Finance & Insurance sector leaders: Swiss Re and Banco Comercial Portugues

March 5, 2002 - Swiss Re and Banco Comercial Portugues lead the Finance & Insurance sector in a global study released today. The Competitive Fitness of Global Firms ranks top North American and European firms across eight business sectors using a composite rating termed Overall Market Effectiveness Capability (OMEC). The study is conducted at INSEAD business school in France and published by Pearson Education.

About 1,225 executives employed in 55 different countries contributed to the 2002 study. Firm OMEC results range from a low of 46 to a high of 82. Only 86 firms, out of the 326 covered, achieved a rating over the World Class level with enough data points. The eight sectors covered were: Automobiles & Automotive, Computers & Electronics, Consumer Goods, Engineering & Machinery, Finance & Insurance, Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare, Process Industries, and Services.

In terms of OMEC, the Finance & Insurance sector remained at 63 in 2002, just below a World Class rating of 65. Approximately 17% of the firms evaluated in this study were classified into this sector.

Swiss Re and Banco Comercial Portugues lead the sector but many firms achieved over the World Class rating of 65 in this sector.

OMEC is based on 12 capabilities that comprise the fundamental capabilities of a firm and hence, its competitive fitness. Those capabilities are: Mission & Vision, Customer Orientation, Corporate Culture, Organization & Systems, Planning & Intelligence, Human Resources, Technical Resources, Innovation, Market Strategy, Marketing Operations, International, and Performance.

While Swiss Re and Banco Comercial Portugues are top performers in this sector, other firms demonstrated specific strength in some capabilities. J.P.Morgan Chase results indicated strength in Performance, Market Strategy, and Mission & Vision capabilities. Swiss Life indicated specific strength in Marketing Operations, UBS in International, Dexia in Planning & Operations, and Credit Suisse Group in Innovation.

E-Business capability improved four points over 2001 to a sector average of 59. Swiss Re leads the sector with an E-Business rating of 80. E-Business is the newest challenge of corporate competitive fitness and the firms in this sector seem to be fairing quite well.

About The Competitive Fitness of Global Firms Report
This report publishes results of an annual study conducted by Professor Jean-Claude Larreche, at INSEAD business school. The study ranks top North American and European firms based on fundamental business capabilities based on a survey of top managers from those firms. The capabilities measured are: Mission & Vision, Customer Orientation, Corporate Culture, Organization & Systems, Planning & Intelligence, Human Resources, Technical Resources, Innovation, Market Strategy, Marketing Operations, International, Performance and E-Business. Out of the 326 firms covered, a total of 86 firms achieved above a World-Class rating for 2002 with BMW, Nokia, and Pfizer ranking as the "best". For more information and results of the study, visit: www.corvaltec.com.