Magazine date:
Feb 2009 The first weeks of the year 2009 have turned out to be disastrous for Swiss Re. Indeed, the Swiss reinsurer has lost more than 46% of its stock market value in a single month, thus reporting its biggest fall since November 1990. In the fourth quarter of 2008, the group's losses are poised to exceed 1 billion CHF (947 million USD).
According to some analysts, Swiss Re needs a recapitalization worth 5 billion CHF (3.78 billion USD) to maintain its AA rating. Upon announcement of the last results on February 4, 2009, Standard & Poor's has put Swiss Re under surveillance with negative outlook.