Allianz

Infobox_Company
company_name = Allianz SE
company_
company_type = Public (FWB|ALV, nyse|AZ)
foundation = 1890
location = Munich, Germany
key_people = Michael Diekmann (CEO), Henning Schulte-Noelle (Chairman of the supervisory board), Paul Achleitner (CFO)
industry = Financial services
products = Insurance, banking, asset management
revenue = €102.6 billion (2007)cite web |url=http://www.allianz.com/en/allianz_group/investor_relations/reports_und_financial_data/annual_report/az_group_e_2007.pdf |title=Annual Report 2007 |accessdate=2008-08-21 |publisher=Allianz]
operating_income = profit €10.91 billion (2007)
net_income = profit €7.966 billion (2007)
assets = €1,061 billion (2007)
num_employees = 181,200 (2007)
homepage = [http://www.allianz.com/ www.allianz.com]
intl = yes

Audio|Allianz.ogg|Allianz SE [ [http://www.allianz.com/azcom/dp/cda/0,,1266136-44,00.html Allianz note to shareholders confirming conversion to SE] ] (formerly AG, FWB|ALV, nyse|AZ) is a large financial services provider headquartered in Munich, Germany.

Its core business and focus is insurance. With €102.6 billion of revenue during 2007, Allianz is the largest international insurance and financial services organization in the world.

Allianz has recently (August 2008) announced plans to sell its ownership of Dresdner Bank to Commerzbank, largely for shares. As a result of this proposed merger, Allianz will end up with a 30% controlling stake in the combined Commerzbank/Dresdner.

Allianz Global Investors ranks as a top-five global active investment manager, having €970 billion of assets under management (AuM), of which €725 billion are third-party assets, with specialized asset managers such as PIMCO (Bond fund), RCM(Equity fund), AAAm(Fund of Hedge fund), Degi(Real estate fund), etc.

History

General

Allianz AG was founded in Berlin in 1890 and shifted its headquarters to Munich in 1949. The first step to become an international company started with the opening of a branch office in London in the late 19th century. After World War II, global business activities were gradually resumed. Allianz opened an office in Paris in the late 1950s, and a management office for Italy in the 1960s. These expansions were followed in the 1970s by the establishment of business in Great Britain, the Netherlands, Spain, Brazil and the United States. In 1986, Allianz acquired Cornhill Insurance PLC, London, and the purchase of a stake in Riunione Adriatica di Sicurità (RAS), Milan, strengthened its presence in Western and Southern Europe in the 1980s. Recently, in February 8, 2006, RAS Shareholders approved the mergers with Allianz. In 1990, Allianz started an expansion into eight Eastern European countries with establishing a presence in Hungary. In the same decade, Allianz also acquired Fireman’s Fund, an insurer in the United States, which was followed by the purchase of Assurances Generales de France (AGF), Paris. These acquisitions were followed by the expansion into Asia with several joint ventures and acquisitions in China and South Korea. Around this time Allianz expanded its asset management business as well by purchasing for example asset management companies in California.

In 2001, Allianz acquired Dresdner Bank, a large German bank. Allianz Group and Dresdner Bank combined their asset management activities by forming Allianz Dresdner Asset Management. In 2002 Michael Diekmann succeeded Henning Schulte-Noelle as CEO of Allianz AG. The Allianz Group was reincorporated under a European Company Statute and, as a result of the cross-border merger with RAS, Allianz converted into a European Company (SE - Societas Europaea) in October 13, 2006.

Allianz is now present in more than 70 countries with over 180,000 employees. At the top of the international group is the holding company, Allianz SE, with its head office in Munich. Allianz Group provides its more than 60 million customers worldwide with a comprehensive range of services in the areas of
• property and casualty insurance,
• life and health insurance,
• asset management and banking.

Involvement with the Third Reich and the Nazi Regime

Research by historian Gerald Feldman of the University of California at Berkeley and Michael Bazyler of Whittier Law School, among others, has revealed that Allianz insured the property and personnel of the infamous Auschwitz extermination camp, as well as the Dachau concentration camp. Dr. Feldman also demonstrated conclusively that prior to issuing the insurance policies, Allianz Group inspectors toured the camps and were fully aware of their purpose.

Allianz also insured the engineers working at the IG Farben Companycite book|last=Feldman|first=Gerald|title=Allianz and the German Insurance Business, 1933-1945|publisher=Cambridge University Press|date=2006|isbn=0521026687|language=English] , which supervised the manufacture of the Zyklon B cyanide gas used at Auschwitz and other camps to systematically exterminate over 1.2 million Jews and others during the Holocaust. [ [http://www.spectacle.org/695/zyklonb.html Auschwitz and Zyklon B] ] Allianz also provided insurance to the Nazis for valuables seized from Jews prior to their forced relocation to the camps.

