For Hannover Re, the focus on our customers has always been central. That will remain the case. Even in my role as CFO, I always understood my responsibilities very holistically. That may be because I personally grew up with my family in an insurance agency, trained as an insurance salesman, and during my work at a large auditing firm managed mandates from the primary and reinsurance sectors for more than 20 years, thus experiencing the insurance industry and Hannover Re from this perspective as a whole.

Since April this year, Clemens Jungsthöfel has been leading Hannover Re, and has simultaneously been serving on the Talanx Group Executive Board. He took over from Swiss national Jean-Jacques Henchoz, who announced his departure as CEO of the world’s third-largest reinsurer last autumn. Jungsthöfel, 54, who has been Hannover Re’s CFO since 2020, was Henchoz’s officially designated successor.

Before that, Jungsthöfel was part of the executive board at HDI Global, an industrial insurer within the Talanx Group. Up until 2018, the Emsland native spent two decades handling mandates in primary insurance and reinsurance at KPMG. Prior to studying economics and qualifying as a tax consultant and auditor, he completed an apprenticeship as an insurance clerk at his family’s agency.

Looking at the period since Hannover Re’s IPO at the end of November 1994, the stock price trend since 2019 fits well into a long-term very positive value development. The price trend reflects the hard work we as a team have done over recent years. What matters is the comprehensive view of the value chain and the focus on customers. We are also in constant dialogue with our investors. We pay close attention to how the capital market views Hannover Re. Personally, I really enjoy contact with customers, as well as with investors and analysts. The entire management board maintains close relations with customers, investors, and not least our employees. If Hannover Re preserves the spirit of our „somewhat different“ approach and continues to grow profitably with our customer orientation, then we can be confident.

The culture we cultivate here makes the difference. Approachability, pragmatism, quick decisions, and a focus on profitability.

Indeed, Hannover Re has grown significantly and is a much larger company than in 2002 or 2019, when Jean-Jacques Henchoz became CEO. However, the culture from 2002, when I first got to know Hannover Re, I rediscovered in 2020 when I started as CFO, even though the company was bigger and different. Of course, there are growing pains. But focusing solely on reinsurance, a lean business model, and the aspiration to be pragmatic and straightforward have always been part of Hannover Re’s DNA. It is important to me to preserve these qualities.

We have not added new hierarchical levels in this period. We strive to remain lean. Naturally, the operating model must be robust. That’s why it’s a constant challenge to find the right balance amid strong growth. Our focus solely on reinsurance helps us. Preventing unnecessary bureaucracy is reflexive in our organization. In my view, this trait is hard to replicate, but it can be easily lost if one is not careful. The commitment to maintain approachability, pragmatism, and short decision paths is a mantra I carry – not only since taking over as CEO on April 1.

When discussions involve topics like risk appetite, for example, we strive to work closely with our customers and make quick decisions. Flat hierarchies in the company help us immensely. Feedback from customers and brokers worldwide shows that our underwriters’ decision-making authority is appreciated. Pragmatism in business is recognised as a competitive advantage that we want to defend.

We have very strong in-house expertise built up over decades. Hannover Re is very well positioned in risk management and risk assessment. These are part of our DNA. It helps that our business model focuses solely on reinsurance. I do not see our capabilities diminishing or our competitive position weakening.

AI will also play a role in reinsurance. We continually examine where we can become more efficient, but AI is increasingly relevant in risk selection and the analysis and evaluation of customer data. Given our sometimes very large data sets, we will use AI. We have formed an AI team and are exploring use cases. AI can be an additional tool in underwriting for better decisions but, in my view, will not replace the „human factor“. The experience of underwriters and long-term, trust-based customer relationships built over many years cannot be replaced or created by AI.

Certain job areas will change in our company, as has happened before with automation efforts. Generally, we will tend to deploy staff in areas where experience and decision-making are necessary – like risk assessment or underwriting. AI will help improve efficiency in some areas, but we are currently a growing company with around 3,900 employees. I am confident our workforce will continue to grow to support this growth.

We pay close attention to remaining lean as a company. The combined loss ratio for casualty reinsurance worsened in Q1 to 93.9% from 88% the prior year, mainly due to high losses from the wildfires near Los Angeles. But a single quarter is not a good benchmark to assess the profitability of a fiscal year.

