Difference between revisions of "Allianz" - New World Encyclopedia

From New World Encyclopedia
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'''{{Audio|Allianz.ogg|Allianz}} [[European Company Statute|SE]]'''<ref>[http://www.allianz.com/azcom/dp/cda/0,,1266136-44,00.html Allianz note to shareholders confirming conversion to SE]</ref> (formerly [[Aktiengesellschaft|AG]], {{FWB|ALV}}, {{nyse|AZ}}) is the largest [[financial service]]s provider in the world, headquartered in [[Munich]], [[Germany]].
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'''{{Audio|Allianz.ogg|Allianz}} [[European Company Statute|SE]]'''<ref>[http://www.allianz.com/azcom/dp/cda/0,,1266136-44,00.html Allianz note to shareholders confirming conversion to SE]</ref> (formerly [[Aktiengesellschaft|AG]], {{FWB|ALV}}, {{nyse|AZ}}) is one of the largest [[financial service]]s provider in the world, and the largest insurer in Europe. It is headquartered in [[Munich]], [[Germany]]. Its core business and focus is [[insurance]] and asset management. With revenues of US$140,618 million in 2008, Allianz ranked 22nd in the Fortune Global 500 and is the second largest international insurance and [[financial services]] organization in the world. <ref>[http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/global500/2008/countries/Germany.html Global 500] Fortune Magazine 2008 Retrieved January 22, 2009.</ref> Founded by Carl Thieme and Wilhelm Finck in 1889 to serve the insurance needs of the industrial era, Allianz quickly became the largest insurer in Germany. Its international expansion was thwarted by the restrictions placed on Germany after World War I, but like many companies, it rapidly increased its overseas presence by opening branch offices in several major cities during the 1960s and through a series of acquisitions during the 1980s and 1990s. In the 1990s it also established itself in eight countries in Eastern Europe. Today Allianz serves 60 million customers with 180,000 employees in 70 countries, following the principle that “all business is local.”
  
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Its core business and focus is [[insurance]]. With €102.6 billion of revenue during 2007, Allianz is the second largest international insurance and [[financial services]] organization in the world.
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Allianz was the largest insurer in Germany when the Nazi party came to power and has been criticized for collaborating with the Nazi government in the exclusion, expropriation and extermination of Jews. In the decades after World War II  Allianz became a member of the International Commission on Holocaust Era claims, settled its cases and paid every justified claim immediately.
  
