Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft - CMVM

Pioneer in selling third-party funds
In order to increase the quality of advice and customer satisfaction, we have
added the investment funds of other institutions to our range. In May 2001, we
recommended the first non-Group fund, the Fidelity European Growth Fund. In
the meantime, half of our recommended investment funds are not produced by
ourselves.
By deciding in favour of open architecture, Commerzbank has assumed a
pioneering role among Germany’s major banks. Last year, third-party investment
funds already accounted for 37% of the overall net inflow. When selecting its
own or third-party products, Commerzbank also takes into consideration the
assessments of external rating agencies. This procedure leads to a high-quality
range of funds on offer and makes objective, customer-oriented advice possible.
Attractive products for retail investors
Close contact with our customers is an important element in creating attractive,
innovative products. In 2003, we were especially successful with our portfolio
insurance funds. Our Best End Certificate, for example, enables customers to
dispose of investments before they reach maturity at the highest possible price
– a frequently expressed wish of investors in times of volatile markets.
The ADIG Total Return Product is also a response to the uncertain situation
in securities markets. By means of flexible investment in equities and bonds, the
investor can benefit from interest-rate changes or rising share prices according
to market phase. What is more, the fixed-income element serves to secure the
investment and the achieved gains.
The Comas Unlimited Certificate offers even more protection against market
movements; it systematically decouples itself from the short-lived performance
of the equity, bond and foreign-exchange markets. For this purpose, the certificate
is based on an index characterized by a broad diversification in professionally
managed hedge funds. The investment goal is simple: a steady return of
roughly 10% p.a. with a narrow fluctuation band of 3-6%. With these product
innovations, Commerzbank is making available to retail investors a major bank’s
extensive knowledge of capital-market instruments.
In 2003, Commerzbank also became the first bank to bring to the market a
special interest-rate product of KfW for retail customers. This represented an
innovative approach in property financing to making state promotion available
to retail customers, providing home buyers with very reasonable market conditions.
Strong growth surge for bancassurance
We built further upon our successful cooperation with our strategic partner, the
AMB Generali group. This was above all thanks to the activities of our mobile
advisers for old-age provision and building finance under the roof of our joint
subsidiary CommerzPartner. In connection with a sales offensive in the
branches, we managed to boost the volume of life insurances sold by 50% to
7760m last year. The rise in home-loan savings by 70% to 7660m was even more
marked. We believe that we are well equipped for the future as well, therefore,
to participate successfully in the growing market for old-age provision.
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