Looking at profitability over the long term, our combined loss ratio moves at a relatively stable and good level compared to competitors. We have grown strongly in recent years, reflected in the increase of our large loss budget, which more than doubled from 875 million euros in 2019 to 1.825 billion euros in 2024. Crucially, the underlying profitability has increased significantly in nominal terms in recent years, and we consistently see strong earnings contributions from casualty reinsurance.

The trend toward more severe and frequent natural catastrophes due to climate change will continue in casualty reinsurance. Consequently, the large loss budgets in the industry and for us are rising. But this increase is reflected in contract renewals and prices. We still manage to control the stronger burden from natural catastrophes, partly through our diversification and our own retrocession reinsurance. Therefore, we are also satisfied with the general development of the combined loss ratio. Q1 2025 was an outlier. The large loss burden is still well within our annual budget.

We rely on information from our customers. After the war began in February 2022, we set up a claims reserve of 330 million euros. We used the good result from last year to further increase reserves related to leased aircraft and potential damages. We feel well prepared with our claims reserves.

No. In recent renewal rounds on January 1 and April 1, we saw slight price erosion. This is also a consequence of more capacity in the market. But this coincides with higher demand in many areas. Looking back 10 to 15 years, casualty reinsurance still operates in a very attractive market environment with appropriate rates across the entire book.

2024 was certainly a year with a strong pricing environment. We have to wait and see the results of upcoming renewal rounds. In regions with recent heavy losses like California, significant price increases are expected. What matters is price adequacy, which currently exists. Despite recent price erosion, like in Japan, we still see very good margins. The significant improvement in contract terms in 2023 and increased deductibles by our customers were pleasing and important for the reinsurance industry.

Exactly. That is appropriate because fundamental loss developments, macroeconomic, inflationary, and political trends must be addressed in pricing, both for primary insurers and their customers. During the soft market phase, too many frequency losses landed with reinsurers. To operate profitably and be available to customers long term, customer deductibles and other reinsurance conditions had to be adjusted. This correction was important for the primary and reinsurance system as a whole.

It’s important that the industry has long-term stability in deductibles and contract conditions. All parties understand that. We can live well with the improvements achieved in 2023.

It has become increasingly important in recent years to pay attention to trends – whether natural disasters, politics, the economy, inflation, or other areas. Trends must be reflected in pricing. That is why we maintain ongoing exchanges with customers to understand portfolios and risks and to determine the right price. This is a dynamic process.

We want to be part of the solution as reinsurers and are aware of our social responsibility as a stabilizing factor in the economy. We try to reduce the gap between real economic and insured damages together with our customers. We have the capacity to provide reinsurance protection. What matters is that prices are adequate. Only with adequate prices can we be a long-term partner to our customers. Prevention efforts are also important. The insurance and reinsurance industries together with public institutions and customers must find solutions that strengthen the resilience of insured objects. Large claims complexes show prevention is necessary and effective.

We very much welcome the fact that this issue is high on the agenda of the new federal government in Berlin. In general, we support the position of the German Insurance Association (GDV): mandatory insurance combined with the possibility for policyholders to explicitly opt out can work. At the same time, we must not forget the absolutely essential importance of prevention. Hannover Re is ready to step in as a reinsurer and can provide substantial additional capacity for natural hazard coverage – provided the pricing and terms reflect the underlying risks.

We are in the middle of our current three-year strategic cycle. The group strategy was jointly adopted by the Executive Board. By 2026, our goals are to remain an industry leader in terms of profitability and earnings growth, ensure sustainable economic value creation, and offer an attractive, steadily rising base dividend. We are well on track to achieve these targets because we are focused on our core business: reinsurance. We intend to remain committed to this focus and to our „somewhat different“ culture. Personally, I continue to see myself as part of a team – as I have in past years. Continuity will remain a hallmark of Hannover Re’s trajectory.

We will begin our planning for that this year. Regarding our business model and the „somewhat different“-approach, we will stay the course. We will look at areas where there are attractive growth opportunities. We can rely on a rock-solid balance sheet and a strong capital base. We are in an excellent position to pursue further growth.

In property and casualty reinsurance, I continue to see growth potential in markets where we’ve already built a strong position over recent years. Structured reinsurance will be a growth area, as will longevity and financial solutions within life and health reinsurance. If we want to keep growing after doubling our P&C reinsurance premium income over the past five years, we must increasingly ensure that we remain efficient and agile.