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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.
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== History ==
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===Beginnings===
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In the last decades of the 19th century, the German insurance industry was foundering; its main lines of business, fire and marine insurance, were doing poorly. Many small private insurance companies failed, and German reinsurance companies which were tied to these private businesses lost the confidence of European customers. Two-thirds of the German reinsurance business was going to foreign companies. Carl Thieme, Thuringia's general agent and chief representative for the Kingdom of Bavaria, recognized that the rapidly expanding industrialization of the time would increase the types of risk and require new kinds of insurance. He envisioned a new type of independent reinsurance company that would spread risk across a wide range of regions and market sectors, and use standardized contracts to streamline its business. Thieme sought out business partners and in 1880, founded a successful reinsurance company, Munchener-Ruckversicherungs-Gesellschaft Munich RE. In the summer of 1889, Thieme and Munich banker Wilhelm Finck decided to create a primary insurance company called “Allianz.” <ref> [http://www.munichre.com/en/corporate/history/re-view_a_magazine/magazine_04.aspx History of Munich RE] Retrieved January 22, 2009.</ref>
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Allianz AG was founded in [[Berlin]] in 1890. The new company offered transport and accident insurance, and soon added fire insurance.
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Allianz opened its first international branch office in London before the end of the 19th century. Paul von der Nahmer, who became second CEO in 1904, strengthened international operations and by 1913, 20 percent of the company’s premium income came from businesses outside of Germany, primarily from liability insurance. After World War I, however, the restrictions placed on Germany severely limited international business.
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During the 1920s, Allianz expanded through mergers with Bayerische Versicherungsbank, Stuttgarter Verein, Frankfurter Allgemeine Versicherungs-AG and other German companies. In 1932, Allianz set up its own materials testing center, Allianz Center for Technology, to conduct damage research and offer its findings to interested clients. <ref>Allianz.com [http://www.allianz.com/en/allianz_group/about_us/history/historical_moments/the_beginnings/index.html The Beginnings] Allianz company history Retrieved January 22, 2009.
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</ref>
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===World War II===
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In 1933, the National Socialists (NSDAP or Nazi) Party assumed power in Germany and took control of the economy. Allianz cooperated with the new government, allowing its employee representatives to be replaced by Nazis, and dismissing Jewish employees. After Germany overran Poland in 1939, most insurance risk was due to war. Allianz’s most profitable businesses were marine, construction, industrial fire, and life insurance. Insurance pools were formed to cover major war-related risks. As the war escalated, overwhelming destruction made it increasingly difficult for Allianz to continue its operations. Work came to a standstill after the company’s premises were destroyed by bombs. By end of war, the majority of the company’s assets had been destroyed and its real estate holdings had been decimated by war damage, confiscation and nationalization.   
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On May 8, 1945, after Germany declared its unconditional military surrender, future CEO Gerd Mueller tacked a piece of paper on the broken door of Allianz’s head office reading, “On the 18th of May we will meet and look ahead.” Almost 250 employees attended the meeting and started the process of rebuilding the company.
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Under Allied forces, restitution started soon after end of war and laws were enacted in Germany to compensate those whose property had been confiscated by the Nazis. Allianz both benefited from the restitution and came under heavy criticism for its collaboration with the Nazi government in confiscating Jewish assets and providing insurance for its military installations and death camps (see below). The end of the Cold War again brought issues of compensation the forefront of  the European political agenda. As a member of the International Commission on Holocaust Era claims, Allianz settled its cases and paid every justified claim immediately.<ref>Allianz.com [http://www.allianz.com/en/allianz_group/about_us/history/historical_moments/the_era_of_national_socialism/index.html Era of National Socialism] Retrieved January 22, 2009.</ref>
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===International expansion===
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Allianz shifted its headquarters to [[Munich]] in [[1949]], and  global business activities were gradually resumed. An office was opened in [[Paris]] in the late 1950s, and a management office in [[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]], strengthening its presence in Western and Southern Europe. In February, 2006, shareholders of Adriatica di Sicurt (RAS), Milan approved a merger with Allianz.  
  
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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.
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In 1990, Allianz started an expansion into eight Eastern European countries by establishing a presence in [[Hungary]]. In the same decade, Allianz also acquired [[Fireman’s Fund]], an insurer in the United States, followed by the purchase of [[Assurances Generales de France]] (AGF), Paris. Allianz expanded into Asia with several [[joint ventures]] and [[acquisitions]] in [[China]] and [[South Korea]]. Allianz expanded its [[asset management]] business by purchasing the California asset management companies PIMCO Advisers L.P. and Nicholas-Applegate.  
  
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== History ==
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In 2001, Allianz Group and Dresdner Bank combined their asset management activities by forming [[Allianz Global Investors]]. In 2002 the Allianz Group was reincorporated under a European Company Statute. As a result of the cross-border merger with RAS in 2006, Allianz converted into a [[European Company]] (SE - Societas Europaea) on [[October 13]], [[2006]].
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===General===
 
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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]].
 
  
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In 2001, Allianz acquired [[Dresdner Bank]], a large German bank. Allianz Group and Dresdner Bank combined their asset management activities by forming [[Allianz Global Investors]]. 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]].
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In August 2008, Allianz announced plans to sell its ownership of Dresdner Bank to [[Commerzbank]], largely for shares. As a result of this proposed merger, Allianz will have  a 30 percent controlling stake in the combined Commerzbank/Dresdner.<ref> [http://www.dresdner-bank.com/Dresdner-Bank/Facts-Figures/zusammenschluss_fakten/pm-allianz.html Allianz sells Dresdner Bank to Commerzbank] Retrieved January 22, 2009.</ref>
  
