Business Class of Excellence

After this two-week course, you will:

Week 1

• Recognise the impact of the global economic outlook on insurance premium and investment income.
• Identify emerging insurance risks such as cyber risks and motor transformation – CASE: Connected, Autonomous, Shared and Electric.
• Evaluate data critically and leverage analytics to open new potential of writing business; and understand how AI can enhance the value chain.
• L&H participants: Understand capital management, different capital regimes and the implications of IFRS 17 on financial steering and how reinsurance can provide solutions.
• Be able to assess yourself against key leadership capabilities and apply those in a case study involving leading a change initiative.

Week 2, Insurance Management Simulation (IMS)

• Establish a corporate strategy and construct a business plan to implement that strategy
• Analyse the business portfolio and develop an underwriting plan to maximise underwriting profitability.
• Construct an investment portfolio that balances risk and return and forms a coherent asset liability matching approach.
• Develop a solvency framework which recognizes the different risk drivers within an insurance company and use this to set and manage risk constraints.
• Evaluate different capacity options and implement a capital management plan to optimise capital efficiency.
• Explain the contribution reinsurance plays within an effective capital management strategy and how it compares with alternative capital sources.
• Work within a team to develop an effective decision-making process that enables you to analyse results, identify key areas to address and construct effective action plans.

Participants are professionals with 5–10 years' experience in insurance companies. They should have a sound underwriting know-how in one or several lines of business, and some financial knowledge would be of advantage. They are recognized as specialists in their fields and have potential to take on further responsibilities within their companies.

The event may be photographed, videotaped, filmed and /or digitally recorded. You consent to Swiss Re's use, free of charge, of any memorialization of the event in which you may appear for any Swiss Re publication or promotional purpose.

The first session will be an introduction to the programme and an opportunity for participants to get to know each other, to learn more about their backgrounds and motivations for attending this course. This will be followed by a welcome dinner at Swiss Re.

Insurance/reinsurance and economic outlook
The course discusses the global economic outlook both on the macro and insurance levels. On the economic outlook side, inflation, recession and interest rates will be described, and their impact on premium, investment income and both sides of the balance sheet in short to long term will be examined.

Sustainability
In this session, we will share our Group's Sustainability strategy which guides us in identifying what is most material. Through this, we aim to reinforce our efforts to make the world more resilient and sustainable. It will highlight how we apply sustainability in underwriting, investing and operations.

Emerging risks
We will explore emerging risks and go through the process of detecting such risks in your environment/market.

Data culture and innovation
This session delivers a comprehensive overview of data literacy topics. It highlights important data matters to successfully manage your and your teams' projects on how to support the journey to become data literate and to drive data-based decisions. Topics include data storytelling, data literacy essentials and decision-making with analytics.

Data-driven insurance: How Artificial Intelligence can move the needle
Data is the lifeblood of insurance, and it affects every step of the value chain from risk assessment and pricing to technical accounting. Insurers invest heavily in the underlying technologies and analytics capabilities to modernize the core of their business and expand into new business models.

In this session, we explain the background, challenges, and opportunities of the digital transformation, with a focus on data, machine learning and AI. We will illustrate - with tangible use cases and projects at Swiss Re - how we use data and AI to get new or better insights. We touch on key capabilities like Natural Language Processing or Predictive Analytics, and we will shed some light on the underlying governance aspects (e.g., Responsible AI).

Cyber risks
We will discuss the opportunities and challenges of an emerging risk on the rise.

P&C class
Technology & changing behaviour impacts to Motor risks
Thanks to the latest technological advancements and behavioural trends, the automotive and mobility ecosystem is undergoing extensive change, which has significant implications on the underlying motor risk. While industry players are still catching up, the result is clear: cars of the future will be Connected, Autonomous, Shared and Electric (CASE). During this session, we will present the trends to guide you through the massive change motor risk is facing.

Parametric solutions
Swiss Re P&C Solutions offers solutions to support you along the entire value chain. We will specifically look at the various parametric solutions - describing their features, advantages and challenges. We will look at CatNet® (Swiss Re‘s online natural hazard atlas), Rapid Damage Assessment (provides fast & accurate loss estimates and actionable insights for insurers after a natural catastrophe event) and Parametric re/insurance (type of insurance that settles on a pre-agreed, simple loss trigger (the "parameter" or "index"). To illustrate how parametric solutions are efficient and cost effective, we will discuss concrete examples of parametric opportunities in your regions.

