Jonathan Loewens being presented with the award by the laudator Prof. Dr. Kerstin Lopatta. Next to him is Prof Dr Alexander Bassen.
Allianz recognized for excellence in sustainability reporting, particularly for its CSRD readiness
Over the past years, annual reports have evolved to include more than just financial data. They now include Sustainability Reporting as well, zooming into environmental and employee matters, human rights, and anti-corruption, reflecting the growing importance of these areas. The Building Public Trust Award, chaired by Prof. Dr. Alexander Bassen from the Sustainable Finance Research Group, evaluates the quality and consistency of Sustainability Reports of large German listed companies. It is awarded by an independent jury and hosted by PwC Germany. In 2023, the prize focused on readiness for the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the EU Taxonomy, with a special emphasis on climate data. On November 10th, Allianz was awarded first place in DAX40.
To better understand what this means for Allianz, we spoke with Head of CSRD Implementation and Financial Reporting at Allianz SE, Jonathan Loewens and Group Chief Sustainability Officer, Emilia Macarie.
Why is this recognition meaningful for Allianz?
Jonathan Loewens: We are pleased that our proactive approach to CSRD reporting has been positively recognized also externally. The award is a significant achievement as it reflects the jury's confidence in the trustworthiness and reliability of our sustainability reporting under the CSRD. Our commitment to sustainability is grounded in a fact-based approach, ensuring that the information we provide is credible. In my personal opinion, this is what sustainability reporting should be all about: building trust in our sustainability approach.
What was the key to winning this award?
Jonathan Loewens: This achievement really underscores the strength of our teamwork. It was the result of a collaborative effort involving Global Sustainability, Group Accounting and Reporting, all Group Centers and business owner functions, and the majority of our Operating Entities. When we work together on a joint objective, we can achieve so much – that makes me very proud to be part of Allianz.
Emilia Macarie: For me, the key was on one side the tone from the top, with respect to anticipating the reporting requirements and thinking about it as an opportunity for advancing our sustainability agenda showcasing with a high degree of confidence to our investors, employees and customers our work. On the other hand, as Jonathan mentioned the hard work of all of our colleagues no matter the function, from P&C to Life, Investment and Operations to People & Culture, Risk or Procurement and more. Additionally, of course we used robust methodologies and processes to collect and report information consistently across the organization.
What are Allianz’s next steps in sustainability reporting?
Jonathan Loewens: While we are proud of this award, we remain focused on continuous improvement. For the 2024 report under CSRD, we will continue to follow our mantra to apply the same high standards we have for financials to sustainability, to continue to ensure data reliability and trust in our reporting. But we also want to make our sustainability communication more simple and accessible aiming to create additional impact. The good news is, we can do this from a position of strength. We are building on a strong foundation, with solid capabilities in sustainability topics already in place across the group.
How is sustainability reporting aligned with Allianz's overall sustainability strategy?
Emilia Macarie: Sustainability is already embedded throughout our operations, functions, business areas and OEs, and we are continuously working on further strengthening it. Meeting the CSRD standards with the highest level of quality (reasonable assurance) is part of this work, as we want to treat sustainability the same way we treat finance and business as usual, with the same level of rigor. At the same time CSRD keeps us accountable on the execution of our strategy, allowing us to track progress, identify areas for improvement, and drive real world change. By being CSRD reporting ready, we not only meet regulatory requirements but strengthen the trust among our stakeholders, including investors, customers, and employees on the work that we do, by delivering transparency and showcasing impact.
Further information
About Allianz
The Allianz Group is one of the world's leading insurers and asset managers with around 125 million* private and corporate customers in nearly 70 countries. Allianz customers benefit from a broad range of personal and corporate insurance services, ranging from property, life and health insurance to assistance services to credit insurance and global business insurance. Allianz is one of the world’s largest investors, managing around 764 billion euros** on behalf of its insurance customers. Furthermore, our asset managers PIMCO and Allianz Global Investors manage about 1.8 trillion euros** of third-party assets. Thanks to our systematic integration of ecological and social criteria in our business processes and investment decisions, we are among the leaders in the insurance industry in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. In 2023, over 157,000 employees achieved total business volume of 161.7 billion euros and an operating profit of 14.7 billion euros for the group.
* Including non-consolidated entities with Allianz customers.
** As of September 30, 2024.
** As of September 30, 2024.
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