Hannover Rück SE (FWB: HNR1)

Quick Facts / Company Snapshot

Company Name: Hannover Rück SE
Stock Exchange & Ticker: FWB: HNR1
Industry: Insurance services (Reinsurance)
Headquarters: Karl-Wiechert-Allee 50, 30625 Hannover, Germany
Year Founded: 1966
Legal Form: Societas Europaea (SE)
Total Employees (2024): 4,139 (Headcount at year-end)
Gross Reinsurance Revenue (2024): EUR 26,379.3 million
Group Net Income (2024): EUR 2,328.7 million
Operating Profit (EBIT, 2024): EUR 3,317.6 million
Total Assets (2024): EUR 72,127.3 million
Total Equity (2024): EUR 12,688.3 million
Return on Equity (ROE, 2024): 21.2%
Combined Ratio (P&C, 2024): 86.6%
Parent Company: Talanx AG (holds 50.2%)
Credit Rating (S&P): AA- “Very Strong”
Credit Rating (A.M. Best): A+ “Superior”
Primary Segments: Property & Casualty Reinsurance, Life & Health Reinsurance
Total Investments (2024): EUR 65,888.2 million
CEO: Clemens Jungsthöfel (Effective April 1, 2025)

Company overview

Hannover Rück SE is a preeminent global reinsurance entity headquartered in Hannover, Germany, and ranks as the third-largest reinsurance group worldwide. The organization transacts comprehensive lines of property & casualty as well as life & health reinsurance on an international scale. The corporate infrastructure spans all five continents, operating through a robust network of more than 170 subsidiaries, branches, and representative offices.

Employee Base: The workforce consists of 4,139 dedicated professionals across its global operations as of December 31, 2024.
Domestic Representation: The company’s German business portfolio is exclusively managed and written by its specialized subsidiary, E+S Rückversicherung AG.
Global Positioning: The group is recognized extensively for its partnership-driven client relations and reliable capacity to deliver innovative risk and financial solutions.

By structuring its operations to achieve the broadest possible diversification, the company successfully balances its regional presence and underlying risk exposures. This systematic balancing acts in tandem with a highly efficient capital management framework, which consistently provides Hannover Rück SE with structural cost advantages compared to its peers. The strategic ambition established for the 2024–2026 cycle centers on industry-leading profitability, reliable economic value creation, and increasing ordinary dividends, encapsulating the motto “Staying Focused. Thinking Ahead.”.

Business segments

Hannover Rück SE delineates its core operations into two primary reportable business segments: Property & Casualty (P&C) Reinsurance and Life & Health (L&H) Reinsurance.

Property & Casualty Reinsurance

The Property & Casualty segment provides traditional and specialized reinsurance protections to clients globally. In the 2024 financial year, the P&C segment generated Gross Reinsurance Revenue of EUR 18,664.7 million, representing 70.75% of the group’s total gross reinsurance revenue.

Operational Scope: The segment is structured into Regional Markets and Worldwide Markets, dealing extensively in facultative reinsurance, structured reinsurance, catastrophe coverage, and specialty lines like aviation and marine.
Performance Metrics: The segment delivered a combined ratio of 86.6% in 2024, an improvement from 94.0% in 2023, driven by improved market conditions and an unburdened loss reserving normalization.
Operating Profit: The EBIT for this segment rose by 117.3% to reach EUR 2,387.3 million in 2024.

Life & Health Reinsurance

The Life & Health segment specializes in transferring mortality, longevity, morbidity, and lapse risks, while also deploying advanced financial solutions for capital relief. The L&H segment accounted for EUR 7,714.5 million in Gross Reinsurance Revenue during 2024, equating to 29.25% of the total.

Operational Scope: The operations encompass traditional risk solutions, financial optimization, and product partnerships designed to secure strategic market positioning for primary insurers.
Market Dynamics: The segment experienced sustained strong demand across all product categories, particularly in financial solutions within the US and Europe, and longevity covers in markets like the UK and Australia.
Operating Profit: The EBIT for the Life & Health division amounted to EUR 933.9 million in 2024, demonstrating a 7.2% growth over the previous year.

