Risk report

42. Activities and objectives in 2020

Based on external and internal developments, activities in 2020 focused on the following:

  • Covid-19
  • AXA integration
  • Review of (holistic impact assessment)
  • GRC tool implementation

The world was affected by the global Covid-19 pandemic earlier this year, and this has had a significant impact on many nations around the world, on the global economic system and, as a result, on the position of insurance companies. UNIQA therefore set up a crisis management team in which a group of experts from different areas regularly monitors developments associated with the spread of the coronavirus as well as the effects on UNIQA in order to be able to make decisions and implement the corresponding measures. The challenge of having all employees work remotely was mastered within a very short time, meaning that business was able to continue with almost no problems. The crisis management team continues to monitor further developments with the pandemic in order to be able to implement measures at short notice if necessary.

Due to strong capitalisation in recent years, UNIQA already actively expressed its interest and willingness some time ago to make an acquisition in its core markets in Central and Eastern Europe. On 7 February 2020 UNIQA officially announced the acquisition of AXA’s subsidiaries in Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, which was completed on 15 October 2020. This transaction involving the AXA subsidiaries significantly increased UNIQA’s market share and led UNIQA to become the fifth largest player in the CEE market. The preparations and activities for integrating the processes and employees from the new companies into the UNIQA Group began in 2020. This topic continues to affect UNIQA in the fourth quarter of 2020 and beyond, with a merger of the AXA companies with the UNIQA companies being the next step planned. As stated above, the greatest challenge will be the integration of all the processes, employees and IT systems.

As in the previous year, the topic of the Solvency II Review continued to occupy UNIQA in 2020. The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) already published extensive consultation papers in 2019, containing a total of 19 topics divided into two consultation waves. These waves dealt with both qualitative (e.g. Group supervision, macro-prudential issues, reporting and disclosure) and quantitative topics (e.g. risk-free rate, , , own funds). Although the review of is not binding in nature, the initial proposals already determine the direction in which the entire  II framework may change. EIOPA carried out two holistic impact assessments in 2020 on this topic in order to gain an overview of the quantitative impact of the proposals. UNIQA took part in these assessments. There is therefore a project in place with a group of experts analysing the impact of this review on the company. This will enable UNIQA to prepare for upcoming changes in good time and mitigate the risk of being unable to meet future regulatory requirements.

UNIQA has been working intensively on expanding the concept of its internal control system (ICS) in recent years. The primary focus in 2020 was on creating an IT solution for this. A Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) tool was introduced in order to support implementation of the ICS through the systems. The challenge here in particular was in the conceptual coordination of four areas (compliance, security management, data protection and risk management) and then reflecting this in the tool.

Solvency II
European Union Directive on publication obligations and solvency rules for the equity base of an insurance company.
Solvency
An insurance company’s equity base.
Risk margin
Under Section 161 of the Austrian Insurance Supervision Act 2016, the risk margin is an add-on to the best estimate to ensure that the value of technical provisions equates to the amount that insurers and reinsurers would need so that they are able to assume and satisfy their insurance and reinsurance obligations.
SCR
Solvency Capital Requirement. The eligible own funds that insurers or reinsurers must hold to enable them to absorb significant losses and give reasonable assurance to policyholders and beneficiaries that payments will be made as they fall due. It is calculated to ensure that all quantifiable risks (such as market risk, credit risk, life underwriting risk) are reliably taken into account. It covers both current operating activities and the new business expected in the subsequent twelve months.
Solvency II
European Union Directive on publication obligations and solvency rules for the equity base of an insurance company.
Solvency
An insurance company’s equity base.