To our investors

In 2023, the theme that dominated the global economy, capital markets and society alike was the fight against inflation. Over the past year, no one has been immune to inflation’s corrosive effects on savings and the affordability of goods. The monetary policies that were taken to mitigate inflation now appear to have arrested its trajectory, but present manifold challenges both for businesses and consumers.

Throughout a period in which our customers and partners experienced significant increases in their cost of living and challenges in sustaining their businesses, we maintained our focus on delivering the greatest possible value to them through our customer service and product offerings. For our shareholders, we steered our business model and managed our capital position to overcome inflationary challenges, ultmately contributing to a record performance. Our ability to manage inflation in all its forms is proving to be a distinct competitive advantage for Allianz.

We have successfully consolidated our leading position as one of the largest global insurers and active asset managers, one that is able to leverage its scale, global reach, and diversified business model to address the financial and protection needs of more people around the world. At the end of the 2023, our share price reached a 20-year high, our total business volume increased by 5.5 percent to 162 billion euros, and our operating profit reached another record level, rising by 6.7 percent to 14.7 billion euros.

Our Property-Casualty segment grew strongly by 8.4 percent to almost 77 billion euros in total business volume. The operating profit topped 6.9 billion euros for the first time, despite another year that was marked by increased claims resulting from more frequent and severe natural catastrophes. This clearly confirms our healthy underlying profitability and underwriting expertise.

Our Life/Health segment demonstrated robust growth, with the value of new business increasing by 2.2 percent to 4.0 billion euros as we developed attractive solutions to protect our customers from the effects of inflation on their savings. The operating profit of 5.2 billion euros was strong, making the Life/Health segment a resilient contributor to our earnings power.

Our Asset Management segment proved resilient managing through a volatile environment to deliver an operating profit of 3.1 billion euros. We recorded third-party net inflows of 21.5 billion euros – a signal of active investors’ readiness to invest in the market through us – and we achieved growth in third-party assets under management to 1.7 trillion euros. Together with our continued strong investment outperformance, this bodes well for further improvements in growth and profitability.

Our shareholders benefited from an outstanding total return of 27 percent for the year, outperforming the European insurance sector, our direct peers, and the broader European stock market. This performance is backed by our financial strength and affirmed by the leading financial rating agencies which place Allianz in the top of our category, at AA (S&P Global), Aa2 (Moody’s) and A+ (AM Best) respectively, and fully in line with our ratings objectives. Looking ahead, we will focus on unlocking the benefits of our scale, further increasing our productivity, and translating excellent customer experience into profitable customer growth.

Alongside our strong financial performance, Allianz’s organizational health further raises our confidence that our company will remain resilient in the face of volatility and be able to exceed our stakeholders’ expectations in the future:

Our brand value is stronger than ever before. Allianz is the world’s leading insurance and asset management brand for the fifth time in a row according to Interbrand’s 2023 Best Global Brands ranking, with our brand value exceeding 20 billion US-dollars for the first time. In addition, in an increasingly polarized world, Allianz remains the most trusted insurance brand among our peer set across all stakeholder groups, according to Edelman Trust Intelligence data. We embrace our societal responsibility and leverage our strength, stability, and skills to address the root causes of polarization and secure the future of those who put their trust in us.

Our customers value the care and service we provide in their moments of greatest need. We evaluate our business performance based on the experience of our customers, as their satisfaction and loyalty are among the most important drivers of our growth. Our latest Net Promoter Score® results, which measure our customers’ loyalty through customers’ willingness to recommend Allianz, show that three-quarters of our operating entities outperformed their peers, a remarkable jump of 11 percentage points from last year. And we are also proud that 59 percent of our operating entities have achieved the distinction of Loyalty Leadership status, which is a leading indicator for our future market expansion.

Our success would be impossible without our engaged and healthy workforce. We are therefore extremely proud that Allianz achieved record results in all three globally benchmarked indices of employee engagement against a declining industry trend: our Inclusive Meritocracy Index increased by 2 percentage points reaching best-inclass levels, our Work Well Index+ rose by 5 percentage points, and our Employee Engagement Index by 3 percentage points. In addition, our employee share ownership reached 70 percent, which is a remarkable expression of our people’s confidence in our organization. Our industry leadership in diversity reflects the strength of our workforce and its preparedness for the future, and this talent advantage is recognized by the global Refinitiv Diversity & Inclusion Index 2023, which ranked Allianz first in the insurance category for the 5th consecutive year.

However, our efforts to ensure resilience and to protect what is most valuable to our customers exceed our organization and touch on society at large. In 2023, we again demonstrated our industry leadership in sustainability by publishing our first comprehensive netzero transition plan – with concrete milestones to be achieved by 2030 – detailing our commitment to achieve net-zero emissions in the investment of policyholder funds and our property and casualty portfolios by 2050.

As we look ahead, our corporate health and resilience are foundational to our ability to deliver strong results and returns amid even the most challenging environments – especially in the increasingly polarized world we live in today. We are well-prepared to lead in this context, drawing on the principles of sustainability, strength, and inclusion at which Allianz has excelled since our founding 134 years ago. Our company and our purpose are as relevant and important today as they have ever been, and we will not shy away from this calling.

On behalf of our management team and our employees, I thank you for your trust in the Allianz Group and look forward to earning your continued support in the year ahead.

As of March 7, 2024 (release of the Annual Report Allianz Group 2023)
The Allianz Group seeks to position itself as the world’s most trusted financial institution.
We strive to offer attractive dividends. The framework for this is determined by our net income and the need for an adequate capitalization.
The letter to the investors is part of Allianz Group's Annual Report. You can read the whole report here.