Working closely with Swiss GRC allowed us to combine our internal experience with their technical expertise. Through workshops with consultants and developers, we were able to design a solution tailored to our needs and implement an ISMS that continues to serve as a backbone of our organization today.
Helvetia is a leading Swiss insurance group headquartered in St. Gallen. With around 14,400 employees, the company operates in multiple European markets as well as select international locations. Across its three business segments – non-life, life, and asset management – Helvetia ranks among the largest and most internationally active insurers in Switzerland.
With approximately 14,400 employees worldwide, Helvetia is one of Switzerland’s largest and most internationally active insurance groups. Headquartered in St. Gallen, the company operates in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, and France, as well as in select international markets such as Liechtenstein and Singapore. Helvetia is active across three business segments – non-life, life, and asset management – making it one of the most broadly diversified players in the Swiss insurance market.
Few organizations have advanced as far as Helvetia in the area of information security. By implementing a decentralized ISMS that spans multiple business lines and international locations, Helvetia has set a benchmark for the industry. To realize this ambitious objective, Helvetia partnered with Swiss GRC to co-design and implement one of the most mature ISMS implementations in the market – a system that combines centralized governance with localized execution.
The objectives were clear:
In addition to the core ISMS processes, Helvetia also integrated data protection and physical security requirements into the solution. The alignment of information security and data protection represents a recurring challenge for many organizations, as responsibilities, control frameworks, and regulatory requirements are often managed in silos. By embedding these domains into a unified system, Helvetia was able to streamline complexity, eliminate redundancies, and establish clear lines of accountability.
At the core of the solution is an asset-centric data model, capturing applications, IT services, platforms, and business processes. All changes, risks, and exceptions are linked directly to these assets, providing a flexible and scalable structure.
A hallmark of the program was its deep integration with existing systems, including:
The ISMS is operated in a dedicated Azure cloud instance managed by Swiss GRC. All data resides in Europe and is encrypted with Helvetia’s own keys – a decisive factor for compliance with Swiss data protection laws and the safeguarding of sensitive information.
| Challenge | Solution approach |
| Complex group structure with international subsidiaries | Establishment of a governance framework with a Group Security Officer, Chief Security Officer, and local ISOs |
| Diverse regulatory environments | Alignment with DORA, GDPR, and international standards (ISO, NIST, ISF), adapted locally |
| Heterogeneous system landscape | Development of an asset-centric data model and integration of tools (LeanIX, ServiceNow, Jira, Ariba, Splunk) |
| Time-critical implementation | Interdisciplinary collaboration, pragmatic workshops, and close partnership with Swiss GRC |
| Balancing central governance with local responsibility | Combination of group-wide standardization and local execution through national ISOs |
By leveraging the GRC Toolbox, Helvetia has established a group-wide ISMS that today serves as a central management instrument – far exceeding the boundaries of pure compliance.
The key benefits include:
The ISMS has become not only a compliance mechanism but a strategic enabler of security, resilience, and sustainable corporate governance.
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