Maximilian Von Zedtwitz

The re-emergence of China, India, and other formerly small economies as large markets and manufacturing powers has been one of the most significant events of the beginning of the 21st century. Well into the late 1990s, these countries played, at best, a peripheral role in global research and development (R&D) and innovation.

The Swiss Reinsurance Company (Swiss Re) is one of the leading reinsurance organizations, and the world’s largest life reinsurer. Swiss Re was founded in 1863 in Zurich. Today, the company has more than 70 offices in 30 countries worldwide. Swiss Re has maintained the highest official security rating, “AAA”, for decades. The reinsurance business is about insuring primary insurance companies, and therefore a business-to-business activity. The insurance business is based on managing the volatility of risks, i.e. to decrease probability of ruin, decrease tax burdens and cost of capital, and to secure returns to shareholders. Traditional reinsurance products therefore cover the entire spectrum of underwriting risk in the life and non-life areas. Examples of such products include accident, property, third party, car, and travel insurance. In addition, Swiss Re offers insurance-based solutions for enterprise financing and support services for risk management (Swiss Re 2004b). To absorb risk volatility without endangering itself as a reinsurance company, Swiss Re has to be big, diversified and — most importantly — has to understand the insured risks. These three aspects drive globalization. Swiss Re runs three divisions: Property & Casualty, Life & Health, and Financial Services, offering a wide variety of products and services to help manage capital and risk. The business group Property & Casualty offers “non-life” reinsurance products as they are termed, Life & Health contains products related to human life, and Financial Services is responsible for investments, credit and art. There is also a Corporate Center that hosts an IT group, a finance group and the Group Intellectual Property Department.

Case study on Swiss Re concerning its management practices concerning intellectual property