The Swiss insurance sector is unique in many ways. Although it is not the oldest in the world it has a long tradition, and it is fair to say that it is certainly the safest in the world. Not one insurance company has ever gone bankrupt or failed to meet its obligations, and strict supervision of the insurance business through the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) ensures this track record will remain.

Switzerland is one of the most important insurance centers in the world and the insurance industry is an important part of the Swiss economy. The sector benefits from a very sophisticated legal and regulatory framework that is geared towards protecting the interests of insured clients and beneficiaries. Holders of policies issued by Swiss insurance companies enjoy a degree of security and protection that is maintained more strictly than in any other country. The sector also benefits from certain tax advantages and, perhaps more importantly, from the wealth of experience and know-how gathered in this sector over generations.

The country’s first insurance company, Schweizerische Rentenanstalt (now Swiss Life), was established in 1857 and the industry has grown substantially ever since.

Thanks to a high quality of life and good universal health insurance coverage, allowing access to a broad range of modern medical services, life expectancy at birth is now 79.4 years for men and 84.2 years for women, which is among the highest in the world.

The Swiss themselves are known to be very well insured: Switzerland has the world’s highest per capita spending on insurance premiums overall and also the highest per capita spending on life insurance premiums.

Switzerland also has one of the most highly developed occupational pension systems in the world. As Swiss pension funds are obliged to fully fund their liabilities, they have accumulated assets of over CHF 500 billion.