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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 <br />• property and casualty insurance, <br />• life and health insurance, <br />• asset management and banking.
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==Business==
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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. At the top of the international group is the holding company, Allianz SE, with its head office in Munich. Allianz is now present in more than 70 countries with over 180,000 employees. Allianz professes the principle that, “All business is local,” meaning that it strives to provide the same standard of service in every country. <ref>Allianz.com [http://www.allianz.com/en/allianz_group/about_us/history/historical_moments/getting_international/index.html Getting International] Retrieved January 22, 2009.</ref>
  
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===Controversy===
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In response to the economic crisis of 2008, Allianz established a "Group Economic Research and Development" division on January 1, 2009, to devise strategic courses of action based on economic research and long-term trend analysis. The group will collaborate with scientists and scholars on economic and strategic projects.<ref> [http://www.allianz.com/en/allianz_group/press_center/news/company_news/appointments/news_2008-12-19.html Allianz launches a new division for Economic Research and Strategic Development] December 19, 2008.</ref>
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{{Refimprove|section|date=January 2009}}
 
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As a result of intense international pressure{{Fact|date=January 2009}} to identify insurance payoffs owed to Jewish World War II survivors and their decendants, in 1997 Allianz agreed to allow research into their corporate history during the Nazi Regime. Historian Gerald D. Feldman of the University of California at Berkeley headed the research team.  
 
  
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The research concluded that Allianz, as an organization and through its corporate officers, was heavily involved with the Nazi Regime and the Third Reich, starting as early as the early 1930s and continuing all the way through to the collapse of the Third Reich in 1945.
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Allianz Global Investors ranks as a top-five global active investment manager, having €970 (US$1,242) billion of assets under management (AuM), of which €725 (US$929.9) billion are third-party assets, with specialized asset managers such as [[PIMCO]] (Bond fund), RCM(Equity fund), AAAm(Fund of Hedge fund), and Degi(Real estate fund).<ref>Data for 2007</ref>
  
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Among the more notable examples:
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==Controversy==
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Allianz has come under considerable criticism for its collaboration with the Nazi government during World War II, particularly in its persecution of Jews. In 1997 Allianz commissioned Gerald E. Feldman, professor at the University of California at Berkeley and an expert on the economic history of the Weimar Republic to present an account of the company’s activities from 1933 to 1945. Allianz and the German Insurance Business, 1933-1945, published in 2001, documents that Allianz, as an organization and through the individual activities of its corporate officers, was heavily involved with the Nazi government and the Third Reich, from the early 1930s and through to the collapse of the Third Reich in 1945. When the Nazi party came to power, Allianz was the largest German insurance company. Allianz Chief Executive [[Kurt Schmitt]] 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 [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]] while delivering the Nazi salute.<ref name="Feldman">{{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}}</ref> Allianz General Director [[Eduard Hilgard]] was head of the "Reich Association for Private Insurance" (Reichsgruppe Versicherung), during the entire Nazi regime, working both to support the Nazi government and to make sure that German insurance companies profited from its activities. After Reichskristallnacht in 1938, he was responsible for the creation and enforcement of a Nazi policy to block insurance payments to Jews for their damaged property and instead direct the payments directly to the state. Allianz records show that the company benefited by greatly reducing the amount due for these claims before they made the payments to the government, and recorded it as "business as usual".<ref name="Feldman">{{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}}</ref>Research did not show that Allianz took unfair advantage of Jews who cashed in their life insurance policies in order to emigrate, but like other German insurers, it cooperated closely with the Nazi government to find the policies of those who were sent to death camps.  [https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=8841  H-net Reviews in the Humanities and Social Sciences  Gerald D. Feldman. Allianz and the German Insurance Business, 1933-1945]. Reviewed by Marc Engels (Lehr- und Forschungsgebiet Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte, Technische Hochschule Aachen) Published on H-German (February, 2004) Retrieved January 22, 2009.</ref>
  
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Records proved conclusively that Allianz insured the property and personnel of the infamous [[Auschwitz-Birkenau|Auschwitz]] [[extermination camp]], as well as the Dachau concentration camp. It was also proven that prior to issuing the insurance policies, Allianz Group inspectors toured the camps and were fully aware of the purpose of the camps.
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Allianz played a role in financing and stabilizing the Nazi government and used its influence to become the dominant insurer in all the countries occupied by the Nazis.  
  
