Suva returns to the black in 2023
Published: Friday, Jun 14th 2024, 11:50
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After being in the red in the previous year, Suva returned to profit in 2023. The upturn on the stock market has brought a good investment result. Now Suva is once again significantly reducing premiums for next year.
Swiss Accident Insurance (Suva) made a total business profit of CHF 309 million last year, as announced at its annual media conference on Friday. In the previous year, it had suffered a loss of 152 million francs due to the plunge on the financial markets following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.
The wind has now changed on the financial markets: Suva achieved an investment performance of 4.8% in 2023, resulting in a net investment result of CHF 2.6 billion. This contributed to the good financial situation, Suva wrote. Suva is putting CHF 1 billion of this money into the accumulation of provisions for investment risks, and CHF 1.1 billion will be distributed to the benefit of insured persons.
The solvency ratio improved to 190% after 151% in the previous year. In 2022, Suva's investments had fallen by 8.1 percent, resulting in an investment loss of CHF 4.9 billion.
Lower risk of accidents at work
In the insurance business, however, Suva has become less profitable. It achieved an underwriting profit of CHF 286 million, compared to CHF 344 million in the previous year. Suva registered a total of 495,000 accidents. This is roughly the same number as the previous year.
The risk of accidents at work is following the long-term trend: the number of newly registered accidents per 1000 insured persons has fallen by 10 percent in the last ten years. Investments in prevention are having an effect: The workplace has become safer. In non-occupational accident insurance, the accident risk has remained stable.
The pleasing development of the accident risk and the positive underwriting result would allow the average net premiums in occupational accident insurance to be reduced by around 4%. In non-occupational accident insurance, there will be a reduction of around 5%.
Suva's financial situation remains solid. The Suva Council has therefore decided to continue the reimbursement of capital gains surpluses. For the year 2025, net premiums will be further reduced by 20 percent. This will result in a refund of around CHF 730 million to the insured persons. As a result, the total premium burden for insured persons will fall to its lowest level in 40 years.
New President of the Suva Council
There has been a change at the top of the Suva Council. The Council has elected Andreas Rickenbacher as the new Chairman. As the representative of the Confederation, Rickenbacher succeeds Gabriele Gendotti, who had been President since 2018 and stepped down due to age.
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