History and evolution

The foundation of Hannover Rück SE traces its origins to the 1920s when the Haftpflichtverband, alongside the Gerling Group, initially created Eisen- und Stahl-Industrie to furnish regional reinsurance services. The modern entity officially commenced its operational journey on June 6, 1966, originally taking the name Aktiengesellschaft für Transport- und Rückversicherung before advancing as Hannover Re.

Early Internationalization: During the 1970s, the company initiated its global expansion by penetrating the critical insurance markets of the United States and Japan.
First Major Acquisition: In 1981, Hannover Re executed its inaugural acquisition of a foreign insurance conglomerate, the Hollandia Group, which subsequently evolved into Hannover Re Group Africa.
Public Listing: The year 1994 marked a pivotal milestone when Hannover Re went public, and notably became the first reinsurer globally to securitize natural catastrophe risks directly to the capital markets.

In 1996, the integration of Eisen und Stahl Rück into the overarching Hannover Re Group was formalized. This established a structural paradigm that persists today: Hannover Re administers the foreign and international reinsurance portfolios, whereas E+S Rück is strictly entrusted with the domestic German market. Reflecting its expanding international footprint, the enterprise legally converted its corporate structure into a Societas Europaea (European Company) in 2013, officially adopting the designation Hannover Rück SE. In 2025, the company underwent a major leadership transition when Clemens Jungsthöfel was appointed Chief Executive Officer, succeeding Jean-Jacques Henchoz.

Products and services

Hannover Rück SE extends an immense spectrum of reinsurance products spanning multiple specialized disciplines, calibrated to absorb extreme risk parameters.

Property & Casualty Products

Structured Reinsurance and ILS: Tailor-made solvency relief solutions and capital market transfers. Revenue reached EUR 4,821.0 million in 2024 (25.8% of P&C revenue).
Facultative Reinsurance: Protection of singular, complex commercial risks globally. Revenue reached EUR 1,069.7 million in 2024 (5.7% of P&C revenue).
Credit, Surety, and Political Risks: Coverage for insolvencies and geopolitical disruptions. Revenue hit EUR 820.9 million in 2024 (4.4% of P&C revenue).
Aviation and Marine: Protections against major aviation transport risks, offshore energy, and maritime cargo. Revenue recorded at EUR 524.2 million in 2024 (2.8% of P&C revenue).
Agricultural Risks: Underwriting against extreme weather impacting crop yields and livestock. Revenue was EUR 463.5 million in 2024 (2.5% of P&C revenue).

Life & Health Products

Mortality Solutions: Secures primary insurers against negative deviations in expected death rates. Revenue was EUR 3,018.3 million in 2024 (39.1% of L&H revenue).
Morbidity Solutions: Coverage for critical illness, disability, and long-term care triggers. Revenue reached EUR 1,850.2 million in 2024 (24.0% of L&H revenue).
Longevity Solutions: Reinsurance protections for pension blocks and annuity products buffering against prolonged life expectancy. Revenue was EUR 1,787.1 million in 2024 (23.2% of L&H revenue).
Financial Solutions: Capital-oriented product suites targeting reserve relief, embedded value monetization, and new business financing. Revenue hit EUR 1,059.1 million in 2024 (13.7% of L&H revenue).

Brand portfolio

The Hannover Re Group operates through a refined portfolio of distinct corporate brands and subsidiary identities, each assigned to specific geographical jurisdictions or technical niche markets.

Hannover Re: The paramount global brand transacting all property, casualty, life, and health operations across international markets outside of Germany.
E+S Rück: Functioning strictly as the “Reinsurer for Germany”, this brand specifically manages the domestic German portfolio and cultivates profound partnerships with local mutual insurers.
Hannover ReTakaful: Based in Bahrain, this brand is the exclusive Islamic reinsurance (retakaful) entity among top-tier global reinsurers, adhering strictly to Sharia-compliant “Wakala” frameworks.
Argenta: The Argenta brand comprises Argenta Holdings Limited and its syndicates operating deeply within the Lloyd’s of London marketplace.
Glencar: Focused on the United States, Glencar functions within the managing general agent (MGA) and specialized underwriting space.

