Hannover Re

Hannover Re, legally known as Hannover Rück SE, is a German reinsurance group headquartered in Hannover. Founded on 6 June 1966, it provides reinsurance and related risk-transfer services to insurance companies and other risk-bearing institutions internationally. Its business is organized principally into Property & Casualty Reinsurance and Life & Health Reinsurance, giving the group exposure to a broad range of insurance risks rather than concentrating on a single line of coverage. In Property & Casualty Reinsurance, Hannover Re writes treaty and facultative business and develops structured reinsurance solutions. These activities can cover large and complex portfolios, individual risks, catastrophe exposures, and arrangements designed to improve an insurer’s capital position or manage volatility. The group’s German property-and-casualty business is handled by its subsidiary E+S Rück, while Hannover Re focuses much of its international property-and-casualty activity through its broader global platform. The Life & Health Reinsurance division provides protection and financing solutions across life and health insurance. In addition to traditional mortality, longevity, morbidity, and health-related risk transfer, the division supports clients with new-business financing, financial optimization, and product partnerships. This allows Hannover Re to participate in both conventional reinsurance and longer-term strategic arrangements with primary insurers. The company expanded beyond Germany during the 1970s by entering the United States and Japanese markets. Its international development continued with the 1981 acquisition of the Hollandia Group, now associated with Hannover Re Group Africa, and the 1990 acquisition of Hamburger Internationale Rückversicherungs-AG. In 1994 Hannover Re became a listed company and completed an early capital-markets transaction by securitizing natural-catastrophe risks, an important step in the development of insurance-linked securities. A further structural change came in 1996, when Eisen und Stahl Rück was integrated into the group. That business subsequently became E+S Rück and assumed responsibility for German property-and-casualty reinsurance, supporting the division of domestic and international market responsibilities. In 2013 the company adopted the European Company legal form and began trading as Hannover Rück SE. Hannover Re operates through a large international network of subsidiaries, branches, and representative offices on all five continents. Its locations include markets in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia, and Europe. The group is generally described as one of the world’s leading reinsurers and, in the referenced material, as the third-largest reinsurance group by scale. Its majority shareholder is Talanx AG, while the balance of the shares is held by institutional and private investors. Beyond its commercial operations, Hannover Re supports cultural and sustainability-related initiatives through the Hannover Re Foundation. Established in 1991 for the company’s twenty-fifth anniversary, the foundation initially focused on contemporary art and regional cultural institutions, including the Sprengel Museum Hannover. Its mandate was broadened in 2022 to include projects involving environmental and climate protection, education, science, research, and preventive protection against natural disasters. The group also maintains a corporate art collection. In 2025, Clemens Jungsthöfel succeeded Jean-Jacques Henchoz as chief executive officer, marking a change in the group’s top executive leadership.

Hannover Re was established in Hannover on 6 June 1966 as a specialist reinsurance company. During its first decade, the group developed its domestic base and then began extending its reach into major overseas insurance markets. In the 1970s it entered the United States and Japan, two markets that became important elements of its international strategy. The group’s external growth accelerated in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1981 Hannover Re acquired the Hollandia Group, its first acquisition of a foreign insurance group. That business is now associated with Hannover Re Group Africa. In 1990 the company acquired Hamburger Internationale Rückversicherungs-AG, further broadening its platform and scale. A decisive corporate milestone occurred in 1994, when Hannover Re went public. The same year, it completed a pioneering transaction that transferred natural-catastrophe risks to capital-market investors through securitization. This demonstrated the group’s willingness to combine traditional reinsurance with alternative risk-transfer methods and helped establish its profile in insurance-linked capital markets. In 1996 Eisen und Stahl Rück was integrated into the Hannover Re Group. The resulting organizational arrangement divided responsibilities between the group’s international business and the German property-and-casualty market. Hannover Re concentrated on foreign insurance markets, while Eisen und Stahl Rück, subsequently known as E+S Rück, became responsible for German property-and-casualty reinsurance. Over time, Hannover Re developed into a diversified global reinsurer covering all major lines of property and casualty as well as life and health reinsurance. Its Property & Casualty division writes treaty and facultative reinsurance and provides structured solutions. Its Life & Health division supports insurers with risk protection, new-business financing, financial optimization, and product partnerships. The company’s international network expanded to subsidiaries, branches, and representative offices across all five continents. In 2013 Hannover Re changed its legal form to a Societas Europaea, or European Company, and adopted the trading name Hannover Rück SE. The structure reflected its increasingly international orientation while preserving the Hannover Re brand used in international markets. Talanx AG became and remains the majority shareholder, holding 50.2% of voting rights, with other shares distributed among institutional and private investors. The Hannover Re Foundation was created in 1991 to mark the company’s twenty-fifth anniversary. Its original purpose was to support contemporary art and culture in the Hannover region, including the acquisition of works placed on permanent loan to the Sprengel Museum Hannover. It also supported institutions such as the Kunstverein Hannover, Kestnergesellschaft, Wilhelm Busch Museum, and Art Museum of Celle. In 2022 the foundation expanded its mandate to include sustainability-oriented projects involving climate and environmental protection, education, science, research, and disaster prevention. From 2023 it also assumed responsibility for the Masterclass Students exhibition series, originally launched in 2014 with Braunschweig University of Art. In 2025 Clemens Jungsthöfel took over as chief executive officer from Jean-Jacques Henchoz. Hannover Re continues to operate as an active, publicly listed global reinsurance group with its main business organized around Property & Casualty and Life & Health reinsurance.

1. 2025Clemens Jungsthöfel becomes CEO

   Clemens Jungsthöfel succeeded Jean-Jacques Henchoz as chief executive officer.

