Annual Report 2011 - R+V Versicherung

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Business development and basic conditions
Thanks to its numerous initiatives, such as the parent-child
offices and the fitness centre, R+V was awarded the coveted
accolade of ‘Top Employer in Germany’ by the research company
CRF for the fourth time in 2011. R+V also entered the
Germany-wide competition ‘Germany’s Best Employer’, run by
the Great Place to Work ® Institute, and was awarded the seal of
approval ‘Germany’s Best Employer 2011’ in its first attempt.
Its position as an attractive employer offers R+V advantages in
terms of the recruitment of qualified specialist staff and binds
employees from its own ranks even closer to the company.
Also in 2011 R+V supported numerous community initiatives
which have their roots in the corporate concept of ‘help for
self-help’. These range from the Kinder-Unfallhilfe initiative,
which campaigns for increased children’s safety on the roads,
to a theatre group of people with disabilities run by Lebenshilfe
Wiesbaden e.V and the Wiesbaden BürgerKolleg foundation.
The BürgerKolleg foundation is the first organisation in Germany
to offer educational and training programmes free of
charge for volunteer workers in Wiesbaden.
In terms of customer care, the values of partnership and service
are traditionally at the forefront. This is documented in
R+V’s commitment to the code of conduct for the sale of insurance
products of the Gesamtverband der Deutschen Versicherungswirtschaft
e.V (GDV, or German Insurance Association).
The customer-friendly rules of conduct signed by all
R+V domestic insurance companies were also a guideline for
R+V’s work in 2011.
Association memberships
The company is a member of the following associations/organisations
among others:
– Gesamtverband der Deutschen Versicherungswirtschaft e.V.
(GDV, or German Insurance Association)
– International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation
(ICMIF)
– Association of Mutual Insurers and Insurance Cooperatives
in Europe (AMICE)
– Association des Professionnels de la Réassurance en France
(APREF)
Important legal and financial influences
Macroeconomic development in 2011
In spite of the debt crisis in Europe, economic trends in
Germany continued to prove unusually robust in 2011. Gross
domestic product went up by 3.0% compared with 3.7% in
the previous year. There were positive developments in the
employment market. The number of people registered as
unemployed fell to just below the three million mark thereby
reaching its lowest level for a decade.
Developments on the capital markets
In 2011, the capital markets were dominated by the sovereign
debt crisis and the resulting economic recession. The crisis in
individual countries in Europe escalated into a eurozone crisis
and a global sovereign debt crisis. The USA had its highest
rating, the AAA rating, revoked by one of the largest rating
agencies. Many eurozone countries and their affiliated banks
have had to accept significant rating downgrades. In addition
to a significantly deteriorating economic situation, there were
also special factors such as the nuclear disaster in Japan,
caused by the earthquake in March, and political unrest in
the Arab countries.
The sovereign debt crisis forced the peripheral eurozone
countries in particular to introduce austerity measures which
were in part accompanied by changes of government and economic
downturns. It led to the European Central Bank (ECB)
purchasing government bonds – for the first time ever and
contrary to its policy – and to the creation of new European
Institutions such as the European Financial Stability Facility
and the European Financial Stability Mechanism in order to
combat future crises. The new rescue package for Greece was
anchored by the involvement of a large number of private
creditors which led to an investment blockade. In addition to
Greece, Portugal and Ireland, which were no longer able to
refinance themselves on the capital market, this was also becoming
increasingly difficult for Spain and Italy. Many markets
experienced risk aversion which had a ripple effect.