Swiss Re Sets Aside $283 Million in Special Ukraine Reserves

(Bloomberg) -- Swiss Re beefed up its reserves on concern over the fallout of insurance claims related to the war in Ukraine.

The Zurich-based re-insurer booked $283 million in reserves in relation to the war during the first quarter. Its statement comes a day after Germany’s Hannover Re said it may need to take additional provisions in the low triple-digit million-euro range, also citing Russia’s invasion. 

“While the situation remains highly uncertain and we do not believe we have an outsized exposure, we decided to take a proactive and cautious approach to establishing reserves for potential impacts from the war,” Swiss Re Chief Executive Office Christian Mumenthaler said in a statement. 

The reserves are being allocated in aviation, credit and surety, marine, political risk and political violence.  

“We will evaluate this on a quarter-by-quarter basis and if we see the need to book further positions we will,” Chief Financial Officer John Dacey said during a call with reporters. “But right now, we feel like we’ve taken a fairly significant portion of the losses that we’d expect.”

The Swiss company also reported a higher-than-expected loss of $248 million in the three months due to increasing market volatility and the Covid-19 pandemic. The bulk of the loss, $230 million, was reported in Life & Health Reinsurance.

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