Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, Turkey and Israel

Scandinavian markets including the three Baltic countries as well as Turkey and Israel are served by our branch in Stockholm.

The focus of our Nordic activities is on Sweden and Norway, where we have enjoyed a leading market position for some years now. Along with the financing of new business acquisition costs in connection with unit-linked products in Sweden, our emphasis is on reinsurance of the biometric risks of life and disability. We responded to the growing demand for system-supported solutions to handle the acquisition process in life insurance by launching a version of our point-of-sale system that was developed specifically for the Scandinavian market.

The premium volume booked by the Stockholm life branch fell from EUR 81.3 million to EUR 66.7 million owing to the weakness of the Swedish krona and Norwegian krone as well as a reduced share in a major Swedish contract. Profitability was again better than average.

We stepped up our acquisition efforts in Eastern European markets, Russia and the CIS states by forming a self-contained market unit in Hannover staffed by an expert team of native-speaker underwriters and actuaries. Our attention here is directed primarily towards the bancassurance sector, with a focus on Poland, Hungary and Russia.