Allianz

Allianz is one of the leading insurers in the world. Starting out life as a German maritime insurer towards the end of the 19th century, Allianz has since grown significantly, now employing over 155,411 people worldwide as of 2021, serving approximately 126 million customers in more than 70 countries. It is among the top 3 P&C insurers globally, and among the top 5 life/health businesses globally.

The first Allianz products were marine and accident policies, sold only in Germany, however in 1893 Allianz opened its first international branch office in London. It distributed marine insurance coverage to German clientele looking for coverage abroad. In 1900 the company became the first insurer to obtain a license to distribute corporate policies.

Today Allianz has offices across the world and has acquired numerous insurance brands in many markets. It reported an operating profit of €13.4bn, an increase of 25% on the year before; in 2021 overall revenue stood at €149bn.

Growth was underpinned by strong results from the P&C business. Responsible for €62.3bn in revenue, operating profit was recorded at €5.7bn. Life and Health in 2021 experienced especially strong growth, reaching €2.5bn in the value of new business, a rise of 45%.

In terms of revenue P&C accounted for 40%; life and health insurance 53%; asset management 6%. Germany remained the single largest market, representing 26% of revenue, while Western and Southern Europe generated 30% of total revenues. 10% came from growth markets around the world and 15% from specialty insurance.

The company is also one of the largest asset-managers in the world, with third-party assets of €1.966tn.

In 2015 the company stopped selling policies to coal companies effective immediately under the efforts to reduce the use of fossil fuel and foster climate-saving energy policies. Allianz announced that it would refuse insurance coverage of coal-fired power plants and coal mines with immediate effect and would aim to get rid of all coal risks in its business by 2040. In addition, Europe's biggest insurer said it would stop investing in companies that do not cut their greenhouse gas emissions.

In July 2018, Allianz announced a partnership with community GPS startup, Waze, to offer in-app emergency roadside assistance to its European customers. The following year, they teamed up with UK law firm Keoghs to build Defendant Hub, a new digital solution providing injury claims' handlers with an end-to-end solution for Stage 3 claims in the United States, Germany, France, Italy, the United Kingdom and the Asia Pacific Region.

In 2019 Allianz's digital investor subsidiary, Allianz X, increased the size of its tech investment fund to €1 billion ($1.1 billion), making it one of the largest corporate-backed venture funds in Europe. The new funds will target startups where Allianz sees some future cross-selling or use case. Later in the year, Allianz France released HobbiSure, a mobile app that provides on-demand daily coverage (for up to 5 days) for sports and leisure. It also partnered with insurtech Wrisk to provide a fully digital customer experience in motor insurance.

In July 2019 Allianz partnered with Air France to launch a new flight delay insurance offering to customers who experience delays of more than two hours, paying €50 compensation within five days without the need for notification of loss.

Following the May 2019 acquisition announcement of Legal & General Insurance in the UK, the general insurance business of Legal & General and LV General Insurance, Allianz will become the 2nd largest general insurer in the UK, with a 2018 combined GWP of £4,029m and a market share of 9%; the 4th largest home insurer in the UK; and an insurer with 12m customers in the UK alone.

November 2019 saw Allianz pay Goldman Sachs an estimated $1 billion for 4% of their stake in Chinese insurer Taikang Life. November also saw the launch of a new cyber solution: Allianz's Cyber Select provides cover, prevention support and incident response services for mid-sized companies.

Finally, in December 2019 Allianz announced a new partnership with insurtech Dinghy to provide on demand business insurance to freelancers.

In early January 2020, Allianz announced it had completed the acquisition of LV General Insurance Group and the General Insurance division of Legal & General, confirming its status as the second largest general insurer in the UK. That same month, Allianz branched out to launch its own Fintech called HeyMoney with a rumoured $10m investment, promising to help its customers manage their bank accounts, utility contracts and insurance.

In April 2020 Allianz launched a new Claims Hub, a platform for brokers and motor fleet customers to report Motor Fleet claims and track all types of motor claims. Allianz’s Claims App, Allianz Notify, has also been launched to enable fleet drivers to quickly and easily report their own claims. The Allianz Claims Hub is an online portal which allows brokers and fleet managers to take the management of commercial motor fleet claims into their own hands, by providing secure and convenient end-to-end claims notification and tracking.

In February 2021 Allianz revealed it will acquire the remaining 49% stake in its China Life Insurance JV business from partner Citic Trust. The move, which has been in the making since 2019, shows the long-term commitment the German insurer has to the Chinese market, and follows Allianz obtaining approval to set up China's first wholly foreign-owned insurance asset management company in January.

In March 2021 Munich Re and Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) teamed up with Google Cloud to offer a new insurance exclusively for Google Cloud customers. Cloud Protection+ is a cyber insurance for both first-party and third-party losses, with Google Cloud specific enhancements, leveraging easy data-driven submission and underwriting process which can be tailored to the clients’ specific risk profile.

In July 2022 cyber and digital risks company Coalition and Allianz announced a multi-year partnership. Allianz said it would provide capacity for Coalition's cyber programs in the UK and in the US. Coalition revealed prior the press release it had a run rate GWP nearing $740M as well as 160,000 customers. Later in December 2022 the company announced it was expanding its relationship with E.ON. to offer Allianz customers in Germany a charging solution for their EVs.