Best Reinsurer for Client Service (GWP of more than $2bn) winner: Swiss Re

The world’s second largest reinsurer was praised repeatedly for its market knowledge and relationship management which closely aligned the organisation with a client’s needs. One respondent commended Swiss Re for its “strength, dedicated underwriting and client symbiosis”.

One respondent added that Swiss Re was consistently present at insurance events, while another said that the reinsurer was always willing to meet to discuss issues. “They listen to the problem and don’t shut the door to negotiations,” added another.

Swiss Re’s prompt responses and professionalism were also highly praised along with the “breadth, depth and level of engagement” of its services.

“Swiss Re is a massive organisation and the people that you deal with are all really sensible, reliable and intelligent,” said one respondent.

SCOR came second with a score of 7.35. The French reinsurer was praised multiple times for its global and client-focused approach. One respondent said that SCOR is “always ready to provide rapid service”, while another added that SCOR “continues to be leaps and bounds above others”.

A number of respondents commended SCOR’s charismatic chairman and chief executive Denis Kessler, with one respondent even declaring a love for him. The SCOR team were also praised as “very knowledgeable underwriters providing good and constructive feedback”.

SCOR’s acquisition of Generali US last year confirmed its rapidly growing status as a truly global and highly rated reinsurer and helped the reinsurer post a record profit in 2013 while also enjoying substantial growth.

Pulling into third place was Munich Re with 7.17 out of 10. The German reinsurer received praise for its responsiveness and expertise. One respondent said “you cannot beat the service they offer”, while another added Munich Re offered “measured and well thought out responses”.

The reinsurer was frequently celebrated for its reliability and willingness to develop products for a client’s needs. It was also commended for its value-added services, including free local seminars, education and predictive analysis.

Hannover Re with 7.13 was pipped to the post for fourth place by PartnerRe with a score of 7.14.

PartnerRe was praised for its “strong combination of technical ability and commercial relationship approach”, along with its familiarity and ease of doing business. A number of respondents added that the reinsurer was a long term business partner and was highly rated.

The team at Hannover Re was praised by a number of respondents as responsive, creative and always trying to help. One respondent said that Hannover Re was a “more opportunist player and a very stable partner”, while others applauded the reinsurer’s expertise in treaty support and esoteric risks.

The companies in the shortlists seen here were selected based on the first stage of the research, conducted via phone interviews and open online polls. Respondents were asked to name three companies they regard highly in this category. They were then asked to give details of why they had chosen these firms.

The shortlist for this category reflects the companies mentioned the most frequently.

The researchers then approached the market a second time and, using this shortlist presented in a random order, asked respondents to score each company out of ten based on how they perceive the firm based on the criteria of this category. It is the results of this part of the survey that are shown here.

More than 500 respondents took part in each part of the survey respectively.

The score shows the average score out of ten that each company received in stage two of the survey.

The shortlist was presented to respondents in a random order.