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Records also confirmed that Allianz also insured the engineers working at the IG Farben Company<ref name="Feldman">{{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}}</ref>, 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]].<ref>[http://www.spectacle.org/695/zyklonb.html Auschwitz and Zyklon B]</ref>
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Allianz insured the property and personnel of Nazi concentration camps, including the infamous [[Auschwitz-Birkenau|Auschwitz]] [[extermination camp]], and the Dachau concentration camp. Allianz also insured the engineers working at the IG Farben Company<ref name="Feldman">{{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}}</ref>, 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]].<ref>[http://www.spectacle.org/695/zyklonb.html Auschwitz and Zyklon B]</ref> Since, as part of the procedure of issuing the insurance policies, Allianz Group inspectors would have toured the camps to assess the high risks involved at every step of the operation, they were fully aware of the purpose of the camps. Feldman characterizes this as an example of the complete decay of moral standards under the Nazi regime.
  
 
Allianz also provided insurance throughout the war to the Nazis for valuables seized from Jews prior to their forced relocation to the camps and eventual extermination.
 
Allianz also provided insurance throughout the war to the Nazis for valuables seized from Jews prior to their forced relocation to the camps and eventual extermination.
  
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And Allianz leadship was heavily involved at the highest levels of the Nazi administration. Allianz Chief Executive [[Kurt Schmitt]] 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 [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]] while delivering the Nazi salute.<ref name="Feldman">{{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}}</ref> Allianz General Director [[Eduard Hilgard]] 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 also show that the company fully supported this policy, recording it in their business records as "business as usual".<ref name="Feldman">{{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}}</ref>
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After World War II, like many German companies, Allianz chose not to reflect on the past, exonerated its employees, and emphasized its contacts to German resistance circles and the courageous acts of various individual employees. It also cooperated fully in international efforts to locate and make full payment to the heirs and descendants of Jewish Holocaust victims who held insurance policies with Allianz.
  
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== Recent Management ==
 
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CEOs to date:
 
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* 2003 — : [[Michael Diekmann]]
 
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* 1991 — 2003: [[Henning Schulte-Noelle]]
 
  
 
== Australia ==
 
== Australia ==
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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.
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Allianz Australia Limited (ABN 21 000 006 226) operates throughout Australia and New Zealand and offers a range of insurance and risk management products and services through its subsidiaries, which include Club Marine, Allianz Life and Hunter Premium Funding.
  
 
== Belgium ==
 
== Belgium ==
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Allianz operates through Allianz Belgium, previously AGF Belgium which has been re-branded to Allianz Belgium on the [[29 November]] [[2007]].
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Allianz operates through Allianz Belgium, previously AGF Belgium.
  
 
== Canada ==
 
== Canada ==
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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 1990s 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.
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Allianz originally entered the Canadian market in the early 1990s through an acquisition of several North American insurers, including the American Firemans Fund and the Canadian Surety. Allianz halted its Canadian P&C operation Allianz Canada (market share 2%) in 2004 after several years of unfavorable business results. Upon the market exit, the personal and commercial lines unit was sold off to the market leader ING Canada, and its industrial underwriting branch was bought by Allianz US, which has retained the Toronto office.
  
 
== India ==
 
== India ==
  
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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.
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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. Bajaj Allianz maintains a countrywide network encompassing 200 towns across India.
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'''Financials :'''
 
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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.
 
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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%.
 
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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.
 
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[http://www.bajajallianz.com/BagicCorp/bajaj_home/media_centre/building1.htm Head Office Building Located at Pune]
 
  
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[http://www.bajajallianz.com Company Website]
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<ref>[http://www.bajajallianz.com Bajaj Allianz Website] Retrieved January 22, 2009.</ref>
  
 
== Slovakia ==
 
== Slovakia ==
 
[[Image:Budova ASP.jpg|thumb|180x180px|Allianz - Slovenska poistovna headquarters, [[Bratislava]]]]
 
[[Image:Budova ASP.jpg|thumb|180x180px|Allianz - Slovenska poistovna headquarters, [[Bratislava]]]]
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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.
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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. The local Allianz operation was merged with Slovenska to create Allianz - Slovenska poistovna. Its combined market share (life and P&C) presently stands at just below 40 percent  (about 50percent in P&C business), making it the market leader in Slovakia.
  
