Guarantee assets

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In the insurance sector, security assets are the part of the assets of an insurance company that serves to secure the claims of policyholders in the event of insolvency . It was introduced into German law on the basis of European legal provisions (the so-called “compulsory liquidation directive”), although similar provisions previously applied in Germany with the cover pool institute.

Special legal restrictions apply to the guarantee assets. These are intended to ensure that sufficient assets are included in the guarantee assets in the event of insolvency to be able to service the claims of the policyholders.

Scope of guarantee assets

The amount of the guarantee assets is based on Section 125 of the Insurance Supervision Act (VAG). The guarantee assets must cover at least the sum of the following items: 

   Beitragsüberträge
   + Deckungsrückstellung
   + Rückstellungen für 
     * noch nicht abgewickelte Versicherungsfälle und Rückkäufe
     * erfolgsunabhängige Beitragsrückerstattung
     * unverbrauchte Beiträge aus ruhenden Versicherungsverträgen
   + festgelegter Teil der Rückstellung für erfolgsabhängige Beitragsrückerstattung
   + Verbindlichkeiten aus dem selbst abgeschlossenen Versicherungsgeschäft gegenüber Versicherungsnehmern
   + als Versicherungsprämie eingenommene Beträge, die ein Versicherungsunternehmen zu erstatten hat (*)
   = Sicherungsvermögen

(*) if an insurance contract or a transaction mentioned in Section 2 (2) VAG has not been concluded or has been canceled.

Security assets as insolvency protection

In order to secure the claims of the insured in the event of insolvency, the guarantee assets are separate assets internally from the other assets of the insurance company and which are not accessible to other creditors . In the event of insolvency, this will first be used to satisfy the claims from the insurance contracts it covers. Assets can only be used to settle other claims if there are still assets left.

The assets belonging to the guarantee assets are listed in a guarantee assets register. In life insurance, substitutive health insurance and private long-term care insurance, the security assets are monitored by a trustee .

Cover pool as the predecessor of the guarantee assets

Until December 2003, the cover pool fulfilled the function of guarantee assets. The cover pool had to be designed in such a way that it offered the greatest possible security and profitability, but at the same time could be liquidated at any time. In addition, it should be appropriately diversified. It was administered separately from the rest of the property. The strict regulatory requirements were monitored by a trustee. With the expansion of the items to be covered (e.g. down payments and premium deposits and a large part of the claims provision were not covered by the cover pool), this hedging instrument was renamed as guarantee assets - also to avoid confusion.

Tied assets

The technical provisions as well as the liabilities and prepaid expenses , insofar as they originate from insurance contracts, form the target value of the tied assets (until 2015). Insofar as the tied assets are not already part of the guarantee assets, they formed the other tied assets . This position is no longer provided since 2016.

Investment regulations

According to Section 125 (5) VAG, the investments of the unit-linked and index-linked life insurance are to be invested in a separate department of the security assets, the investment stock , in the relevant values.

In addition, the provisions of Section 54 of the VAG a apply to the investment of tied assets (and thus of the guarantee assets) . F. and the investment ordinance (AnlV) issued on its basis . The goals of capital investments are security and profitability , taking into account liquidity . The permitted forms of investment are finally described. The principles of mixture (quantitative limitation of individual types of investment) and diversification (to different debtors) must be taken into account. The Investment Ordinance lists the permitted forms of investment ( Section 2 AnlV), requires the observance of special mixing rates ( Section 3 AnlV), contains diversification regulations ( Section 4 AnlV) and requires compliance with the congruence rules ( Section 5 AnlV).

Importance to policyholders

The special protection of assets in the amount of the insurer's obligations under insurance contracts provides special protection for policyholders in the event of the insolvency of an insurer. The claims of the policyholders, although the same among each other, rank above all other creditors as far as funds are included in the guarantee assets. However, apart from policyholders, insurers hardly have any creditors with substantial claims compared to those of the policyholders.

Although the scope of the guarantee assets roughly corresponds to that of the technical provisions, it does not form the basis for certain performance measurements, such as As the profit participation . The proportion of policyholders in investment income is not determined on the basis of the technical provisions associated security assets, but on the basis of all assets of the insurer with special distribution formulas. In the case of unit-linked life insurance, the investments specified in the contracts that are held for the account and risk of the policyholder in accordance with the contractual agreements must be kept in the guarantee assets, but the contracts relate directly to the investments, not to the guarantee assets. In this respect, the guarantee assets are used exclusively for protection in the event of insolvency. The investment income generated by the investments held in the guarantee assets are usually not even recorded separately.

Effects of Solvency II

Since the introduction of Solvency II on January 1, 2016, i.e. the implementation of the EU Directive in national law ( Insurance Supervision Act ), quota / rule-based requirements for guarantee assets are only used for "small insurance companies" within the meaning of Section 211 (1) VAG made. For companies falling under the Solvency II supervisory regime, the quantitative requirements of the Investment Ordinance have been replaced by principle-based investment principles and risk-adequate capital adequacy requirements.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Directive 2001/17 / EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of March 19, 2001 on the reorganization and liquidation of insurance companies
  2. ↑ Kirsten Anna Scharenberg: Capital investment according to Solvency II - now it's the insurers' turn. In: BB viewpoints. Betriebs-Beratung, March 23, 2016, accessed on February 2, 2017 .

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