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2. 2023Foundation assumes responsibility for Masterclass Students

   The foundation took responsibility for the Masterclass Students exhibition series, established in cooperation with Braunschweig University of Art in 2014.

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3. 2022Foundation broadens its mandate

   The Hannover Re Foundation expanded its support from art and culture to sustainability-related projects, including climate protection, education, research, and disaster prevention.

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4. 2013Conversion to a European Company

   The group changed its legal form to Societas Europaea and traded as Hannover Rück SE.

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5. 1996Eisen und Stahl Rück is integrated

   Eisen und Stahl Rück joined the group and later became E+S Rück, taking responsibility for German property-and-casualty reinsurance.

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6. 1994Public listing and catastrophe-risk securitization

   Hannover Re became a publicly listed company and securitized natural-catastrophe risks for the capital market.

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7. 1991Hannover Re Foundation is established

   The foundation was created for the company’s twenty-fifth anniversary, initially focusing on regional art and cultural support.

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8. 1990Acquisition of Hamburger Internationale Rückversicherungs-AG

   The group acquired Hamburger Internationale Rückversicherungs-AG as part of its expansion.

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9. 1981Acquisition of the Hollandia Group

   Hannover Re acquired the Hollandia Group, its first acquisition of a foreign insurance group; the business is now associated with Hannover Re Group Africa.

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10. 1970Expansion into the United States and Japan

    During the 1970s, Hannover Re entered the United States and Japanese reinsurance markets.

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11. 1966Hannover Re is founded

    Hannover Re was founded on 6 June 1966 in Hannover, Germany.

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A diversified, internationally oriented reinsurer serving insurers through broad property-and-casualty and life-and-health capabilities, with additional expertise in structured solutions and capital-markets risk transfer.

• Property & Casualty ReinsuranceReinsurance

  Hannover Re’s Property & Casualty business provides reinsurance across a broad range of non-life risks. It writes treaty arrangements covering portfolios of policies, facultative placements for individual or unusual risks, and structured solutions designed around clients’ capital, earnings, or risk-management needs. The business includes catastrophe and other large-loss exposures and serves insurance markets internationally. German property-and-casualty business is written by the group’s E+S Rück subsidiary.

• Life ReinsuranceReinsurance

  The Life Reinsurance business provides worldwide reinsurance protection for life-insurance risks. It can support primary insurers with traditional risk transfer as well as financing and balance-sheet solutions associated with new business. Its scope includes arrangements intended to help clients manage long-term liabilities and optimize financial resources.

• Health ReinsuranceReinsurance

  Hannover Re offers health reinsurance across international markets. The division works with insurers on risk protection and on broader product and market arrangements, including support for strategic positioning. Health capabilities sit within the group’s combined Life & Health Reinsurance business.

• Structured Reinsurance SolutionsRisk-transfer solution

  Structured reinsurance solutions are customized arrangements for insurers whose needs extend beyond conventional treaty or facultative coverage. They may be designed around capital management, financial optimization, new-business financing, or the reduction of earnings volatility. The reference material identifies structured solutions as a core capability of Hannover Re’s Property & Casualty and Life & Health activities.

• Natural-Catastrophe Risk SecuritizationInsurance-linked risk transfer1994

  Hannover Re used capital-market securitization to transfer natural-catastrophe risks in 1994. Rather than relying exclusively on traditional reinsurance capacity, this approach connected catastrophe exposure with investors in the capital markets and became an early example of the group’s involvement in alternative risk transfer.

• 2025Change in chief executive leadershipOther

  Hannover Re reached a scheduled leadership transition at the top of the executive organization.

  What changed. Clemens Jungsthöfel succeeded Jean-Jacques Henchoz as chief executive officer.

  Aftermath. Jungsthöfel became the group’s chief executive while Hannover Re continued operating through its Property & Casualty and Life & Health businesses.

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• 2013Convert to Societas EuropaeaStrategy

  The company had become increasingly international in its operations and organizational structure.

  What changed. Hannover Re converted its legal form to a European Company and traded as Hannover Rück SE.

  Aftermath. The conversion aligned the legal form with the group’s cross-border identity while retaining the Hannover Re international brand.

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• 1996Separate international and German property-and-casualty responsibilitiesStrategy

  Following the integration of Eisen und Stahl Rück, the group reorganized responsibilities between international business and the German property-and-casualty market.

  What changed. Hannover Re focused on foreign insurance markets, while Eisen und Stahl Rück, later E+S Rück, assumed responsibility for German property-and-casualty reinsurance.

  Aftermath. The arrangement created a distinct domestic platform within the broader Hannover Re Group while supporting the group’s international orientation.

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• 1994Use capital-market securitization for natural-catastrophe risksOther

  Hannover Re sought to broaden the capacity available for catastrophe-risk transfer beyond conventional reinsurance.

  What changed. The company securitized natural-catastrophe risks for the capital market, an early transaction of its kind for a reinsurer.

  Aftermath. The transaction established an important historical milestone in Hannover Re’s alternative risk-transfer and insurance-linked-securities activities.

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• 2025Clemens Jungsthöfel becomes Hannover Re chief executive

  Clemens Jungsthöfel succeeded Jean-Jacques Henchoz as chief executive officer of Hannover Re.

  Leadership change
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• 2013Hannover Re adopts the European Company legal form

  The company converted its legal form to a Societas Europaea and began trading as Hannover Rück SE.

  Other
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• 1994Hannover Re completes an early natural-catastrophe risk securitization

  The company became the first reinsurer identified in the reference material to securitize natural-catastrophe risks for capital-market investors.

  Other
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1. Hannover Re
2. Hannover Re official website