Sustainability Report 2015
Risk expertise
In the context of its business operations Hannover Re enters into a broad range of risks. These risks are consciously accepted and steered in order to be able to act on the associated opportunities. We manage the process through our Group-wide risk management system, in which the individual elements are closely interlinked and the roles, tasks and reporting channels are clearly defined and documented in guidelines. This makes possible a common understanding of the Group-wide, holistic monitoring and steering of all material risks.
Social and environmental risks are considered as part of the analysis of emerging risks. Emerging risks are future risks that cannot be definitively assessed with any reliability. It is vital to detect and evaluate these risks at an early stage. A separate working group of specialists is therefore deployed Group-wide in a process that cuts across divisions. The members of the working group on "Emerging Risks and Scientific Affairs" regularly attend conferences on selected risks and engage in a dialogue with other globally operating risk managers. This dialogue encompasses, among others, universities, other reinsurers, customers, industry associations such as the Geneva Association and the German Insurance Association (GDV) as well as political actors. In 2015, for example, Hannover Re took part in a panel discussion organised by the Geneva Association on the subject of pandemics. Hannover Re also participates on a regular basis in a working group of the Geneva Association focused on "Extreme Events and Climate Risks". In the context of the Chief Risk Officer (CRO) Forum we contribute to the development and sharing of best practices in risk management. Discussion papers on topical risk issues also assist Hannover Re in the risk assessment process and play a part in fostering public discourse. In our Sustainability Strategy for the years 2015 – 2017 we have set ourselves the goal of further expanding the dialogue on emerging risks.
Our clients similarly benefit from Hannover Re's risk expertise. Through our subsidiary E+S Rück, for example, we offer primary insurers a range of different services and applications for risk assessment.