Risk is ok – but it needs to be managed

Identifying the risks of a business model, assessing them appropriately and making provisions for their occurrence – these are the requirements of a comprehensive risk management system.

One of the primary requirements of the VIG risk management system is to ensure that the obligations assumed under insurance contracts can be met over the long term. And this must still be the case, even if large, unforeseeable losses occur, such as natural disasters. “Nothing will happen” is not an appropriate attitude to take. The years following the economic and financial crisis in 2007 showed that many previously unimaginable things could actually become reality. Transparent, verifiable internal decisions and processes are essential elements in creating an appropriate company-wide risk culture. By observing all existing rules, each employee makes their own individual contribution to a functioning system, including in respect of compliance. VIG uses long-term measures to control underwriting risk and forms provisions to allow it to make future insurance payments. These are based in part on the new Solvency II guidelines, which ensure that risks remain manageable and insurance companies remain resistant to crisis.

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One of Vienna Insurance Group’s core competence is dealing professionally with risk. The VIG risk management system is firmly anchored in the management culture of the Company and is based on a clearly defined, conservative risk policy, extensive risk expertise, a highly developed set of risk management tools, and risk-based Managing Board decisions. Read more about the VIG risk management system in the Group report in chapter Risk management.