 
== United Kingdom ==
 
== United Kingdom ==
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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.
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Allianz acquired British insurance company Cornhill Insurance plc, in 1986 and renamed it Allianz Cornhill Insurance plc. In 2007 the name was changed to Allianz Insurance plc to directly reflect its continental parentage.
  
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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.]
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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 <ref>[http://www.homeandlegacy.co.uk Home and Legacy.] Retrieved January 22, 2009.</ref>
  
 
==The Allianz Arena Stadium==
 
==The Allianz Arena Stadium==
 
Allianz provided [[naming rights]] for the [[Allianz Arena]], a [[association football|football]] stadium in the north of Munich, Germany, which is sponsored by Allianz. The two professional Munich football clubs [[FC Bayern Munich|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 provided [[naming rights]] for the [[Allianz Arena]], a [[association football|football]] stadium in the north of Munich, Germany, which is sponsored by Allianz. The two professional Munich football clubs [[FC Bayern Munich|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.
  
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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.<ref>{{cite web
 
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|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/football/nfl/09/12/giants.jets.ap/index.html
 
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|title=Jets-Giants end naming rights talk with Allianz - NFL - SI.com
 
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|format=
 
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|work=
 
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|accessdate=2008-09-12
 
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}}</ref>
 
  
 
== Gornik Zabrze ==
 
== Gornik Zabrze ==
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* [[European Financial Services Roundtable]]
 
* [[European Financial Services Roundtable]]
 
* [[The Geneva Association]] (also known as the International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics)
 
* [[The Geneva Association]] (also known as the International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics)
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*[[Insurance]]
  
 
== References ==
 
== References ==
 
{{Primarysources|date=December 2006}}
 
{{Primarysources|date=December 2006}}
 
{{reflist}}
 
{{reflist}}
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==References==
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*Allianz Versicherungs AG (Germany).  Financial terminology from A-Z. [London]: [Euromoney Publications PLC]. 2007.
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*Feldman, Gerald D. Allianz and the German insurance business, 1933-1945. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press. 2001. ISBN 9780521809290
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* Imholtz, August A., and Peter Hayes.  Germany's business leaders, 1400-1917 the Rudolf Mosse collection of business histories and biographies. Frederick, Md: UPA Academic Editions. 1988. ISBN 9780886921507
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*Meyer-Larsen, Werner. Germany, Inc.: the new German juggernaut and its challenge to world business. New York: John Wiley. 2000. ISBN 9780471353577
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*Nicosia, Francis R., and Jonathan Huener.  Business and industry in Nazi Germany. New York: Berghahn Books. 2004. ISBN 9781571816542
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== External links ==
 
== External links ==
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{{Commons|Allianz}}
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All links retrieved January 22, 2009.
 
* [http://www.allianz.com/ Allianz Group corporate website]
 
* [http://www.allianz.com/ Allianz Group corporate website]
 
* [http://www.knowledge.allianz.com/ Allianz Knowledge: corporate newssite on Climate Change, Energy, Demographic Change, Microfinance]
 
* [http://www.knowledge.allianz.com/ Allianz Knowledge: corporate newssite on Climate Change, Energy, Demographic Change, Microfinance]
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[[Category:Insurance companies of Germany]]
 
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Revision as of 19:27, 23 January 2009

Allianz SE
200px
Type Public (FWB: ALV, NYSE: AZ)
Founded 1890
Headquarters 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)[1]
Operating income Green Arrow Up Darker.svg €10.91 billion (2007)[1]
Profit Green Arrow Up Darker.svg €7.966 billion (2007)[1]
Employees 181,200 (2007)[1]


