HDI

HDI: Everything you need to know

Headquarters address

HDI Platz 1, Hannover, Lower Saxony 30659, Germany

Year established

1903
Size (employees) 5,500+
Insurance revenue €10.3 billion (2025)
Expertise Corporate & specialty insurer
Key people Edgar Puls (CEO)
Financial strength ratings AA- Stable (S&P), A+ (A.M. Best)

About HDI

HDI Global SE is part of the Talanx Group and operates through foreign branches, subsidiaries, affiliates, and network partners in more than 175 countries. It provides a broad range of insurance solutions and services such as cyber, engineering & construction, marine, property & business interruption, and liability insurance.

HDI Risk Consulting GmbH, a subsidiary of HDI Global SE, manages the risk management products on a cross-sectional basis. Meanwhile, engineers and specialists provide companies with loss-prevention support and help them to develop operational risk management systems.

History of HDI

HDI was founded in 1903 and started as a pure liability insurer in Germany as a result of disappointment in the vast difference between premium payments and their benefits.

In 1970, the company merged with Feuerschadenverband rheinisch-westfälischer Zechen, making it the largest German composite insurer.

Over the years, the company has grown to include more than 20 companies in Germany and other countries. In 2003, the Talanx Group emerged from the HGI Group.

In September 2012, HDI and HDI-Gerling merged under the “new old brand” HDI, and Talanx AG went public. In 2016, HDI Global SE started managing the industrial insurance division.

Leadership at HDI

Dr. Edgar Puls – Chief executive officer

Puls joined HDI in 2001 at the Essen office, where he was responsible for property, marine, engineering, and multi-risk products and oversaw the management of the company’s European entities.

In 2019, he became a member of the supervisory board of HDI Systeme AG and the chairman of the board of management of HDI Global SE. He is also a member of the board of management of Talanx AG, where he is responsible for the industrial lines division.

Culture at HDI

HDI believes that complying with the law, taking care of its people and local communities, and providing quality products and services are the key to a successful business.

As a result, HDI established a code of conduct to ensure that its employees remain responsible and ethical. It also provides training events and programmes that allow employees to refresh, expand, and enhance their knowledge of the industry and other compliance-relevant issues.

The company has also established a whistle-blower system that allows employees to report major legal violations anonymously. Once they have reported the offence, the compliance team will take action to contain any damage.

In the news

Talanx posts record H1 profit as HDI Global Canada pushes deeper into specialty

INSURANCE NEWS

Talanx posts record H1 profit as HDI Global Canada pushes deeper into specialty

HDI's parent group joins Munich Re and Swiss Re in posting some of the strongest reinsurance results in years - and the Canadian business is actively expanding the lines behind it

HDI Global Canada opens Vancouver office, expanding Western Canada underwriting

INSURANCE NEWS

HDI Global Canada opens Vancouver office, expanding Western Canada underwriting

Local underwriting authority is the detail that matters - and BC's risk profile explains why

Canada's professional lines market hasn't bottomed out yet, and reinsurance will say so first

PROFESSIONAL RISKS

Canada's professional lines market hasn't bottomed out yet, and reinsurance will say so first

Oren Schemool of HDI Global Specialty says premiums are still falling across the board, but the real signal of a market turn will show up in reinsurance treaties long before it hits primary pricing

Wildfire smoke cancels Ontario summer festivals, exposing gaps in event insurance coverage

CATASTROPHE & FLOOD

Wildfire smoke cancels Ontario summer festivals, exposing gaps in event insurance coverage

As wildfire smoke grounds Ontario festivals, cover remains underused

Aon and Linx bring engineering expertise to Canadian energy and property as gap widens

ENVIRONMENTAL

Aon and Linx bring engineering expertise to Canadian energy and property as gap widens

Two specialist hires signal where Canadian brokers and MGAs are directing technical underwriting investment as renewable energy and battery storage risks multiply

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