R+V Versicherung AG Annual Report

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Apart from the extraordinary burden of the terrorist attacks in the US, 2001 also saw a large number of large claims. These included the explosion at a fertilizer plant near Toulouse/France, the earthquake in El Salvador, tropical storm “Alison” in the southern US, typhoon “Nasi” in Taiwan and the total loss of the “Petrobras” oil platform off the coast of Brazil. Western Europe Growth in industrialized countries of Western Europe declined to an extent not seen since the beginning of the 1990s. While the Japanese economy once again slid into recession, the economy in the European Union continued to grow for a time; nevertheless these countries were increasingly caught up in the global economic downturn. Of the large countries, the UK was the only economy that remained robust. International trade declined, leading to a correspondingly pronounced downturn in industry. While private consumption remained robust in many cases, corporate investment generally declined. The labor market did not remain unscathed either, with the slight improvements previously seen tailing off again. Inflationary trends which had increased in 2000 and were ultimately responsible for the central banks’ restrictive measures, weakened in 2001, partly thanks to the drop in oil prices. The core inflation rate remained persistently high, however. 8 Monetary policy was relaxed during the course of the year in reaction to the economic slump. Interest rates were lowered once again in a concerted effort following the terrorist attacks in the US. All in all, the central banks were on a clearly expansionary course, while financial policy was relatively restrained. In terms of exports, countries which had specialized in IT products suffered the greatest setbacks, losing global market share. Finland, which had reported export growth of up to 20% in the previous year, posted a decline in exports in the year under review. What was surprising was that trade within the European Union declined at times, even though domestic demand expanded in most member states. Exports and imports in the majority of countries and regions generally developed along the same lines, especially since economic development was surprisingly parallel, both in relation to the strong upswing until mid-2000 and to the downturn. Since exchange rates hardly fluctuated, the balance of trade and balance of payments for the individual countries changed very little overall. The European insurance markets bottomed out at the beginning of the year under review and direct insurance rates began to develop positively again in a number of markets. However, these increases were unable to offset claims losses, which remained unsatisfactory. The impact of large claims remained moderate in the first half of the year, with the main events being the sinking of the oil platform off the Brazilian coast and tropical storm “Alison” which led to severe flooding in the southwest of the US.
However, the events of September 11 brought the positive development of this segment to a sudden halt. The largest insurance claim of all time did not just result in technical losses at a number of major direct insurers and reinsurers, it also brought the capital markets down with it. The second half of 2001 suffered further blows in the form of numerous large industrial claims such as the explosion of a fertilizer plant near Toulouse/France and the explosion at a steelworks in Wales. In contrast, the number of claims arising from natural disasters in the year under review was low. Central and Eastern Europe The Central and Eastern European market is currently undergoing radical reform. The contraction of the global economy was scarcely felt in the Central European and Baltic states, due in particular to the efforts of those countries hoping to join the EU. The upward trend of the past year remained largely constant, driven by strong domestic demand. Poland was the exception, with the economy experiencing a considerable cooling-off on account of the restrictive rates set by its central bank. This led to stagnation, in contrast to the high growth rates of previous years. 9 Most countries in Central and Eastern Europe benefited from the rapid progress of the economic reforms and privatization measures, which have made them less susceptible to negative effects from abroad. In addition, the extremely high deficits in the balance of payments of some of these countries had little impact as they were still matched by a high inflow of foreign direct investors. The level of foreign debt was correspondingly low, and exchange rates generally stable. Russia did surprisingly well once more, with its growth rate increasing in the course of the year. The national budget situation eased and the foreign debt problem also declined as a result of the extremely high balance of payment surplus. Investment in the private sector also surged for the third year in a row. The other CIS states also presented astonishingly good results. After what was for some a prolonged lean period with sluggish growth or even slumps in production, real GDP (gross domestic product) increased throughout the region. The reinsurance market developed positively in the past fiscal year. In 2001, Russian insurance companies alone collected approximately 276 billion roubles (€10.4 billion), 62% more in premiums than in the previous year. The market in general began to harden, pushing up rates substantially in certain sub classes, especially for disaster cover.
Page 1 and 2: 2002 R+V Versicherung AG Annual Rep
Page 3 and 4: Content Management Report 4 Proposa
Page 5 and 6: However, the significant increase i
Page 7: Developments on the international r
Page 11 and 12: As a result of the relatively poor
Page 13 and 14: Business development and position o
Page 15 and 16: Liability business developed negati
Page 17 and 18: Including interest on deposits and
Page 19 and 20: In terms of sums insured, the portf
Page 21 and 22: Overall, gross premium income decli
Page 23 and 24: Major claim events such as ”Petro
Page 25 and 26: Shareholder structure As of the bal
Page 27 and 28: Investment risks: In order to creat
Page 29: Significant events and outlook The
Page 32 and 33: Proposal on the Appropriation of Pr
Page 34 and 35: Balance Sheet as of December 31, 20
Page 36 and 37: Equity and liabilities 36 2002 2001
Page 38 and 39: Income Statement for the period fro
Page 40 and 41: 40 2002 2001 € € € € 8. Ext
Page 42 and 43: Premiums and discounts were amortiz
Page 44 and 45: List of Shareholdings Shares in aff
Page 46 and 47: Notes to the Balance Sheet Statemen
Page 48 and 49: Assets C. Investments Present value
Page 50 and 51: Notes to the Income Statement I. 1
Page 52 and 53: Dr. Jürgen Förterer Chairman Wolf
Page 54 and 55: Auditors’ Report We have audited

R+V Versicherung AG Annual Report

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