Geographical presence

Hannover Rück SE executes a heavily decentralized, globally distributed operational strategy, achieving maximum possible geographic risk diversification. The 2024 financial reporting demonstrates the following regional contribution to the total Gross Reinsurance Revenue of EUR 26,379.3 million:

North America: Generated EUR 11,027.8 million (41.8% of total revenue), driven strongly by the United States market contributing EUR 9,622.9 million.
Europe: Contributed EUR 9,116.0 million (34.6% of total revenue), with the United Kingdom leading at EUR 4,314.5 million, followed by Germany at EUR 1,574.3 million.
Australasia (Asia & Australia): Accounted for EUR 4,589.1 million (17.4% of total revenue), driven extensively by rapid market evolution in China, Australia, and India.
Other Regions & Africa: Remaining territories, encompassing Africa (EUR 482.3 million) and other dispersed markets, produced EUR 1,646.4 million combined (6.2% of total revenue).

Physical hubs are firmly entrenched across major economic centers including Paris, London, Stockholm, Mumbai, Hong Kong, Manama, Seoul, Sydney, Kuala Lumpur, Toronto, and Shanghai.

Hannover Rück SE Logo

Financial performance analysis

The 2024 financial year marked a period of robust economic performance for Hannover Rück SE, underscoring its financial resilience against severe macroeconomic and geopolitical headwinds alongside high-frequency natural catastrophe events.

Group Net Income: The company successfully increased its Group net income by 27.6%, scaling from EUR 1,824.8 million in 2023 to a record EUR 2,328.7 million in 2024.
Operating Profit (EBIT): A powerful 68.3% increase was recorded, elevating the EBIT from EUR 1,971.2 million to EUR 3,317.6 million.
Earnings Per Share (EPS): Basic and diluted EPS improved dramatically by 27.6%, from EUR 15.13 in 2023 to EUR 19.31 per share in 2024.

The return on equity (ROE) experienced substantive growth, closing the year at 21.2% versus 19.0% in 2023, effortlessly eclipsing the group’s internal minimum strategic target of greater than 14%.

Profit and loss analysis

The consolidated statement of income for 2024 reflects dynamic revenue growth combined with a highly disciplined pricing and underwriting approach.

Gross Reinsurance Revenue: Reached EUR 26,379.3 million, marking a 7.9% increase from the EUR 24,456.5 million reported in 2023.
Reinsurance Service Expenses (Gross): Stood at EUR 21,698.2 million, up from EUR 20,802.1 million in 2023, largely absorbing the year’s significant weather-related loss expenditures.
Reinsurance Service Result (Net): Surged an impressive 82.0% to EUR 3,018.5 million against the previous year’s EUR 1,658.3 million, highlighting fundamentally stronger underwriting margins.
Net Investment Income: Advanced by 26.2% to EUR 2,005.1 million from EUR 1,588.2 million in 2023, yielding a 3.2% return on investment.
Taxes: Tax expenditures normalized heavily, totaling EUR 816.5 million in 2024 compared to merely EUR 26.4 million in 2023, leading to an effective tax rate of 25.4%.

Balance sheet analysis

The asset base and capital structure of Hannover Rück SE reflect tremendous solvency parameters, underpinned by a Solvency II ratio of 261.2%.

Total Assets: Expanded by 9.8%, closing at EUR 72,127.3 million compared to EUR 65,665.1 million in 2023.
Financial Investments: Total investments expanded significantly by 9.6% to EUR 65,888.2 million, dominantly driven by fixed-income portfolios and government bonds.
Total Liabilities: Grew to EUR 59,439.0 million, containing EUR 50,486.9 million allocated explicitly to the Liability for Incurred Claims (LIC).
Shareholders’ Equity: Recorded a 15.1% rise to EUR 12,688.3 million, inclusive of non-controlling interests. Equity explicitly attributable to Hannover Rück SE shareholders was EUR 11,794.5 million.
Contractual Service Margin (Net): Representing future anticipated profits, the CSM rose 6.0% to EUR 8,162.4 million.

