International Health segment under new management

With the reorganisation of International Health and allocation of the management positions, Munich Re is consistently implementing its strategy in this still young business segment. The now regionally-based structure will support the ambitious objectives for profitable growth in the target markets.

Currently, the International Health segment, located in Munich, is scheduled to be headed by the newly created "International Health Committee" as of 1 April 2009. Wolfgang Strassl, Munich Re Board member responsible for Health, will also assume responsibility for "Actuarial, Strategy and Operations". Peter Choueiri, current Head of Munich Re’s "HealthCare" reinsurance sector, will be responsible for "Global Markets North America, Middle East/Africa, Southern Europe/Latin America". Wolfgang Diels, Chairman of the Board of Management of Europäische Reiseversicherung, will become Head of "Global Markets Northern/Eastern/Central Europe, Asia/Pacific" at International Health. Christian Schmid, who currently heads the "Finance and Controlling" department of HealthCare at Munich Re, will be in charge of "Finance" at International Health.

Strassl: "The experience we have gained in over 20 years’ global presence in health insurance and reinsurance is unique. The new organisation will enable us to realise the potential of the fast-growing healthcare market more efficiently, and offer new, flexible business models".

By combining international health expertise overall, the Munich Re Group has laid stable foundations for further profitable growth in the course of the last few years. This is demonstrated by examples such as health insurer Daman in Abu Dhabi, the Apollo DKV joint venture in India, and acquisition of US health insurer Sterling in 2008.

The Munich Re Group operates worldwide, turning risk into value. In the financial year 2007, it achieved a profit of €3,937m, the highest since the company was founded in 1880, on premium income of approximately €37bn. The Group operates in all lines of business, with around 44,000 employees at over 50 locations throughout the world and is characterised by particularly pronounced diversification, client focus and earnings stability. With premium income of around €21.5bn from reinsurance alone, it is one of the world's leading reinsurers. Its primary insurance operations are mainly concentrated in the ERGO Insurance Group. With premium income of over €17bn, ERGO is one of the largest insurance groups in Europe and Germany. It is the market leader in Europe in health and legal expenses insurance, and 34 million clients in over 30 countries place their trust in the services and security it provides. The global investments of the Munich Re Group amounting to €176bn are managed by MEAG, which also makes its competence available to private and institutional investors outside the Group.