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Not amused:
Allianz and its boss
Oliver Bäte
want to defend themselves against 25 lawsuits from institutional investors so far
Photo: Drew Angerer / Getty Images
The surprisingly good quarterly figures and Allianz's increased annual forecast were almost a minor matter this Friday. Because Allianz boss
Oliver Bäte
has lost the joy of the insurance giant's increasing profits. "It was a terrible week for us - and for me personally," said Bäte when presenting the quarterly figures.
Looming billions in claims from lawsuits from US pension funds are currently spoiling the 56-year-old's mood. Investors are demanding around six billion dollars for their losses with hedge funds that the asset management subsidiary Allianz Global Investors (AGI) had set up. The legal battle has even called the US Department of Justice into action, which raises fears. "This event will leave its mark, but it will not divert Allianz from its path," assured Bäte during the press conference.
In operational terms, Europe's largest insurer is on record course despite the series of storms in and around Germany and is now confident of an operating result of between twelve and 13 billion euros by the end of the year.
That is above the record value of 11.9 billion euros from 2019. In the Corona year 2020, the operating profit had shrunk to 10.8 billion.
Possible provisions for the billion-dollar risks in the USA would not change that - they only show up in net profit.
So far, however, Allianz has not reserved anything for this - the damage is too imponderable.
But that's only a matter of time.
Already 25 lawsuits against AGI's hedge funds
Allianz wants to defend itself under civil law against the 25 lawsuits filed so far. The risky "Structured Alpha" hedge funds of asset manager Allianz Global Investors (AGI), which invested in pension funds for teachers and public transport in New York, among others, had suffered losses when the markets collapsed in the first corona shock. They were about eight billion dollars. The plaintiffs accuse the fund managers of deviating from their strategy. What the SEC and the US Department of Justice think of this is still unclear. It is about "getting rid of the matter as promptly and consistently as possible," said Bäte when asked about a possible comparison.
At the beginning of the week, when Allianz informed investors about the upcoming higher charges, the share had fallen by almost 8 percent and fell below the 200 euro mark.
On Friday it just scratched this mark again - probably also because of the announced share buybacks.
Bäte knows what he owes the shareholders: The anger over the funds is also evidence of the Wall Street methods of the alliance under Bäte.
Now the boss spoke up personally instead of leaving the field to his CFO as usual.
"We will take this as an opportunity to brush everything against the grain again"
Allianz boss
Oliver Bäte
Allianz Global Investors, which is better known for low-risk mutual funds, had already started to rummage through its range of funds and give up some investment strategies before the Corona crisis, said Bäte.
Hedge funds are an extremely special case and not at all representative of Allianz Global Investors.
"We will take this as an opportunity to brush everything against the grain again," he announced.
Investors still trust AGI and Pimco with more money
The investors at the asset managers Pimco and Allianz Global Investors, meanwhile, were not bothered by the negative headlines: They put 26 billion euros net into the funds from April to June.
All three divisions increased profits.
Sales, the sum of insurance premiums and fund fees, rose by eleven percent to 34.3 billion euros.
The sales driver in the quarter was the life and health division, which sold more unit-linked policies.
In property insurance, CFO Giulio Terzariol (49) praised the "focus on drawing discipline and productivity".
The combined ratio improved to 93.3 (previous year: 95.5) percent.
The industrial division AGCS returned to profitability with the help of price increases.
rei / Reuters / DPA