Cash flow analysis

Hannover Re actively maintains profound liquidity mechanisms driven by strict ALM (Asset Liability Management) disciplines to service all technical obligations seamlessly.

Cash Flow from Operating Activities: Remained intensely robust at EUR 5,681.9 million, slightly lower than the 2023 peak of EUR 5,785.5 million.
Cash Flow from Investing Activities: Stood at a net outflow of EUR -4,412.1 million, fundamentally reflecting massive cash allocations into fixed-income securities aligning with high-yield environments.
Cash Flow from Financing Activities: Posted a net outflow of EUR -1,105.0 million, principally characterized by dividend payouts to shareholders totaling EUR 913.1 million alongside specific long-term debt repayments.
Cash and Cash Equivalents: The ending balance increased by EUR 198.3 million to securely sit at EUR 1,253.1 million at year-end 2024.

Board of directors and leadership team

The corporate governance of Hannover Rück SE adheres to the German two-tier board system, segregating executive management from non-executive supervision.

Executive Board

Jean-Jacques Henchoz (Chief Executive Officer to March 2025): Responsible for Group Operations & Strategy, HR, IT, Audit, Risk Management, and Compliance. Holds a degree in political science and business administration.
Clemens Jungsthöfel (Chief Financial Officer; CEO effective April 2025): Steered Group Finance, Asset Management, Reinsurance Accounting, and Investor Relations.
Sven Althoff: Member responsible for Property & Casualty, leading global Aviation, Marine, Credit, Surety, and the London Market.
Claude Chèvre: Member administering Life & Health worldwide services, leading regional domains in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Brona Magee: Effective January 2025, commands Life & Health Reinsurance globally, focusing heavily on North America, the UK, and Longevity Solutions.
Sharon Ooi: Directs Property & Casualty specifically for Asia-Pacific and Sub-Saharan Africa markets.
Silke Sehm: Helms Catastrophe XL, Structured Reinsurance, ILS, Retrocession, and Cyber & Digital disciplines.
Thorsten Steinmann: Appointed late 2024, driving Agricultural Risks globally alongside European and Latin American P&C operations.

Supervisory Board

Torsten Leue: Chairman of the Supervisory Board. Concurrently serves as the CEO of Talanx AG and HDI.
Herbert K. Haas: Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board. Acts as a designated financial expert.
Dr. Ursula Lipowsky: Independent member and Chairwoman of the Finance and Audit Committee.
Other key members: Dr. Michael Ollmann, Harald Kayser (ESG expert), Dr. Alena Kouba, alongside employee representatives Sibylle Kempff, Timo Kaufmann, and Ilka Hundeshagen.

Subsidiaries, associates, joint ventures

Hannover Rück SE executes its strategic mandate via a labyrinth of wholly and partially owned subsidiaries spanning multiple continents.

E+S Rückversicherung AG (64.79% ownership): The cornerstone domestic German subsidiary.
Hannover Life Reassurance Company of America (100% ownership): The dominant Orlando-based entity managing profound North American L&H volumes.
Argenta Holdings Limited (100% ownership): Key London-based subsidiary directing Lloyd’s syndicate operations.
Hannover ReTakaful B.S.C. (100% ownership): The Bahrain-based nexus for Sharia-compliant reinsurance transactions.
Glencar Insurance Company (100% ownership): Driving specialty and MGA-oriented P&C coverage inside the United States.
Joint HR MR Private Equity GmbH: Previously a joint venture held at roughly 50% with Munich Re, officially demerged effective July 1, 2024, transitioning exclusive private equity holdings securely back to Hannover Re’s internal asset architecture.

Physical properties (offices, plants, factories, etc.)