Engineering and Marine lines of business – their challenges, trends and outlook
We will examine the development of these two lines of business by looking at past results, discuss the current situation, the opportunities and challenges, and lastly the trends in an ever-changing situation globally.

L&H class
We kick off this session with your individual presentation about your respective market, gaining insight and exchange on various matters. This will be followed by an introduction of capital management and overview of different capital regimes. We will run a case study on financial KPIs addressing capital issues for reinsurance, and finally discuss the implications of IFRS 17, which has just gone into effect this year, on financial steering and how reinsurance can provide solutions.

Accounting for insurers and making a complex world simple
We will have a look at Swiss Re financial statements to understand the balance sheet and income statement. In addition, we will show how an insurer accounts for investments and insurance contracts and look at KPIs under current and potential IFRS KPIs under IFRS 17. 

Behavioural economics
Cognitive biases and other factors influence our expert judgement and forecasting performance. Using research in behavioural and decision science, we have developed Swiss Re bestestimates, which can boost your prediction accuracy and make you better forecasters. 
During this course we will review the main biases at play when developing expert judgment, discuss the relevance to insurance and introduce you to the Swiss Re bestestimates techniques. Using an interactive example, you will be able to apply these techniques and see for yourself how this can help in navigating cognitive biases to develop more accurate predictions. 

Leadership competitive advantage
In this engaging session, we will explore how leadership has evolved in the last twenty years and how it can be used as a competitive advantage in a VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity) world. You will have the opportunity to assess yourself against key leadership capabilities and apply those in a case study involving leading a change initiative.
 

• Excursion to Mount Rigi and Lucerne

Insurance business value drivers (how the performance of an insurance company is measured and the strategic levers that are available to improve it)

IMS (Insurance Management Simulation)
The IMS is a unique chance to test decision-making skills, enhance analytical capability and strengthen teamwork. It allows experts to contextualize their research, solutions, models and data analysis within the overall strategy of the insurance provider. You will be part of an executive management team of a small to medium P&C insurer active within a competitive marketplace. You will need to generate attractive returns for your shareholders, while providing a stable capital base and appropriate risk appetite for sustainable performance.

Our IMS program will teach you the key drivers of shareholder value, including underwriting portfolio, capital structure, ALM, solvency and reinsurance requirements.  You will manage projects from big data to sustainability and from consumer experience to product innovation.

IMS (Insurance Management Simulation)
The IMS is a unique chance to test decision-making skills, enhance analytical capability and strengthen teamwork. It allows experts to contextualize their research, solutions, models and data analysis within the overall strategy of the insurance provider. You will be part of an executive management team of a small to medium P&C insurer active within a competitive marketplace. You will need to generate attractive returns for your shareholders, while providing a stable capital base and appropriate risk appetite for sustainable performance.

Our IMS program will teach you the key drivers of shareholder value, including underwriting portfolio, capital structure, ALM, solvency and reinsurance requirements.  You will manage projects from big data to sustainability and from consumer experience to product innovation.

IMS (Insurance Management Simulation)
The IMS is a unique chance to test decision-making skills, enhance analytical capability and strengthen teamwork. It allows experts to contextualize their research, solutions, models and data analysis within the overall strategy of the insurance provider. You will be part of an executive management team of a small to medium P&C insurer active within a competitive marketplace. You will need to generate attractive returns for your shareholders, while providing a stable capital base and appropriate risk appetite for sustainable performance.

Our IMS program will teach you the key drivers of shareholder value, including underwriting portfolio, capital structure, ALM, solvency and reinsurance requirements.  You will manage projects from big data to sustainability and from consumer experience to product innovation.

IMS (Insurance Management Simulation)
The IMS is a unique chance to test decision-making skills, enhance analytical capability and strengthen teamwork. It allows experts to contextualize their research, solutions, models and data analysis within the overall strategy of the insurance provider. You will be part of an executive management team of a small to medium P&C insurer active within a competitive marketplace. You will need to generate attractive returns for your shareholders, while providing a stable capital base and appropriate risk appetite for sustainable performance.

Our IMS program will teach you the key drivers of shareholder value, including underwriting portfolio, capital structure, ALM, solvency and reinsurance requirements.  You will manage projects from big data to sustainability and from consumer experience to product innovation.

Closing of programme, farewell ceremony and lunch