Member of the Board of Management of Allianz SE since January 1, 2017 with responsibility for Investment Management; Chair of the Group ESG Board as of January 1, 2018.
Our Corporate Responsibility Governance
The Group ESG Board is responsible for integrating ESG into all business lines and core processes dealing with insurance and investment decisions. It also leads on associated stakeholder engagement.
The highest governing body for sustainability-related issues is the Group ESG Board. Established in 2012, it consists of three Allianz SE Board members who meet quarterly. The Group ESG Board is responsible for integrating ESG into all business lines and core processes dealing with insurance and investment decisions. It also leads on associated stakeholder engagement. The three Board members assume responsibility for specific sustainability topics and functional departments provide regular updates on sustainability issues directly to the Board.
Group ESG Board Members
Dr. Günther Thallinger
Jacqueline Hunt
Member of the Board of Management of Allianz SE since July 2016, responsible for Asset Management and US Life Insurance; member of the ESG Board since July 1, 2016.
Giulio Terzariol
Member of the Board of Management as of January 1, 2018, with responsibility for the Finance, Controlling and Risk Management functions; member of the ESG Board since January 1, 2018.
In addition to the Group ESG Board, several committees with Board member leadership play an important role in our decision-making processes:
Group Finance and Risk Committee:
oversees risk management and monitoring, including sustainability risk. The Committee is the escalation point for ESG-related topics, based on analysis and deliberations within the ESG Board.
Group Underwriting Committee:
monitors the underwriting business and its risk management, as well as developing new underwriting policy and strategy.
Corporate Responsibility Management
Our Group-level Corporate Responsibility management team is responsible for managing the strategic framework for all Group-wide sustainability activities, developing and introducing relevant policies, and supporting operating entities in integrating the Group’s strategic approach and policies.
The Corporate Responsibility department is responsible for the strategic framework that drives all group-wide sustainability activities. Its scope includes managing CR governance and fulfilling external reporting and rating requirements. The team also supports operating entities to effectively integrate the Group’s strategic sustainability approach and policies into their business processes. The Head of Group Communications and Corporate Responsibility, reports directly to the CEO of Allianz SE. This ensures a close alignment with the CEO’s agenda.
Allianz Climate Solutions – our center of excellence for climate change, with a focus on renewable energy, and responsible for the implementation of the Allianz Climate Change Strategy – sits with Allianz Re alongside the Group Environment Office.
On 1 January 2018, the Group’s Environment Office, as well as the experts for integrating climate change into the business, became part of the Corporate Responsibility department.
Reporting
Our strategy shapes and increases our contribution towards delivering the Sustainable Development Goals. It also reaffirms our commitments to the Principles of the UNGC, a voluntary initiative based on CEO commitments to implement 10 universal sustainability principles in the fields of human rights, labor standards, environmental protection and anti-corruption. We have been a participant in the UNGC since 2002 and it is included in our Code of Conduct.
We base our approach and reporting on voluntary international standards and guidelines such as the GRI G4 guidelines, sustainability indices, and engagement with expert working groups such as the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative.
Our annual UNGC communication on progress and the German Sustainability Code (GSC) reports can be found on our website, as well as on the UNGC and GSC websites.
In compliance with the 2017 German implementation of the EU Non-Financial Reporting Directive (2014/95/EU), we published a combined separate non-financial report alongside the Group Annual Report 2017.
The combined separate non-financial report is being audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft (PwC) and is to be approved by the Supervisory Board of Allianz SE.
You can find our combined separate non-financial report here.
Data and Assurance
To enhance the quality of our sustainability reporting and data, our full sustainability report has been assured to a limited assurance-level by PwC since reporting year 2016. This helps to formalize the way sustainability is embedded across core functions and business units. A sample of operating entities of Allianz SE are audited by PwC on a regular basis depending on their impact on the Group’s Sustainability activities. You can find the current assurance report here.
Ratings and Benchmarks
Our objective is to continuously improve our performance and to strive for sustainability leadership in our sector. We see sustainability ratings such as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) as tools to promote transparency and trustworthiness towards markets and stakeholders. In our role as a Responsible Investor, we rely on these ratings as part of our long-term ESG integration approach for proprietary investments, as well as in the responsible investment products offered to its asset management customers.
In 2016, Allianz achieved its greatest improvement in the DJSI assessment so far: a +6%-point increase and up from Bronze to Gold in the RobecoSAM Yearbook since the previous year. Since its inception in 1999, Allianz has been included in the DJSI with top ranking positions each year since 2000.
As we strive to be a sustainability leader in our sector, sustainability ratings and industry benchmarks provide an important opportunity to improve our performance and transparency. We also rely on these ratings to support long-term ESG integration across our proprietary investments and the responsible investment products offered to our asset management customers. We take part in a wide range of external assessment and benchmarking initiatives, including:
Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI)
Allianz has been included in the DJSI since 2000. In 2017, Allianz Group took the leading position among all rated insurance companies. We have been included in the DJSI with top ranking positions every year since 2000.
Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)
Allianz Group supports the CDP as a responding company and as an asset owner and asset manager. We were also a founding signatory of the CDP. Allianz has been listed in the Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index from 2011 to 2015. In 2017 we achieved a B rating.
FTSE4Good Index
Included since 2001, Allianz is one of the longstanding members of the FTSE4Good Index series. In the 2017 assessment, we were ranked in the top 3% of our sector.
MSCI Rating
In 2017, Allianz once again received AAA rating from MSCI ESG Research. We are one of the top performers in our sector.
Oekom Corporate Rating
Allianz has once again received Prime status in 2017, which ranks us among the world’s best companies in our industry.
Commitment to sustainable development principles
Our businesses are signatories to and members of a wide range of global sustainability initiatives and principles, which guide us to:
- Incorporate best practice sustainable development principles into our activities, products, services and investments;
- Work with and learn from our peers through open dialogue and knowledge sharing;
- Collaborate to find solutions that address local and global challenges relevant to our industry and beyond; and
- Improve transparency in our own operations and across the value chain.
Allianz is a signatory of the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) Principles for Sustainable Insurance (PSI), a working group dedicated to integrating sustainability into investment management.
Allianz SE, Allianz Global Investors (AllianzGI) and the Pacific Investment Management Company (PIMCO) are also signatories of the UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), which aim to integrate ESG principles into investment decisions and management. Together, its network of international investor signatories represent more than 60 trillion U.S. Dollars of assets under management.
As asset managers, Allianz SE, AllianzGI and PIMCO also report annually on the progress made implementing the PRI. You can find our full PSI andPRI disclosures in our Download Center.