Dear Clients and Business Partners,
At Hannover Re, we are keenly aware of our responsibility to our shareholders and other stakeholders and we know that a reliable partnership is vital especially in uncertain times.
Our highest priority is providing health protection to our employees and reliable support to our clients. Most of our more than 3,000 employees worldwide continue working mainly from home. Thanks to our advanced technical set-up, mobile working runs smoothly, so that we can offer you as well as all other stakeholders the guaranteed level of service. We adhere to the existing travel restrictions and keep avoiding travelling accordingly as well as the attendance of external seminars and face-to-face events as far as possible. Instead, we opt for telephone or video conferences.
To date, Hannover Re has not experienced any significant impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on our business operations. Our risk management is geared to preserving Hannover Re's robust financial strength. We continuously check its resilience through stress tests, e.g. in pandemics or capital market distortions.
Our capital adequacy ratio stands at 235% at the end of December 2020 and thereby comfortably above our limit of 180% and our threshold of 200%. The considerable volatility in interest rates and credit spreads as well as our reserving for anticipated losses related to Covid-19 during the last financial year are both included here. Our existing asset/liability management, including the use of the volatility adjustment, will continue to help cushion negative effects of market and interest rate volatility which would affect our Solvency II capital adequacy ratio.
Although uncertainties with regard to the further development of the pandemic remain, we anticipate that Hannover Re's business performance in the 2021 financial year will be significantly less affected by Covid-19.
Standing by your side in our accustomed spirit of partnership, we as Hannover Re make our contribution continuously to mitigating the consequences of Covid-19. Hannover Re remains a reliable partner for you.
We thank you for the trust you have placed in us and wish you, your employees, and their families all the best.
Jean-Jacques Henchoz
Chief Executive Officer