Kurt Schmitt, Chief Executive of Allianz in the 1930s, served as Hitler’s Reich Economy Minister from June 1933 until January 1935, and can be seen in photographs wearing an SS-Oberführer’s uniform and standing just behind Hitler while delivering the Nazi salute.cite book|last=Feldman|first=Gerald|title=Allianz and the German Insurance Business, 1933-1945|publisher=Cambridge University Press|date=2006|isbn=0521026687|language=English]

Eduard Hilgard, an Allianz General Director, was head of the Reich Association for Private Insurance during the entire Nazi regime, and was responsible for creation and enforcement of the Nazi policy to terminate or refuse to pay off any life insurance policies issued to Jews, instead sending beneficiary payments directly to the Nazis. Allianz records show that the company fully supported this policy, disguising it in their business records as "business as usual".cite book|last=Feldman|first=Gerald|title=Allianz and the German Insurance Business, 1933-1945|publisher=Cambridge University Press|date=2006|isbn=0521026687|language=English]

Management

CEOs to date:
* 2003 -- : Michael Diekmann
* 1991 -- 2003: Henning Schulte-Noelle

Australia

Allianz Australia Limited (ABN 21 000 006 226) operates throughout Australia and New Zealand and through its subsidiaries offers a range of insurance and risk management products and services. Subsidiaries of Allianz Australia include Club Marine, Allianz Life and Hunter Premium Funding.

Belgium

Allianz operates through Allianz Belgium, previously AGF Belgium which has been re-branded to Allianz Belgium on the 29 November 2007.

Canada

Allianz put a sudden halt to its Canadian P&C operation Allianz Canada (market share 2%) in 2004 after several years of unfavorable business results. Allianz originally entered the Canadian market in the early 1990's through an acquisition of several North American insurers, namely the American Firemans Fund and the Canadian Surety. Upon the market exit the personal and commercial lines unit was sold off to the market leader ING Canada, whereas its industrial underwriting branch was bought by Allianz US, which has retained the Toronto office.

India

In India Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company Limited is a joint venture between Bajaj Finserv Limited (recently demerged from Bajaj Auto Limited) and Allianz SE. Both enjoy a reputation of expertise, stability and strength.

Financials :

As on 31st March 2008, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance maintained its premier position in the industry by garnering a premium income of Rs. 2578 crore, achieving a growth of 43 % over the last year.Bajaj Allianz has made a profit before taxes of Rs. 167 crore and is the first company to cross the Rs.100 crores mark in profit after tax by generating Rs. 105 crores.

In the first quarter of 2008-09, the company garnered a gross premium of Rs.733.53 crores against Rs.573.73 core last year for the same period registering a growth of 28%.

Bajaj Allianz today has a countrywide network connected through the latest technology for quick communication and response in over 200 towns spread across the length and breadth of the country. From Surat to Siliguri and Jammu to Thiruvananthapuram, all the offices are interconnected with the Head Office at Pune.

[http://www.bajajallianz.com/BagicCorp/bajaj_home/media_centre/building1.htm Head Office Building Located at Pune]

[http://www.bajajallianz.com Company Website]

Slovakia

Allianz started its life and Property & Casualty (P&C) operation in Slovakia in 1993 but the local subsidiary was never able to achieve a relevant market share. In 2001 Allianz AG bought the majority ownership in then state-owned Slovenska poistovna (Slovak Insurance Company), at the time suffering from political mismanagement, asset-stripping and deep under-reserving. Slovenska however held a market share of well over 50%, which had made it an attractive privatization target, where Allianz had to compete with such insurers as AXA or Aegon. Upon the purchase the local Allianz operation was merged with Slovenska creating a new company Allianz - Slovenska poistovna. Its combined market share (life and P&C) presently stands at just below 40% (about 50% in P&C business), still making it by far the market leader.

United Kingdom

Allianz owns British insurance company Cornhill Insurance plc, subsequently renamed Allianz Cornhill Insurance plc. This then simply became Allianz Insurance plc on 30 April 2007 to directly reflect its continental parentage.

Allianz owns Kleinwort Benson which it inherited when it bought Dresdner Bank. The investment bank has subsequently been merged with the corporate bank of Dresdner Bank and rebranded as Dresdner Kleinwort. It also owns the High Net Worth insurance broker [http://www.homeandlegacy.co.uk Home and Legacy.]

The Allianz Arena Stadium

Allianz provided naming rights for the Allianz Arena, a football stadium in the north of Munich, Germany, which is sponsored by Allianz. The two professional Munich football clubs Bayern Munich and TSV 1860 München have played their home games at Allianz Arena since the start of the 2005–06 season. Both clubs had previously played their home games at the Munich Olympic Stadium; Bayern Munich since 1972 and 1860 München since the 1990s.

Allianz had been in negotiations with the New York Jets, and the New York Giants to buy naming rights to the New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ, but those talks ended due to opposition from Jewish groups and holocaust survivors. [cite web
url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/football/nfl/09/12/giants.jets.ap/index.html
title=Jets-Giants end naming rights talk with Allianz - NFL - SI.com
format=
work=
accessdate=2008-09-12]

See also

* European Financial Services Roundtable
* The Geneva Association (also known as the International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics)

References

External links

* [http://www.allianz.com/ Allianz Group corporate website]
* [http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/40/40572.html Yahoo! - Allianz Group Company Profile]
* [http://www.gstock.com/quote/az.html Allianz Group stock quote & chart] at Gstock