International
Swiss Life International comprises cross-border business for high-net-worth individuals (Global Private Wealth Solutions) and multinational companies (Global Employee Benefits Solutions) under the Swiss Life Global Solutions and elipsLife brands, as well as the independent financial services providers Chase de Vere in the United Kingdom and Swiss Life Select in Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
In the reporting year, the International segment posted a result of CHF 98 million (previous year: CHF 108 million). The fee result for Swiss Life International declined to CHF 69 million (–14% in local currency). The cash remittance to the holding company was increased by 1% in local currency, reaching CHF 62 million.
The Global Private Wealth Solutions area, with insurance companies in Luxembourg, Liechtenstein and Singapore, specialises in life insurance solutions for high-net-worth individuals and had assets under management of CHF 17.8 billion as at the end of 2023 (previous year: CHF 18.3 billion).
The Global Employee Benefits Solutions area focuses on risk, pension and healthcare solutions for multinational companies. Positive risk and volume development led to higher profitability in the reporting year. The integration of elipsLife also had a positive impact on the result. With a presence in Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Italy, the business is focusing on further expanding offerings in the fields of biometric risk and health solutions for selected European markets.
The fee result for the independent financial advisors in the United Kingdom and Central and Eastern Europe decreased by 10% in local currency to CHF 39 million. This decline is due to lower revenues from mortgage business, which were partly offset by higher revenues from high-margin products (life insurance, pension and fund solutions).
In 2024, Swiss Life International wants to expand its solutions and services in order to increase the fee and insurance results. With innovative insurance solutions and flexible business platforms, Swiss Life International is well positioned to meet the needs of existing partners and customers and to expand its business.
Key figures for International
| In CHF million | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2022 | +/– | ||||
| Segment result | 98 | 108 1 | –9% | |||
| Fee result | 69 | 84 1 | –17% | |||
| Cash remittance to Holding | 62 | 64 | –3% | |||
| Fee and commission income | 375 | 375 | 0% | |||
| Gross written premiums | 1 741 | 1 352 | 29% | |||
| Contractual service margin | 97 | 112 | –13% | |||
| Number of full-time equivalents | 1 312 | 1 395 | –6% | |||
Asset Managers
The Asset Managers segment comprises Swiss Life’s Group-wide asset management, investment and real estate services activities.
In 2023, Swiss Life Asset Managers achieved a segment result of CHF 272 million (previous year: CHF 433 million) , which corresponds to a decrease of 37%. Of this amount, CHF 106 million was attributable to TPAM business, which was 55% down on the previous year and which included the profit on the sale of Livit FM Services Ltd. Fee income in the year under review declined by 7% in total to CHF 914 million. Fee income from third-party business and the insurance business was down by 7% in each case. Operating expenses fell by 5%, partly due to the disposal of Livit FM Services Ltd and exchange rate changes in the year under review. At the same time, targeted cost optimisations enabled the continuous expansion of the real estate project development business as well as ongoing investments in sustainability and digitalisation initiatives. The cash remittance of CHF 229 million to the holding company was down by 19% compared to the previous year due to the lower result.
Assets under management by Swiss Life Asset Managers came to CHF 256 billion at the end of 2023. Assets from insurance business fell by CHF 3.3 billion to CHF 144 billion. Due to the regulatory framework conditions and the long-term nature of its liabilities, Swiss Life invests mainly in fixed-income securities, which made up 50% of its portfolio at the end of 2023. The real estate holding remained unchanged at around 28%. The net equity holding was 4% as at 31 December 2023. Third-party business grew again thanks to net new assets of CHF 9.8 billion. Swiss Life Asset Managers had third-party assets of CHF 112 billion under management at the end of 2023, an increase of 6% compared to the end of the previous year.
2023 was shaped by geopolitical uncertainties. Central banks fought inflation with rapid interest rate hikes, which slowed global economic growth. Due to this development and the uncertain outlook, many investors adopted a cautious wait-and-see attitude. The restraint and the increase in finance charges were particularly noticeable in the real estate market and in project developments, which led to a shift from real estate investments to fixed-income securities. However, demand for sustainable infrastructure investments remained high.
Swiss Life Asset Managers intends to continue its systematic implementation of the decarbonisation strategy for its directly held real estate portfolio, in order to reach its carbon intensity reduction target of 20% compared to 2019 by 2030. The measures and processes applied here will also be gradually implemented for third-party client and external real estate portfolios. In addition, Swiss Life Asset Managers is still focusing on integrating ESG criteria into all core processes and expanding its sustainable product offering, and will continue these efforts in 2024. Alongside this commitment to sustainability, Swiss Life Asset Managers continued to expand the growth of its project development business in the area of logistics in the year under review. Furthermore, in 2023, it laid the foundation for launching its business with index-based investment solutions and infrastructure investments for private clients.
Key figures for Asset Managers
| In CHF million | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2022 | +/– | ||||
| Segment result | 272 | 433 1 | –37% | |||
| Fee result | 272 | 399 1 | –32% | |||
| Cash remittance to Holding | 229 | 285 | –19% | |||
| Fee and commission income | 914 | 984 | –7% | |||
| Assets under management | 255 748 | 252 612 | 1% | |||
| Number of full-time equivalents | 2 263 | 2 177 | 4% | |||
