Year-end report 2015

Stable results in times of change
Folksam and its subsidiaries ended 2015 with yet another strong quarter in respect of both non-life insurance and life insurance. At the same time, the period was characterised by preparations for 2016 onwards. I am very pleased that we finally are operating according to the new Solvency II regulations, an initiative that has required extensive effort. We still need to fine-tune the working methods, but essentially this change means that we are now a more modern financial company compared with the situation before the start of the year.

Although Folksam is still financially strong, we face a number of challenges. The uncertainty in the world economy and China places a question mark over things. We saw lately the stock market turbulence in early 2016 that began in China and quickly spread. And low interest rates are continuing to make their presence felt. Folksam, like all industry stakeholders, therefore have to be satisfied with lower levels of return compared with the last few years.

Sales in respect of both non-life insurance and life insurance are growing according to plan, but they are also driving costs. This is also true of our many development projects. This is why we are now focusing more extensively on ensuring that we can recover the effects of the various initiatives.

We have many things to look forward to in 2016. We are making major progress with regard to our digital presence, and we are launching a new folksam.se. The web is key to our strategy, which involves meeting customers in the places where they want to be met. We were also able to describe our partnership with TeliaSonera last autumn, which will make it possible to connect a newly developed WiFi solution into vehicles and help drivers to “Drive Safely”. This will give our car insurance customers feedback on how safely they drive and allow us to reward them by means of discounts on their car insurance, for instance. This is a solution that has it all: it reduces the number of accidents and saves lives while also helping to benefit both customers and the environment. When we sum up 2015, customers will again share in our bonus interest programme. We will be issuing around SEK 545 million to around 2.5 million customers for the financial year.

We are now, with undiminished vigour, continuing our efforts to become the pension savings and insurance company for the many, with the best offers available in the industry. Our aim – to have the happiest customers in the industry – still stands.

Pleasingly, we are most definitely on the right path. And heading in the right direction.

Jens Henriksson
CEO and Group President