This past year, capital markets were shocked in multiple ways: the war in Ukraine, increasing polarization in democracies around the world, and a return of inflation to levels not seen for decades. Governments were forced – again – to backstop their economies, and growth stalled globally. Pressures from a tight labor market in the United States, and rising commodity prices and the energy crisis in Europe seeped into core inflation, and central banks embarked on a cycle of interest rates hikes that resulted in a rare decline in both global bond and equity markets.

Against this backdrop, Allianz has delivered strong results in 2022, and has consolidated its position as one of the world’s largest and most trusted financial institutions. 

This performance is by thoughtful design, not chance. For the past seven years, we have reliably executed a consistent and differentiated strategy of scaling simplicity: relentlessly untangling complexity in our businesses and our customers’ experiences. Step by step, we are developing our capabilities to deliver simplicity at scale globally for the benefit of our customers and shareholders alike. This progress touches all aspects of our business, from notable improvements in our product and process design and customer communication to the systematic digitalization of our overall enterprise. 

In 2022, our revenues and operating profit reached their highest levels in our 133-year history. Revenues grew by 3 percent to 153 billion euros and our operating profit increased by 6 percent to 14.2 billion euros, asserting Allianz’s position as a leading global insurer and one of the largest active investors. 

• Our Property-Casualty business revenues grew dynamically by 12.4 percent, reaching 70.0 billion euros. Operating profit increased to 6.2 billion euros. The investment result benefited from higher interest rates and our underwriting result improved further, despite sizeable natural catastrophe losses.
• In Life/Health, we grew our operating profit by 5.4 percent to 5.3 billion euros. The value of new business was stable at 2.5 billion euros, while the new business margin expanded on the back of higher interest rates and a better business mix. This demonstrates that value creation for our customers and shareholders remains strong.
• Despite adverse conditions in global financial markets, our Asset Management business generated an operating profit of 3.2 billion euros; a decline of 8.3 percent with a cost-income ratio of 61.2 percent. Total assets under management stood at 2.1 trillion euros by the end of 2022, impacted by adverse market movements as well as net outflows as investor sentiment remained cautious.

Robust financial performance, reliable capital distribution to our shareholders, and a swift, decisive resolution of the Structured Alpha proceedings in the United States drove a modest positive total return for our shareholders and shielded Allianz’s share price against the global bear market. 

In addition to delivering resilient results, we have invested in further long-term growth. Alongside our capital and risk management capabilities that create valuable stability and optionality, the investments we make in our overall corporate health – those that promote the climate and culture of our company – pay among the highest dividends. In a turbulent year, we remained the most trusted insurance company among our peers, and our performance along the following dimensions reliably translates into competitive and financial advantage over time.

• Customer Loyalty, which is highly correlative to strong employee engagement, is the defining metric of Allianz’s success. Our Net Promoter Score, which measures our customers’ likelihood of recommending us to others, showed a strong performance, with 58 percent of our businesses achieving loyalty leadership status. Further, Allianz is the world’s most valuable international insurance brand, according to both Interbrand’s Best Global Brands and BrandFinance. Our brand is one of our most valuable assets as it plays a central role in determining customers’ decisions to buy our products and services.
• Especially in light of its critical role in shaping customer outcomes, a healthy and engaged workforce is among the most powerful competitive advantages that our company can have. Our 2022 annual Allianz Engagement Survey showed that our employee engagement reached an all-time high. With feedback from more than 112,000 colleagues across the globe, we achieved our best results to date in IMIX (Inclusive Meritocracy) and WWI+ (Work Well) indices, and we are among the best in class in these categories. This result also reflects our strong progress in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: in 2022, women made up 52 percent of our total workforce. Further, about 30 percent of the Allianz Group’s operating profit is now contributed by operations under female CEOs and, since 2023, a third of our Board of Management members are women. 
• Because of our rigorous and systematic integration of sustainability criteria into our business processes and investment decisions, we achieved one of the industry leading scores in the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment and have been confirmed once again as a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. Our leadership and commitment in the area of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion has been acknowledged with a range of earned recognitions locally and globally, including Allianz’s listing in the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index 2023 for the eighth year in a row, and our number one ranking in the insurance sector – and in Germany overall – in the Refinitiv Diversity & Inclusion Index for 2022.
• We have made significant progress towards achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in our own operation by 2030, as we have already reduced our emissions per employee by 57 percent versus 2019. I encourage you to read our Sustainability Report on our Allianz company website to learn more about our leadership in this area.

Our work to build a healthy, high-performing organization helps Allianz to realize the value of its scale in a world with growing societal imbalances. We strive to strengthen our stakeholders’ resilience against risks that are more global, complex, and systemic than ever – yet whose effects are felt acutely at the local, individual level. Allianz secures the future of its customers across the globe and gives them confidence in tomorrow.

Despite significant economic shocks and an uncertain geopolitical outlook for our world, your company is in excellent shape – and prepared to face the future. On behalf of our management team and employees, I thank you for your trust in the Allianz Group and look forward to earning your continued support in the year ahead.