The mid-19th century was dominated by epic projects, rapid industrialisation, global trade expansion, and the rise of great urban centres. To manage ever-costlier threats, reinsurance companies emerged as a shock-absorbing financial backstop for the biggest catastrophes that were increasingly putting pressure on the era's primary insurers.
This was the world into which Swiss Re, or the Schweizerische Rückversicherungs Gesellschaft, as we were originally known, was born on 19 December 1863.
While our base is in stable Switzerland, Swiss Re's worldview has always been international, as our founders recognised not only the necessity of swiftly expanding our risk pools to broad geographies, but also the opportunities that accompanied a global approach. We have been evolving ever since, reinventing ourselves to keep pace with risks of the moment while scanning the horizon for emerging threats that will be important to our partners in decades to come.
We don't just mitigate risks. We help make risk-taking possible.
From our first reinsurance contract, a marine insurance treaty concluded days after our formal creation, to our broad portfolio of business now that includes Property & Casualty, Life & Health, corporate insurance and digital insurance for global brands, Swiss Re's commercial activities continue to support the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people worldwide.
By its nature, a reinsurer's role in supporting society when extreme events occur has made us an active participant in the unfolding drama of modern history. The devastating 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire fueled a loss equal to nearly half of Swiss Re's equity. The Great Depression after the 1929 US stock market collapse left its mark, too. We have been called upon to support families during global health crises, from the 1918 Great Influenza to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Shaped by these experiences, we continue to deploy our financial strength, growing risk knowledge and data-driven solutions to help our partners prepare for, manage and recover from a dizzying array of risks that never stop changing. What hasn't changed is Swiss Re's enduring purpose: Helping make the world more resilient.
As we begin the next 160 years of our journey, that's something worth celebrating.
