October 10, 2023

On May 10-11, 1861, the Swiss town of Glarus was hit by a huge fire, which destroyed almost 2/3 of the buildings and caused huge damage to local insurers. For most of them this fire became fatal, as the amount of damage exceeded the insurance reserves of insurance companies five times.

After this incident, it became necessary to create a large reinsurance company with large capital and in Switzerland itself in order to prevent the outflow of money abroad. So on December 19, 1863 in the city of Zurich the Swiss Reinsurance Company (abbreviated - Swiss Re) was established with the authorized capital of 6 million Swiss francs. From the very beginning Swiss Re began to focus on the international market, accepting risks from different countries, expanding its business lines, building strong relationships with foreign clients and partners.

During the 20th century, Swiss Re participated in the indemnification of many major losses around the world (San Francisco earthquake, Titanic wreck, Spanish flu epidemic, Great Depression), proving its reliability and financial stability. Notably, in 1980, Swiss Re decided to expand its services by acquiring consulting and service companies and increasing its participation in the primary insurance market. However, in the mid-1990s, Swiss Re abandoned direct insurance to clients, focusing on its core business.

The beginning of the 21st century for the global insurance market was marked by the terrorist attacks on the WTC in New York on September 11, 2001. Swiss Re, which accounted for 22% of the WTC insurance coverage, fully met its obligations to policyholders and recorded a net loss for the first time since 1868.

Today, Swiss Re is the 2nd largest reinsurance company in the world with total equity of 12,8 bln. USD.