Swiss Re to return dividends to investors

In a statement, Swiss Re shareholders approved all proposals put forward by the board of directors at Swiss Re’s annual general meeting in Zurich last week.

This included an increased regular dividend of CHF4.25 a share (£2.93) and an additional special dividend of CHF3.00 a share (£2.07). They also approved the share buyback programme and approved in a binding vote the compensation of the members of the board of directors and the group executive committee.

According to chairman Walter Kielholz, the proposals on which 1,612 shareholders voted at the AGM were part and parcel of the company’s management policy.

He said: “These proposals follow the clear capital management policy we have set out over the past few years: maintaining our regular dividend and growing it in line with long-term earnings as our highest priority, followed by business growth where it meets our profitability targets.”

Also at the AGM, the group took the first binding shareholder vote on compensation as required by the Ordinance Against Excessive Compensation at Public Corporations rule.

In its statement, Swiss Re said shareholders had approved the maximum aggregate amount of compensation for members of the board of directors for the next term of office, corresponding to the period between this AGM and the 2016 AGM, with 86.74 per cent of the votes cast in favour of the motion.

Shareholders also approved the maximum aggregate amount of fixed and long-term compensation for the members of the Group Executive Committee for the following financial year (2016) with 90.37 per cent votes in favour.

Analyst view

Ben Cohen, analyst for London-headquartered Canaccord Genuity, has marked the company as a buy.