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Allianz building in Berlin
Photo: Sean Gallup / Getty Images
Allianz Leben is finally breaking with conventional life insurance policies with lifelong interest and premium guarantees.
From the coming year, Germany's largest life insurer will no longer be offering its customers retirement provision products that guarantee at least the receipt of the premiums they have paid in after the savings phase has ended.
In new business, only life and annuity policies would then be sold, with which 60, 80 or 90 percent of the payments are guaranteed, announced the Germany subsidiary of the Munich insurance giant on Tuesday.
In view of the persistently low interest rates, Allianz Leben is thus breaking a taboo in the industry that had advertised with guarantees for decades.
Allianz Leben set a trend seven years ago by no longer providing lifelong interest guarantees for its new products, but promising customers more returns.
Those who insisted on classic life or pension insurance could still take out one.
This will also be a thing of the past from 2021.
"The environment has changed radically again since the introduction of the new product generations in 2013," said Allianz Leben CEO
Andreas Wimmer of
the Reuters news agency.
"But we will still have very security-oriented products in our portfolio."
The lower the guaranteed portion of the contributions, the more Allianz can invest them in riskier but more lucrative investments such as stocks.
"The conversion will hopefully bring us further growth. This will also reduce costs in the long term," said Wimmer.
The importance of guarantees has declined in the eyes of customers: five years ago with unit-linked life insurance, which already offered options, three quarters of customers would have chosen 100 percent premium receipt, recently only a quarter.
Riester and company pension schemes are also in their sights
In the Riester pension and the company pension scheme - as required by law - there should continue to be a 100 percent contribution guarantee.
However, Allianz is also pushing for changes to these strictly regulated, state-subsidized pension products.
She has the support of the industry association GDV: "In order to be able to take advantage of opportunities on the capital market, more flexible legal guarantee requirements are needed," said GDV managing director
Jörg Asmussen
(53).
"Our proposals for a restart of Riester are on the table."
Now it is the turn of politics, according to the former State Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and Social Affairs and ECB Director.
The end will come in 2022 for the Allianz pension fund, which was only able to offer low returns due to its strict requirements.
It will then be closed to new customers, Wimmer announced.
Most recently, only around 500 customers per year had signed a contract.
In future, Allianz Leben intends to only offer direct insurance or pension fund products in the company pension scheme.
Wimmer categorically rules out a sale of the pension fund or other German holdings to a liquidator.
ak / reuters
