Munich Re, founded in 1880, is one of the world’s oldest and largest reinsurers.
The company was established in Munich as Münchener Rückversicherungs-Gesellschaft. Reinsurance became increasingly important as industrialization, urban growth, and international trade created losses too large for many primary insurers to bear alone.
Munich Re has operated across property-casualty, life, health, and specialty reinsurance. It also became closely associated with research into natural catastrophes and emerging risks, because insurers need reliable estimates of events such as storms, earthquakes, and floods.
Munich Re is not the same company as Allianz, which is primarily known as a large direct insurer and financial-services group. Nor is it Swiss Re, its major Swiss counterpart. The German company’s name is often shortened internationally to Munich Re, although its legal name refers to Munich Reinsurance Company.