Content

Infoletter 3/2005 dated 03.11.2005

In this infoletter you can read more about

  • The hurricane season in the US lasts until the end of November. You can find out here how Hannover Re has coped with the largest natural catastrophe loss in industry history, hurricane Katrina.

  • Further topics covered are the participation of Hannover Re / E+S Rück in the competition "Germany's best employer 2006" and of course the job fairs in autumn / winter 2005.

Hurricane "Katrina" – impacts on Hannover Re

(Excerpts from the press release dated 2 September 2005)

Hurricane "Katrina" is presumably set to become the most expensive ever natural disaster suffered by insurers in industry history. Estimates of the total insured losses currently amount up to USD 30 billion.

With this in mind Hannover Re anticipates a net loss burden resulting from this hurricane of EUR 250 million before tax. It should also be noted that the financial year had already witnessed an above-average intensity of major claims prior to Hurricane "Katrina".

As a result the profit expectation, which among other things is always under the provision that the burden of major losses remains within the multi-year average can not be achieved anymore for this year. The company now expects an overall result that is at least at the level of the previous year (EUR 309.1 million), thus also in 2005 generating a return on equity in the double-digit percentage range. "In view of the extraordinarily heavy burden of losses this is a very good performance", CEO Wilhelm Zeller emphasised.

Unscathed by Hurricane "Katrina", the rest of Hannover Re's property and casualty reinsurance portfolio continues to perform very well. "It is our assumption that 'Katrina' – just like last year’s hurricanes – will have further favourable implications for the treaty negotiations as at 1 January 2006 and we expect to see additional significant hardening of prices and conditions in natural catastrophe and marine reinsurance", Mr. Zeller stressed.

The complete press release is published on our website in the news of the 'Media Center' section.

 

Competition: "Germany's best employer 2006"

This year Hannover Re is again participating in the survey and competition "Germany's best employer 2006". Both are organised by the Great Place to Work® Institute Europe, the independent market research and consulting agency psychonomics and the business magazine Capital in the role of media partner. The focus here is on the quality and attractiveness of companies as an employer. The survey is conducted in other European countries as well. The top 50 employers will be announced in the business magazine Capital at the beginning of next year. In addition, in the spring of next year a list of the 100 best employers in Europe will be unveiled.

We are seeking to identify our own appeal as an employer by conducting an online employee survey. The spotlight here is on factors such as trust (credibility, respect, fairness) as well as pride and team orientation, which are considered to be essential features of an attractive and exceptional place to work. We are excited and curious to see the results of the survey.

Further information about the competition is available under:  http://www.greatplacetowork.de/.

 

Recruiting on-site – students and graduates meet us at our fair stand

It's that time of year again… the new semester has begun and students are arriving on campus reinvigorated with fresh energy. We will be there to meet you – this autumn/winter we will again be present at a number of recruiting events for students and graduates. The annual highlight will be the 'Absolventenkongress' in Cologne on 23 and 24 November 2005 – Europe's biggest job fair for students, graduates and young professionals. Come and see us in person at our fair stand to find out more about vacant positions and opportunities to start a career with us, e.g. as a trainee or intern. You will have the opportunity to discuss your career prospects at Hannover Re directly with representatives of the various specialist divisions, with one of our trainees and of course with representatives of Human Resources Management. More information about the 'Absolventenkongress' is provided here: http://www.absolventenkongress.de/.

We would like to send out a special call in this newsletter to business mathematicians. Especially for our Underwriting & Actuarial Services and Hannover Life Re divisions, we are seeking qualified graduates in business mathematics. With this in mind we are visiting the 'WiMa-Kongress' at the University of Ulm for the first time. The University of Ulm is the only one in Germany to offer a concentration in actuarial sciences as part of a degree in business mathematics. For more information about the 'WiMa-Kongress' as well as the other recruiting events in autumn and winter please go to our 'News & Events' section.

Are you a graduate in business mathematics? – If you are, why not apply for a position as a Marketing Actuary at Hannover Re. This and other attractive positions are listed in the job market on our website.