Website www.allianz.com


Allianz ▶ SE[2] (formerly AG, FWB: ALV, NYSE: AZ) is one of the largest financial services provider in the world, and the largest insurer in Europe. It is headquartered in Munich, Germany. Its core business and focus is insurance and asset management. With revenues of US$140,618 million in 2008, Allianz ranked 22nd in the Fortune Global 500 and is the second largest international insurance and financial services organization in the world. [3] Founded by Carl Thieme and Wilhelm Finck in 1889 to serve the insurance needs of the industrial era, Allianz quickly became the largest insurer in Germany. Its international expansion was thwarted by the restrictions placed on Germany after World War I, but like many companies, it rapidly increased its overseas presence by opening branch offices in several major cities during the 1960s and through a series of acquisitions during the 1980s and 1990s. In the 1990s it also established itself in eight countries in Eastern Europe. Today Allianz serves 60 million customers with 180,000 employees in 70 countries, following the principle that “all business is local.”

Allianz was the largest insurer in Germany when the Nazi party came to power and has been criticized for collaborating with the Nazi government in the exclusion, expropriation and extermination of Jews. In the decades after World War II Allianz became a member of the International Commission on Holocaust Era claims, settled its cases and paid every justified claim immediately.

History

Beginnings

In the last decades of the 19th century, the German insurance industry was foundering; its main lines of business, fire and marine insurance, were doing poorly. Many small private insurance companies failed, and German reinsurance companies which were tied to these private businesses lost the confidence of European customers. Two-thirds of the German reinsurance business was going to foreign companies. Carl Thieme, Thuringia's general agent and chief representative for the Kingdom of Bavaria, recognized that the rapidly expanding industrialization of the time would increase the types of risk and require new kinds of insurance. He envisioned a new type of independent reinsurance company that would spread risk across a wide range of regions and market sectors, and use standardized contracts to streamline its business. Thieme sought out business partners and in 1880, founded a successful reinsurance company, Munchener-Ruckversicherungs-Gesellschaft Munich RE. In the summer of 1889, Thieme and Munich banker Wilhelm Finck decided to create a primary insurance company called “Allianz.” [4] Allianz AG was founded in Berlin in 1890. The new company offered transport and accident insurance, and soon added fire insurance.

Allianz opened its first international branch office in London before the end of the 19th century. Paul von der Nahmer, who became second CEO in 1904, strengthened international operations and by 1913, 20 percent of the company’s premium income came from businesses outside of Germany, primarily from liability insurance. After World War I, however, the restrictions placed on Germany severely limited international business.

During the 1920s, Allianz expanded through mergers with Bayerische Versicherungsbank, Stuttgarter Verein, Frankfurter Allgemeine Versicherungs-AG and other German companies. In 1932, Allianz set up its own materials testing center, Allianz Center for Technology, to conduct damage research and offer its findings to interested clients. [5]

World War II

In 1933, the National Socialists (NSDAP or Nazi) Party assumed power in Germany and took control of the economy. Allianz cooperated with the new government, allowing its employee representatives to be replaced by Nazis, and dismissing Jewish employees. After Germany overran Poland in 1939, most insurance risk was due to war. Allianz’s most profitable businesses were marine, construction, industrial fire, and life insurance. Insurance pools were formed to cover major war-related risks. As the war escalated, overwhelming destruction made it increasingly difficult for Allianz to continue its operations. Work came to a standstill after the company’s premises were destroyed by bombs. By end of war, the majority of the company’s assets had been destroyed and its real estate holdings had been decimated by war damage, confiscation and nationalization. On May 8, 1945, after Germany declared its unconditional military surrender, future CEO Gerd Mueller tacked a piece of paper on the broken door of Allianz’s head office reading, “On the 18th of May we will meet and look ahead.” Almost 250 employees attended the meeting and started the process of rebuilding the company.

Under Allied forces, restitution started soon after end of war and laws were enacted in Germany to compensate those whose property had been confiscated by the Nazis. Allianz both benefited from the restitution and came under heavy criticism for its collaboration with the Nazi government in confiscating Jewish assets and providing insurance for its military installations and death camps (see below). The end of the Cold War again brought issues of compensation the forefront of the European political agenda. As a member of the International Commission on Holocaust Era claims, Allianz settled its cases and paid every justified claim immediately.[6]

International expansion

Allianz shifted its headquarters to Munich in 1949, and global business activities were gradually resumed. An office was opened in Paris in the late 1950s, and a management office in 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, strengthening its presence in Western and Southern Europe. In February, 2006, shareholders of Adriatica di Sicurt (RAS), Milan approved a merger with Allianz.

