CEO´s review

Jan-Erik Stenman

Dear reader,

The year 2015 was a remarkable year for Veritas. In the autumn, we reached an important milestone when our company celebrated its 110th anniversary.

Many exciting events have impacted on our operations along this long journey, from the introduction of the ‘savings clocks’ in the 1920s to the launch of the statutory earnings-related pension scheme in the 1960s. The century also saw its share of financial crises and periods of political instability, which Veritas has managed to successfully weather time and again.

Continued development is the key to success

Even though Veritas has been around for a long time, it does not mean that we have been standing still. We have continuously developed our operations to better meet the changing needs of our customers.

Going forth, our primary mission will be to ensure that we are providing our customers with precisely the types of products, insurance solutions and services that best correspond to their actual needs.

In order for us to succeed in our mission, the working conditions for our personnel also need to develop in terms of both well-being at work and competence.

By ensuring the professional skills of our personnel, we are able to offer our customers and partners the best possible services now and in the future. By providing support for well-being at work, we promote the ability of our personnel to cope with the busy pace and constantly changing challenges of everyday life.

Listening to customers results in the best service provision

Our personal service reaches nearly 100,000 customers each year. In the past two years, our customers have rated our service as the best in the field*.

The positive feedback we receive encourages us to develop our service concept even further. The digitalization of certain aspects of our operations has generated new tools and working methods for our customer service.

A good result despite the recession

Our national economy is not doing well at the moment.

In light of the lengthy decline, I am especially satisfied with our result. Our growth and new sales are at a good level. Furthermore, thanks to our successful investment activities, our solvency is also high.

I wish to thank all our employees for their excellent work for the benefit of our customers, company and partners. In order to succeed, each of us has to do our personal best – and that is precisely where we, at Veritas, have excelled.

Finland needs strong leadership and wise decisions right now. In the world of business, we need to learn to focus on those factors that will assist us in creating our success stories. On our own, the chances to have an impact are limited, but together, we have the leverage to turn our economy around.

Visions of the future

The future of our pension system rests largely on the development of the Finnish economy. At the moment, the funding of pensions is secured, but if the unemployment crisis continues, it could jeopardize the funding. We need to boost our exports and create new jobs.

As investors, pension companies act as engines driving the economy. Investments in, for example, residential new buildings, start-ups and industry, enable our field to carry its share of social responsibility and to revitalize local growth.

The focus of our activities is and will be on enforcing Finland's national social security through the provision of earnings-related insurance. Our pension scheme is among the world’s best and most efficient, and we must safeguard it through open and reliable administration.

In addition to the personnel, I would also like to extend my gratitude to the individuals elected to positions of trust for their efforts on behalf of our company. I also wish to warmly thank our partners for the past year and their collaboration for the benefit of our customers.

Turku, Finland April 2016

Jan-Erik Stenman

* Taloustutkimus Oy, Field-specific customer satisfaction survey 2015 and 2014

Key figures 2015

2015 2014 %
Premiums written, EUR mill 489,5 470,2 4,1
Pension and other payments made, EUR mill 1) 463,8 454,8 2,0
Net investment income at current value, EUR mill 151,2 159,4  
ROCE, % 5,9 6,5  
Total investments, EUR mill 2 755,8 2 599,7  
Total profit, EUR mill 29,3 61,7
Operating expenses covered by expense loading components included in contributions EUR mill 17,8 16,7  
Operating expenses as a percentage of loading profit 92,9 90,6
Average number of personnel 143 142  
Technical provisions, EUR mill 2 388,9 2 195,2 8,8
Technical provisions, EUR mill 2) 616,6 595,9 3,5
% of technical provisions 3) 28,1 28,9  
in relation to solvency limit 2,2 2,2  
Equalisation provision, EUR mill 129,0 124,2 3,9
Pension assets, EUR mill 4) 2 798,3 2 643,1 5,9
Transferred to client bonuses, EUR mill 6,1 6,1 -0,3
% of Employees Pensions Act payroll incl. portion of co-insurance 5) 0,34 0,35  
Employees Pensions Act payroll, EUR mill 1 627,7 1 597,3 1,9
Self-Employed Persons Pensions Act payroll, EUR mill 256,5 255,1 0,6
Employees Pensions Act policies 7 041 6 931 1,6
Insured under Employees Pensions Act 53 503 53 817 -0,6
Self-Employed Persons Pensions Act policies 10 735 10 739 -0,0
Pension recipients 29 560 28 673 3,1

¹ Payments made and recorded in the income statement, without management charges and work capacity maintenance expenses.
² Includes the equalisation provision.
³ The ratio was computed as a percentage of the technical provisions used in calculating the solvency limit.
⁴ Technical provisions + differences between current and book value.

Our values

Our values

Our values guide us as we endeavour to achieve our goals. Our main goal is to be the best employment pension company for small and medium-sized companies and entrepreneurs.

Our values form the foundation of our customer services, internal and external co-operation and our decision-making processes.

Our values include

  • Strong customer-oriented approach

  • Inspiring collaboration

  • Solution-oriented focus