Munich Re has indicated that it wants to pull back from the bank strategy it has embraced in recent years.
According to reports chairman Hans-Jürgen Schinzler warned delegates attending the reinsurer's 2002 results presentation: "When it makes sense for us to split from HVB, then we will."
Munich Re's net profit of €1.1bn (£768m) for 2002 was dragged down by €1.4bn (£978m) of losses stemming from its stake in banking group HVB.
Schinzler said: "Better options or grander solutions for distributing our insurance products are theoretically possible."
Schinzler added that he "could not rule out that the first quarter of 2003 would be loss-making".
In its core reinsurance business, he said the full year should show 3-5% growth in premium income. He also forecast an improvement in its combined ratio.