In 1990, Allianz started an expansion into eight Eastern European countries by establishing a presence in Hungary. In the same decade, Allianz also acquired Fireman’s Fund, an insurer in the United States, followed by the purchase of Assurances Generales de France (AGF), Paris. Allianz expanded into Asia with several joint ventures and acquisitions in China and South Korea. Allianz expanded its asset management business by purchasing the California asset management companies PIMCO Advisers L.P. and Nicholas-Applegate.

In 2001, Allianz Group and Dresdner Bank combined their asset management activities by forming Allianz Global Investors. In 2002 the Allianz Group was reincorporated under a European Company Statute. As a result of the cross-border merger with RAS in 2006, Allianz converted into a European Company (SE - Societas Europaea) on October 13, 2006.

In August 2008, Allianz announced plans to sell its ownership of Dresdner Bank to Commerzbank, largely for shares. As a result of this proposed merger, Allianz will have a 30 percent controlling stake in the combined Commerzbank/Dresdner.[7]

Business

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. At the top of the international group is the holding company, Allianz SE, with its head office in Munich. Allianz is now present in more than 70 countries with over 180,000 employees. Allianz professes the principle that, “All business is local,” meaning that it strives to provide the same standard of service in every country. [8]

In response to the economic crisis of 2008, Allianz established a "Group Economic Research and Development" division on January 1, 2009, to devise strategic courses of action based on economic research and long-term trend analysis. The group will collaborate with scientists and scholars on economic and strategic projects.[9]

Allianz Global Investors ranks as a top-five global active investment manager, having €970 (US$1,242) billion of assets under management (AuM), of which €725 (US$929.9) billion are third-party assets, with specialized asset managers such as PIMCO (Bond fund), RCM(Equity fund), AAAm(Fund of Hedge fund), and Degi(Real estate fund).[10]

Controversy

Allianz has come under considerable criticism for its collaboration with the Nazi government during World War II, particularly in its persecution of Jews. In 1997 Allianz commissioned Gerald E. Feldman, professor at the University of California at Berkeley and an expert on the economic history of the Weimar Republic to present an account of the company’s activities from 1933 to 1945. Allianz and the German Insurance Business, 1933-1945, published in 2001, documents that Allianz, as an organization and through the individual activities of its corporate officers, was heavily involved with the Nazi government and the Third Reich, from the early 1930s and through to the collapse of the Third Reich in 1945. When the Nazi party came to power, Allianz was the largest German insurance company. Allianz Chief Executive Kurt Schmitt 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.[11] Allianz General Director Eduard Hilgard was head of the "Reich Association for Private Insurance" (Reichsgruppe Versicherung), during the entire Nazi regime, working both to support the Nazi government and to make sure that German insurance companies profited from its activities. After Reichskristallnacht in 1938, he was responsible for the creation and enforcement of a Nazi policy to block insurance payments to Jews for their damaged property and instead direct the payments directly to the state. Allianz records show that the company benefited by greatly reducing the amount due for these claims before they made the payments to the government, and recorded it as "business as usual".[11]Research did not show that Allianz took unfair advantage of Jews who cashed in their life insurance policies in order to emigrate, but like other German insurers, it cooperated closely with the Nazi government to find the policies of those who were sent to death camps. H-net Reviews in the Humanities and Social Sciences Gerald D. Feldman. Allianz and the German Insurance Business, 1933-1945. Reviewed by Marc Engels (Lehr- und Forschungsgebiet Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte, Technische Hochschule Aachen) Published on H-German (February, 2004) Retrieved January 22, 2009.</ref>

Allianz played a role in financing and stabilizing the Nazi government and used its influence to become the dominant insurer in all the countries occupied by the Nazis.

