19.12.1938

Zurich

United Arab Emirates

Swiss Re celebrated its 75th anniversary in 1939. Premium income the year before was CHF 297 million. The company had 426 employees and treaties were in force with 546 companies.

"Unlike the first two 25-year periods which, despite some differences in terms of development, were marked by the same difficulties, the next 25-year period from 1914-1938 was set in the war and post-war years. During this time, we grew from a medium-sized, solidly positioned company into a global corporation.

Our business volume and net assets increased significantly. Although, during the war we went through a period of unparalleled expansion which continued for around 15 years without significant setbacks, the extraordinary times later posed severe challenges for our company. The economic difficulties, experienced on an unprecedented scale in the post-war years and which led to serious crises, brought catastrophic fluctuations for currencies and prices.

In terms of currencies, two key eras occurred during this 25-year period: inflation during the initial post-war years and the devaluations which began in 1931. [...] In contrast to the first 50 years of its existence, the write-off account played a fateful role during these 25 years, and it was only the outstanding underwriting on average which shielded the company from the full force of its devastating impact."

Paul GuggenbühI: "Hausstatistik Vol 1, 1863-1938"

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