Helvetia overview

Helvetia offers both life and non-life business, as well as related services. It is focused on both private customers as well as SMEs, and in selected sectors, such as specialty lines, it also works with large companies. Helvetia has branch offices in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy and France, and routes some of its investment and financing activities through subsidiaries and fund companies in Luxembourg and Jersey.

Helvetia is active in the life, property and casualty and reinsurance business, and 12k employees provide services to more than 7 million customers. The company is also focused on diversifying its revenue, and it building new business models such as ecosystems (it is working on a home ecosystem in Switzerland, and a health ecosystem in Spain) and investment solutions (such as Helvetia Asset Management). The company has also built its own digital insurance solution, Smile, which launched as part of its 20.25 strategy period. Smile has launched in Switzerland, Austria and Spain.

Helvetia also have their own CVC, the Helvetia Venture Fund. Its portfolio includes Spanish startup Freshurance, German startup Chargery, and Swiss fintech Neon.

In 2019, Helvetia announced its alliance with MoneyPark, the nation's largest independent mortgage broker, to offer exclusive customer service via a Helvetia-based MoneyPark advisory team.

In March 2023 Helvetia announced it was going to launch a direct customer contact service based on OpenAI's ChatGPT technology, to answer customer questions on insurance and pensions.

Helvetia Insurance acquired guarentee insurance specialist Mobile Garantie for an undisclosed amount in April 2023. Helvetia Insurance has been working with Mobile Garantie since 2018 and is the underwriter for large parts of Mobile Garantie's business in Europe. Helvetia has held an investment in Mobile Garantie through its Venture Fund since July 2019.

In September 2023 MoneyPark and Helvetia further solidified its partnership by combining the strengths of their sales forces across Switzerland. This will give more than one million Helvetia customers in Switzerland direct access to MoneyPark services at over 30 locations.

In April 2020 Helvetia hit headlines when it announced it would pay 50% of restaurant BI losses during the Covid-19 pandemic, despite insisting that the risk is legally excluded from its policies.

In October 2023 Helvetia announced it had further internationalised its business after receiving regulatory approval for its UK branch to underwrite specialty lines.

In November 2023 smile.mobility, a liability product for e-scooters, was launched on the Spanish market. Further products are planned for 2024.

Map showing the location of Helvetia

Basel, Switzerland

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Key people

Beat Stalder Group Chief Underwriting Officer
Philipp Gmür CEO