Glossary

Our glossary explains technical terms from the areas finance and reinsurance. We hope it facilitates the understanding of our texts, publications and annual reports. If you have comments or suggestions, please use our feedback form!

• IBNR (Incurred but not reported) reserve
  provision for claims which have already occurred but which have not yet been reported.
• Impairment
  extraordinary amortisation taken when the present value of the estimated future cash flow of an asset is less than its book value.
• Insurance-linked securities (ILS)
  securitised insurance risks, such as catastrophe bonds, derivatives or collateralised reinsurance.
• Insurance pool
  a risk-sharing partnership under civil law formed by legally and economically independent insurers and reinsurers in order to create a broader underwriting base for particularly large or unbalanced risks. The members undertake to write certain risks only within the scope of the insurance pool. They include such risks – while maintaining their commercial independence – in the insurance pool against a commission fee. Each insurer participates in the profit or loss of the insurance pool according to its proportionate interest. Reinsurance is often ceded or accepted in order to further diversify the risk. Pools can be divided into two types: coinsurance pools, in which all members take the role of primary insurers according to their interests, and reinsurance pools, in which a primary insurer writes the risks and then spreads them among the participating insurers by way of reinsurance.
• Insurtech
  term referring to new business models / companies in the insurance industry that focus primarily on the use of new technologies.
• Internal model
  economic capital model verified and approved by the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority that better reflects the company’s risk profile than the standard formula under Solvency II.
• International Securities Identification Number (ISIN)
  ten-character universal code used to identify securities internationally. It is prefixed by a country code that specifies the country where the issuer entity is legally registered or in which it has legal domicile, e. g. DE = Germany.
• Intrinsic value creation (IVC)
  the IVC is calculated according to the following formula: real operating value creation = adjusted operating profit (EBIT) – (capital allocated x weighted cost of capital). IVC is a tool of value-based enterprise management used to measure the accomplishment of long-term targets on the level of the Group, the individual business groups and the operating units (profit centres).
• Investment grade
  investment grade ratings are awarded to companies and assigned to securities that have a low risk profile. They contrast with non-investment-grade ratings, which by definition include speculative elements and therefore entail a significantly higher risk.
• IVC
  cf. Intrinsic value creation
• Issuer
  private enterprise or public entity that issues securities, e. g. the federal government in the case of German Treasury Bonds and a joint-stock corporation in the case of shares.