). Retrieved 2018-07-12.
  28. ↑ "Swiss Life > Sponsoring > Klassische Musik". swisslife.ch (in German). Retrieved 2018-07-12.

Coordinates: 47°21′46″N 8°32′03″E / 47.36278°N 8.53417°E / 47.36278; 8.53417

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