Operating exclusively within the financial services and knowledge-economy spectrum, Hannover Rück SE’s physical footprint is designated by premium office estates and IT infrastructures rather than traditional manufacturing plants.

Global Headquarters: Karl-Wiechert-Allee 50, 30625 Hannover, Germany. Serving as the primary executive and operational core for international deployments.
Material International Branches: The group runs critical and material regional operational hubs physically located in Paris, London, Stockholm, Mumbai, Wanchai (Hong Kong), Manama, Seoul, Sydney, Kuala Lumpur, Toronto, and Shanghai.
Direct Real Estate Assets: Real Estate forms a segment of the alternative investments block, valued at EUR 2,605.2 million in 2024, geographically spanning commercial offices and logistics centers in the USA (39%), Germany (22%), Asia (20%), and other European locales (19%).

Segment-wise performance

The operational outturn is strictly measured across the P&C and L&H parameters.

P&C Reinsurance: Absorbed extreme large loss expenditures from events like Hurricane Milton (EUR 230.0m net), European Floods (EUR 193.9m net), and Dubai Floods (EUR 138.0m net). Total large loss exposure landed at EUR 1,629.2 million, which safely nested beneath the pre-allocated budget of EUR 1,825 million. EBIT exploded by 117.3% to EUR 2,387.3 million, generating a superb combined ratio of 86.6%.
L&H Reinsurance: The business delivered consistent operational margins despite highly competitive global environments, producing an EBIT of EUR 933.9 million. The segment reported an expected new business CSM (Net) value of EUR 316.7 million while inflating the underlying total CSM to a massive EUR 6,516.8 million.

Founders

The historical bedrock of Hannover Rück SE was cemented in the 1920s. In conjunction with the Gerling Group, the Haftpflichtverband created the Eisen- und Stahl-Industrie to furnish specialized domestic reinsurance capacities. Ownership transitioned completely to the Haftpflichtverband in the 1960s, leading directly to the establishment of Aktiengesellschaft für Transport und- Rückversicherung on June 6, 1966, formally inaugurating the corporate framework known today as Hannover Re.

Shareholding pattern

Hannover Rück SE executes a shareholder structure anchored by profound institutional backing. The ultimate parent, HDI Haftpflichtverband der Deutschen Industrie V.a.G., retains indirect control.

Talanx AG: Commands the absolute majority control by holding exactly 50.2% of the registered voting rights.
Free Float & Institutional Block: Institutional investors compose roughly 38.6% of outstanding shares. Major disclosed entities actively securing thresholds near 3.0% individually include Deutsche Asset Management Investment GmbH, FMR LLC, and BlackRock, Inc.
Private Investors: Represent 11.2% of the circulating free float.

Parent

The direct parent corporation over Hannover Rück SE is Talanx AG, similarly headquartered in Hannover, Germany. Talanx AG itself is majority-governed by the overarching HDI Haftpflichtverband der Deutschen Industrie V.a.G.. Talanx acts as a multi-brand insurance provider operating dynamically in industrial insurance, retail, and broader financial services, synergizing structural operations, shared data acquisition networks, and general administrative architecture with Hannover Re.

Investments and capital expenditure plans

Hannover Re fundamentally manages its capital allocation through a rigorous internal capital model adhering strictly to Solvency II paradigms.

Investment Portfolio Base: Reached EUR 65,888.2 million in 2024. The overwhelming priority rests on generating highly stable, risk-commensurate returns utilizing investment-grade fixed-income assets.
Strategic Allocation: Government bonds constitute 33.2% of assets, while corporate bonds form 31.5%.
Alternative Investments & ESG: The enterprise harbors expanding commitments targeting uncalled capital in private equity (EUR 1,909.0m) while forcefully driving an Environmental Strategy to decarbonize the liquid asset portfolio—specifically targeting a 70% reduction in EVIC-based GHG intensity by 2030 (from a 2019 baseline).

Future strategy

The Group Strategy 2024–2026, designated as “Staying Focused. Thinking Ahead.”, operationalizes deep tactical targets bridging pure financial outperformance with environmental stewardship.

