Letter from the CEO
Patrick Thiele
President and Chief Executive Officer
Sustainability and Consistency
The year was also replete with dramatic changes in management and wrenching restructurings of many large companies. You, our shareholders, like our clients and employees, deserve consistency in approach. Volatility and instability in culture and management style are not helpful, certainly not in the reinsurance business. You have to be comfortable that the Company you know today will be there in the future in a similar form.
Our management team is driven by the goal of sustaining and building this Company over the long term. Earnings fluctuate from year to year, revenues go up and down depending on the cycle, and capital markets are not stable. There are lots of things we cannot control. What we can control in our pursuit of sustainability is our vision, strategies, policies and – most importantly – our culture and our people.
We are confident that we have established effective operational policies and organizational structures that guide decision-making based on the best interests of both the Company and the individual. These policies, structures and expectations are an integral part of the Company and are intended to be relevant far into the future.
But structure, policies and culture are not enough. To ensure consistency and continuity, we have to develop executive and senior managers that share the same values and have a high level of complementary skills. When I look at the executives and senior managers of today and the future (the names and pictures of whom are spread throughout this report), I see an enormous amount of talent and people who understand and support our vision of the future. Next >
