Munich Re-Chef v. Bomhard über seine Zeit als CEO

Now this is my last appearance here before you in my office. I would like to make three personal remarks. First, corporate management has become harder due to the environment, pace, digitalization, and the need to balance stakeholders—shareholders, customers, employees, and the public. Trade-offs are common, e.g., dams for clean energy vs. nature, nuclear vs. coal, or coal for poverty in India. We face professional criticism from NGOs but have our own ESG guidelines, such as not insuring cluster bomb producers. We expect employees to raise concerns. These are complex decisions.

Regarding the compensation system addressed by Mr. Fischer: our system is economically based and hard to compare. We believe it is right and passed the crisis stress test. Uniform guidelines from media do not fit our dual-board system with co-determination. Even worse are consultants who rank us poorly then offer to help—that is dishonorable. Not a cent will leave our doors for such constructs. [Applause]

I am glad Mr. Wenning has agreed and cannot back out. Complexity of management is increasing, and our employees must face it without shortcuts. It costs money but is well spent to balance interests. My second point: I have worked over 30 years at this company—a privilege, even more so to lead it. What excited me most is the freedom to swim against the stream. Reinsurance is for the curious; everything global is relevant. Surrounded by smart people, we have a duty to speak out when things go wrong. That courage to contradict has been a special privilege. When asked if I leave with melancholy, I say no, but I will miss this exchange.

My last point: I spare you my enthusiasm for the culture and a summary of 13½ years. I just want to say thank you to my family, who always came second; to colleagues and mentors who taught me reinsurance; to the Supervisory Board—especially Mr. Schindler and Mr. Herbert—for trust and constructive criticism; to my board colleagues, especially Mr. Schneider, with whom I had a symbiotic relationship, daily contact, and occasional sparks flying. Long tenures are valuable in complex reinsurance; we will resist limits on supervisory board terms as long as we can.