Swiss Life’s comprehensive risk management framework

A key pillar of Swiss Life’s responsible and sustainable business is its integrated, value-oriented risk management involving both quantitative and qualitative elements. The goal is to protect customers’ funds and ensure the best possible investment of risk capital, while complying with regulatory requirements and taking account of the persistently challenging capital market environment. Risk management is a key component of Swiss Life’s management process. The responsible committees of the Corporate Executive Board and the Board of Directors continually monitor and manage risks, and their decisions are then incorporated into the annual planning process. On the one hand they conduct qualitative assessments of strategic risks, as well as evaluating operational risks, the internal control system (ICS) and measures aimed at continually improving information and system security. On the other hand, they also cover quantitative elements, such as risk tolerance of the Swiss Life Group, risk budgeting for the insurance units and Asset Liability Management’s investment strategy.

Swiss Life uses structured processes to determine the comprehensive risk profile to deal with risks that could jeopardise strategic target achievement in what continues to be a very challenging environment. Swiss Life incorporates all the information on risks and corresponding earnings opportunities in its strategic decisions as part of its strategic risk management process. An understanding of the interplay of individual risks is essential so that the factors which influence risk can already be factored in and properly addressed when strategies are being developed. Emerging risks are a key element of strategic risk: they are regularly analysed and assessed in various risk categories.

Further information can be found in the Annual Report (section “Risk Management”).