“When we talk about REO or Regional Executive Office Eastern it means we are looking at seven countries in which we have offices:
Germany, our biggest country in terms of business and Austria, which together form the Germanic cluster, Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary, we call the PCH cluster, plus Russia and the Ukraine.
Therefore, I would call it one of our most diverse regions for culture, tradition, politics and in terms of insurance and reinsurance markets.
Our profile in the seven countries is different, ranging from our footprints, products and solutions to competitive landscapes and opportunities.
Germany, for example, is one of the largest insurance markets in the world and also for us the biggest market within the Eastern region. We write most of the P&C lines here and have a strong A&H presence in both corporate business and direct marketing. Also, our footprint in Personal Lines is well-established.
In Austria, we write similar business - so all P&C lines and A&H, just on a smaller scale.
In Poland and the Czech Republic, we have a good mix of all business segments, and are one of the market leaders in Financial Lines in Poland. Hungary is pretty different from the other countries as we are one of the market leaders with our personal lines business.
Russia takes a special place in the region. There is a focus on P&C accounts for heavy industry at the moment but we are also seeing a certain demand for our personal lines and A&H business. And we also have a life company in Russia, something special within the Eastern region.
So, the Eastern region has very different markets and challenges: There is no “one size fits all” approach.
All the functions such as underwriting, claims, operations, broker and client management and much more need to adjust to those specific market needs- but that's what I call the fun of running a region.”