We’ve grown organically in P&C reinsurance in the past. As long as we can grow well and profitably under our own steam, we will continue along that path. That applies equally to life and health reinsurance.

Cost awareness and pragmatism are deeply rooted in Hannover Re’s culture. These are not topics that concern only the CFO in our company. As CEO, I will also prioritize preserving our culture. In the upcoming strategy period, an essential focus will be on how we can further support our clients. We’ve grown strongly alongside our clients in recent years because, for the reasons mentioned, they enjoy doing business with us. New opportunities will emerge. Depending on our market assessments, we may tap into new customer segments.

We don’t provide multi-year growth targets, only those for the upcoming financial year. In the past few years, our growth target in P&C reinsurance was 7–8%. I see no reason why we shouldn't continue to grow at a similar pace in the medium to long term. But I don’t want to be misunderstood: we are not aiming for premium growth at any cost. Our aim is to grow profitably.

I’m satisfied with our P&C reinsurance portfolio and its balance. We have a very diversified business mix, which we have worked hard to develop. Life and health reinsurance is also progressing well in terms of in-force business. We expect a strong technical result of more than 875 million euros in this segment in 2025. That’s a notable share of our total technical result. Our balance sheet also shows the underlying value in this segment – expected future profits based on the contractual net service margin currently amount to 6.4 billion euros. We will continue to grow here as well.

We’re comfortable with our regional setup. In P&C reinsurance, we have shifted more toward Europe in recent years due to more attractive pricing. In areas where we are successful, we aim to expand our regional footprint. For instance, this applies to the Financial Solutions segment in life and health reinsurance, as well as to the Longevity segment.

In Longevity, we’ve traditionally had a strong presence in the UK, but we’re keen to grow further in other parts of Europe, North America, and Australia. In Financial Solutions, we’re well positioned in the US and Asia, but also want to find opportunities in other regions. Of course, success also depends on the regulatory environment. But most importantly, we need to be close to our clients – and we are. Clients value our expertise, the speed of our decision-making, and our straightforward business relationships. We want – and need – to maintain this customer-centric culture.

We used last year’s strong business performance to bolster our reserves. That doesn’t mean we’re preparing for significantly weaker markets. But it’s always good to have strong reserves that can be deployed in the event of major losses or weaker phases. We’ve always said that we want to use strong market phases to enhance the resilience of our loss reserves. This resilience enables us to deliver more stable results over the long term.

In 2022, when large losses exceeded our budget, we still met our earnings guidance because we were able to draw on reserves. Investors appreciate that our return on equity is not only consistently attractive but also less volatile. Our strong capital base, which is well above the regulatory requirements, also gives us room for further growth. Capital will not be a limiting factor for growth – neither in P&C nor in life and health reinsurance.

That is not currently planned, as we already have a very strong reserve position. Our plan is to let the reserves grow in line with business expansion.

Right now, our annualized return on investment stands at 3.5%. That’s very encouraging. Investments remain a key part of Hannover Re’s business. Our main focus is on achieving stable investment income. Our portfolio is conservatively positioned, with a high proportion in fixed-income securities. We follow strict principles regarding allocation, mix, and diversification. We pay close attention to the duration of our liabilities and ensure we are well matched in terms of currency exposure. Our investment results reflect disciplined asset management.

That’s correct. Volatility in the capital markets resulted in fewer negative valuation effects than we had expected. Our broad diversification has proven to be a real asset in this regard.

A significant portion of our investments is denominated in US dollars. Again, what matters most is the matching of maturities and currencies, and we are strict about that. We generally hold our fixed-income securities to maturity. Volatility mainly shows up in listed equities, which make up only a small portion of our portfolio. We are also diversified through investments in private equity and real estate. Over the past few years, we’ve experienced fewer valuation fluctuations than anticipated.

Yes, we will maintain our conservative approach to asset allocation, mix, and diversification. So we don’t expect much change in the composition of the investment portfolio.

In the current strategic cycle, we have committed to not only maintaining but steadily increasing our base dividend each year – unlike in the previous cycle, where the goal was simply to match the previous year. This reflects our confidence in the current market environment. We supplement the base dividend with a special dividend when our capital position allows. We are optimistic that our shareholders will continue to benefit from attractive and growing dividends in the future.