Allianz insured the property and personnel of Nazi concentration camps, including the infamous Auschwitz extermination camp, and the Dachau concentration camp. Allianz also insured the engineers working at the IG Farben Company[11], 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.[12] Since, as part of the procedure of issuing the insurance policies, Allianz Group inspectors would have toured the camps to assess the high risks involved at every step of the operation, they were fully aware of the purpose of the camps. Feldman characterizes this as an example of the complete decay of moral standards under the Nazi regime.

Allianz also provided insurance throughout the war to the Nazis for valuables seized from Jews prior to their forced relocation to the camps and eventual extermination.

After World War II, like many German companies, Allianz chose not to reflect on the past, exonerated its employees, and emphasized its contacts to German resistance circles and the courageous acts of various individual employees. It also cooperated fully in international efforts to locate and make full payment to the heirs and descendants of Jewish Holocaust victims who held insurance policies with Allianz.


Australia

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

Belgium

Allianz operates through Allianz Belgium, previously AGF Belgium.

Canada

Allianz originally entered the Canadian market in the early 1990s through an acquisition of several North American insurers, including the American Firemans Fund and the Canadian Surety. Allianz halted its Canadian P&C operation Allianz Canada (market share 2%) in 2004 after several years of unfavorable business results. Upon the market exit, the personal and commercial lines unit was sold off to the market leader ING Canada, and 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. Bajaj Allianz maintains a countrywide network encompassing 200 towns across India.

[13]

Slovakia

Allianz - Slovenska poistovna headquarters, Bratislava

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. The local Allianz operation was merged with Slovenska to create Allianz - Slovenska poistovna. Its combined market share (life and P&C) presently stands at just below 40 percent (about 50percent in P&C business), making it the market leader in Slovakia.

United Kingdom

Allianz acquired British insurance company Cornhill Insurance plc, in 1986 and renamed it Allianz Cornhill Insurance plc. In 2007 the name was changed to Allianz Insurance plc 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 [14]

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.


Gornik Zabrze

Allianz are owners of the Polish football team Gornik Zabrze

See also

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

References
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File:Books-aj svg aj ashton 01.png This article does not cite sources or references that appear in a credible publication and are not primary sources, such as websites and publications affiliated with the subject of the article. You can help Wikipedia by including appropriate citations.
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Annual Report 2007. Allianz. Retrieved 2008-08-21.
  2. ↑ Allianz note to shareholders confirming conversion to SE
  3. ↑ Global 500 Fortune Magazine 2008 Retrieved January 22, 2009.
  4. ↑ History of Munich RE Retrieved January 22, 2009.
  5. ↑ Allianz.com The Beginnings Allianz company history Retrieved January 22, 2009.
  6. ↑ Allianz.com Era of National Socialism Retrieved January 22, 2009.
  7. ↑ Allianz sells Dresdner Bank to Commerzbank Retrieved January 22, 2009.
  8. ↑ Allianz.com Getting International Retrieved January 22, 2009.
  9. ↑ Allianz launches a new division for Economic Research and Strategic Development December 19, 2008.
  10. ↑ Data for 2007
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Feldman, Gerald (2006). Allianz and the German Insurance Business, 1933-1945 (in English). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521026687. 
  12. ↑ Auschwitz and Zyklon B
  13. ↑ Bajaj Allianz Website Retrieved January 22, 2009.
  14. ↑ Home and Legacy. Retrieved January 22, 2009.

References

  • Allianz Versicherungs AG (Germany). Financial terminology from A-Z. [London]: [Euromoney Publications PLC]. 2007.
  • Feldman, Gerald D. Allianz and the German insurance business, 1933-1945. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press. 2001. ISBN 9780521809290
  • Imholtz, August A., and Peter Hayes. Germany's business leaders, 1400-1917 the Rudolf Mosse collection of business histories and biographies. Frederick, Md: UPA Academic Editions. 1988. ISBN 9780886921507
  • Meyer-Larsen, Werner. Germany, Inc.: the new German juggernaut and its challenge to world business. New York: John Wiley. 2000. ISBN 9780471353577
  • Nicosia, Francis R., and Jonathan Huener. Business and industry in Nazi Germany. New York: Berghahn Books. 2004. ISBN 9781571816542


External links

All links retrieved January 22, 2009.

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