Media release: Strategic partnership between Helvetia and the Institute for Young Entrepreneurs (IFJ)

Media release

Basel, 20 October 2020

Strategic partnership between Helvetia and the Institute for Young Entrepreneurs (IFJ)

On 1 January 2021, Helvetia and the Institute for Young Entrepreneurs (IFJ) will launch a strategic partnership. Its long-term objective: the continuing development of the SME business segment. Helvetia is thus making a sustainable contribution to the promotion of the Swiss entrepreneurial landscape.

Helvetia and IFJ intend to maintain their strategic partnership in the long term. This cooperation strengthens Helvetia's support for SMEs and the services it provides for them. IFJ and Helvetia aim to consolidate their position as expert partners for start-ups and SMEs, thus making a sustainable contribution to the promotion of the Swiss business landscape.

Adding value for start-ups and SMEs

In the past 31 years, IFJ has helped over 150,000 entrepreneurs to achieve independence, making it the preferred first port of call for start-ups in Switzerland. IFJ's many partnerships enable it to provide comprehensive start-up support, free of charge. In addition to start-ups, another central task is its support for fledgling companies throughout all entrepreneurial phases.

In IFJ, Helvetia is gaining a partner with many years' experience in the field of start-up promotion and support for SMEs, whose needs it knows inside out. The cooperation gives Helvetia broader access to two core target groups: start-ups and SMEs. It also enables Helvetia to support its clients in the insurance/administration sector from the outset, and to help them to achieve their business ambitions. "Our partnership with IFJ", says Adrian Kollegger, Head Non-Life Helvetia Switzerland, "reinforces our expertise in the SME business segment. The cooperation creates new opportunities for both partners, as well as valuable synergies between us. This offers clear added value, for IFJ's start-up entrepreneurs as well as our SME clients."

This media release is also available on our website www.helvetia.ch/media.

For further information please contact:

Analysts Susanne Tengler Head of Investor Relations Phone: [phone] [e-mail]

Media Jonas Grossniklaus Senior Manager Corporate Communications & PR Phone: [phone] [e-mail]

About the Helvetia Group

In over 160 years, the Helvetia Group has grown from a number of Swiss and foreign insurance companies into a successful international insurance group. Helvetia is one of the leading all-line insurers in its home market of Switzerland. With the countries Germany, Italy, Austria and Spain, which have been combined to form the Market Area Europe, the company has a second strong pillar. With its Specialty Markets market area, Helvetia is also present in France and in selected regions worldwide. Some of its investment and financing activities are managed through subsidiaries and fund companies in Luxembourg. The Group is headquartered in St.Gallen, Switzerland.

Helvetia is active in the life and non-life business, and also offers customised specialty lines and reinsurance cover. Its business activities focus on retail customers as well as small and medium-sized companies and larger corporates. With some 11,500 employees, the company provides services to more than 7 million customers. With a business volume of CHF 9.45 billion, Helvetia generated an IFRS result after tax of CHF 538.1 million in financial year 2019. The registered shares of Helvetia Holding are traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange under the symbol HELN.

Cautionary note

This document was prepared by Helvetia Group and may not be copied, altered, offered, sold or otherwise distributed to any other person by any recipient without the consent of Helvetia Group. The German version of this document is decisive and binding. Versions of the document in other languages are made available purely for information purposes. Although all reasonable effort has been made to ensure that the facts stated herein are correct and the opinions contained herein are fair and reasonable, where any information and statistics are quoted from any external source such information or statistics should not be interpreted as having been adopted or endorsed as accurate by Helvetia Group. Neither Helvetia Group nor any of its directors, officers, employees and advisors nor any other person shall have any liability whatsoever for loss howsoever arising, directly or indirectly, from any use of this information. The facts and information contained in this document are as up to date as is reasonably possible but may be subject to revision in the future. Neither Helvetia Group nor any of its directors, officers, employees or advisors nor any other person makes any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this document.

This document may contain projections or other forward-looking statements related to Helvetia Group which by their very nature involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and there is a risk that predictions, forecasts, projections and other outcomes described or implied in forward-looking statements will not be achieved. We caution you that a number of important factors could cause results to differ materially from the plans, objectives, expectations, estimates and intentions expressed in such forward-looking statements. These factors include: (1) changes in general economic conditions, in particular in the markets in which we operate; (2) the performance of financial markets; (3) changes in interest rates; (4) changes in currency exchange rates; (5) changes in laws and regulations, including accounting policies or practices; (6) risks associated with implementing our business strategies; (7) the frequency, magnitude and general development of insured events; (8) mortality and morbidity rates; (9) policy renewal and lapse rates as well as (10), the realisation of economies of scale as well as synergies. We caution you that the foregoing list of important factors is not exhaustive; when evaluating forward-looking statements, you should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties. All forward-looking statements are based on information available to Helvetia Group on the date of its publication and Helvetia Group assumes no obligation to update such statements unless otherwise required by applicable law.

Media release (PDF)

Provider		Channel		Contact
EQS Group Ltd., Switzerland switzerland.eqs.com		newsbox.ch www.newsbox.ch		Provider/Channel related enquiries [e-mail] [phone]