Target Architectures: The framework mandates average yearly ROE exceeding 14%, annual EBIT expansion topping 5%, and a Solvency II adequacy floor perpetually sustained above 200%.
Business Level Strategies: Entails heavy integration of the “People & Culture Strategy” to shield talent pools, alongside profound structural ESG underwriting protocols limiting thermal coal exposure to zero by 2038.
Digitalization and IT: Preparing systems for the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) and the EU AI Act, ensuring absolute supremacy in cyber security and advanced algorithmic risk pricing.

Key strengths

The intrinsic capacity to generate extreme value stems directly from Hannover Re’s competitive characteristics.

Cost Leadership: The company conducts business maintaining a uniquely low administrative expense and cost of capital, offering unparalleled competitive market pricing.
Capital Resiliency: Demonstrating a Solvency II ratio of 261.2% in 2024 validates immense shock absorption capabilities against ultimate catastrophe scenarios.
Extreme Diversification: Operating symmetrically across heavily uncorrelated L&H and P&C classes locally and globally curtails exposure to unilateral regional market failures.

Key challenges and risks

In navigating the systemic global environment, the company catalogs acute multi-faceted threats managed via its internal control architecture.

Physical Climate Risk: Escalating frequencies of catastrophic anomalies (severe convective storms, wildfires, flooding) present direct profitability erosion potentials requiring ceaseless NatCat model calibrations.
Geopolitical Instability: Armed conflicts stretching across Ukraine and the Middle East, matched by possible US protectionist tariff policies, escalate supply chain breakdowns and macroeconomic inflation.
Cyber & Accumulation Risks: Accumulation catastrophes linked to widespread digital systems failures, such as CrowdStrike-related outages, trigger intense claims frequencies requiring tight capacity discipline.
Social Inflation: Phenomenal rises in litigation expenditures, notably in North American liability and casualty lines, force reactive claims adjustments.

Conclusion and strategic outlook

Hannover Rück SE emerges from the 2024 financial year commanding an unprecedented operational zenith. Fortified by an impregnable capital foundation, a fiercely calibrated investment strategy yielding over EUR 2.0 billion in income, and structural advancements across emerging ILS and specialty market divisions, the reinsurer is definitively postured for future dominance. Projecting into 2025 and 2026, the management anticipates sustained Group net incomes orbiting EUR 2.4 billion to EUR 2.7 billion respectively, anchored by highly favorable pricing climates in P&C and escalating structural demand in L&H sectors. Emphasizing agility, cost discipline, and profound ecological transitioning, Hannover Re secures its standing as the indispensable backbone of the modern global insurance paradigm.

FAQ section

What are Hannover Re’s main business segments? Hannover Re operates predominantly through two massive core segments: Property & Casualty (P&C) Reinsurance and Life & Health (L&H) Reinsurance, which structure the totality of its risk-transfer frameworks.

Who are the majority owners of Hannover Re? Talanx AG is the controlling parent corporation of Hannover Re, maintaining a precise 50.2% equity ownership stake within the enterprise.

What is the company’s dividend payout for 2024? Management has proposed a supreme distribution of EUR 9.00 per share for 2024, explicitly constructed from a regular base dividend of EUR 7.00 matched with a special dividend buffer of EUR 2.00.

What is the strategic focus of Hannover Re between 2024 and 2026? Guided by the motto “Staying Focused. Thinking Ahead.”, the strategy centers exclusively on sustaining >14% Return on Equity, generating >5% average EBIT growth, increasing CSM parameters, and achieving definitive operational decarbonization.

How does climate change impact Hannover Re? Climate change is recognized as a profound physical and transitional risk modifying pricing requirements for natural catastrophes; conversely, it acts as a colossal growth vector surging global demand for bespoke reinsurance protection capacities.

Official Site: https://www.hannover-re.com/

Source: Content on FirmsWorld.com is based on publicly available corporate filings, regulatory disclosures, annual reports, SEC 10-K filings, investor relations materials, and, where applicable, direct communications with the company.