This issue of trébol represents a significant landmark in our long history.

The internet and other communication technologies have made it possible to deliver this magazine to our readers faster and at shorter intervals. For this reason, this will be the last issue to include a paper edition. From now on, all our articles will be available on www.mapfrere.com, where they will be filed and classified for easy reference. trébol will also notify our readers when a new issue becomes available.

We have specially selected four fascinating topics for our last paper edition: pensions, IFRS, reinsurance and technology - a combination that will set the contents pattern for coming articles.

Changes in the classification and measurement of financial investments (IFRS 9) and the new draft of the IFRS 4 insurance contracts standard are clearly explained and discussed in a detailed article by Pedro López, Deputy General Manager for Management Control - Controller at MAPFRE.

For the first time, trébol features commentary from Fitch, one of the four leading rating agencies in the world, concerning the reinsurance market and its immediate outlook. Fitch’s views on credit risk are relevant, well structured and substantiated, although they do not always match the views expressed by other industry players. Such diversity of opinion will no doubt help our readers gain additional insight into the reinsurance market.

Supplementary social security has become the focus of much attention as a way to mitigate the detrimental effects of the economic crisis on the state pension system. Mindful of this pressing issue, some companies have introduced pension schemes of their own, which need to be accompanied by wider public information and social awareness. This article focuses on a major electricity company and how it is engaging with the need for supplementary provision.

Lastly, Barcelona’s National Supercomputing Centre is a world-class facility for performing complex calculations that require speed and specialist skills in areas including medicine, natural resources mapping and disaster modelling. The centre’s director, Mateo Valero, gives a passionate account of how it was established, its achievements and its future outlook.