Investor Relations activities
The increased need to meet and talk with us felt by many analysts and investors as a consequence of the financial market crisis was reflected in lively attendance at our analysts' conferences, which we again held simultaneously in Frankfurt and London one day after the press briefing on the annual results.
We expanded our Investor Relations activities in the year under review in order to counter the uncertainty among market players about Hannover Re's further development. A special highlight was the increased attendance at investor conferences; we also again took part in numerous roadshows in order to facilitate contacts between investors and our company's management. Along with multiple visits to London, Frankfurt and New York, we also travelled to Boston, Paris, Luxembourg, Zurich and Edinburgh as well as other business centres.
What is more, we again held a series of conference calls for analysts and investors with the management and hosted numerous visitors at our offices in Hannover for face-to-face meetings.
Our annual Investors' Day was again well attended by analysts and investors alike in 2009. Topics covered in the year under review included the acquisition of the US ING life reinsurance portfolio and the future development of our US subsidiary Hannover Life Reassurance of America, the life reinsurance market in the United Kingdom, credit and surety reinsurance and the level of our reserves.
Our shareholding structure changed only marginally in the year under review. The interest held by Talanx AG remained unchanged, while the stake held by private investors fell by 0.2% to 7.5%, hence fractionally pushing up the proportion in the hands of institutional investors to 42.3%.
Turning to the breakdown of our free float by countries, the proportionate holding attributable to Germany fell by an appreciable 6% in the year under review to 36.5%, while the US share increased by 4.2% to 26.0%. Shareholders in Luxembourg also enlarged their stake, specifically by 1.8% to 4.1%. The relative holdings attributable to other countries changed only marginally relative to the end of the previous year.
Interest in our company among analysts was again very lively in the year under review and gained added impetus from the inclusion of our share in the DAX. All in all, 38 analysts handed down more than 200 recommendations for Hannover Re in 2009. Based on the data for the first nine months of 2009, 32 analysts recently published the following opinions: fourteen recommended the Hannover Re share as “buy” or “overweight”; another fourteen opinions were a “hold”, while only four recommendations to “underweight” or “sell” were issued. In the course of 2009 the average analysts' opinion clearly improved. At the same time the average target price for our share rose sharply to stand at EUR 36.71 at the beginning of 2010.
We fundamentally revamped and progressively updated our Investor Relations website in the year under review. Most strikingly, along with a new design the structure was simplified, hence making more content accessible at a glance. Our newest service is the provision of information on the analysts' recommendations. Please visit http://www.hannover-re.com/ir/share/consensus/index.html for continuously updated and interactive insights into the latest analysts' opinions and their expectations as to Hannover Re's premium volume and profitability.
