Journal - Allianz

ALLIANZ GROUP
Journal
International Edition 2 | 2013
8
Dialog
27
in times of terror
Bridging the gap of hatred
“An extraordinarily
ugly species”
Aging studies on
a wrinkled object
On the edge
Portugal in crisis

Allianz Group Journal 2/2013
Contents
IMPRINT
all pictures: Shutterstock
Allianz Group Journal
2/2013 (June)
Employee magazine for
Allianz Group companies
Published by Allianz SE
Overall responsibility
Emilio Galli-Zugaro
Editor-in-chief
Frank Stern
Layout volk:art51
Production repromüller
Editorial address
Allianz SE,
Allianz Journal
Königinstrasse 28
D-80802 Munich
Tel +49 89 3800 3804
journal@allianz.com
The paper used in the
publication of Allianz
Journal is manufactured
from wood from
sustainable forests.
48
Sometimes an amateur video or a caricature of Mohammed is enough to cause
outrage on the other side of the world
27
Methuselah in a wrinkled onesie: The naked mole rat can live to the age
of 30. Researchers are on the t(r)ail of the longevity conundrum
22
Men and women are incompatible – at least as far as their ideas
about advancement and career are concerned
AROUND THE WORLD
4 News from the Allianz Group
OPINIONS
8 Dialog in times of terror
Shamil Idriss on prejudices and conciliation
12 Letters to the editor
GLOBAL
14 No place on earth
Natural events and the cost of risk
17 Signal from Spain
Allianz International in Barcelona
EUROPE
19 Country of naggers?
The will of the people vs. large-scale projects
22 The End of Men and the Cowardice
of Women
Study on the dearth of women at executive level
24 Caution: debt trap!
My Finance Coach and the temptations of the
consumer world
25 “Everything is above board”
Debt prevention in the classroom
EUROPE
27 “An extraordinarily ugly species”
The naked mole rat and research into aging
30 On the edge
Portugal in crisis
34 Europe as a building site
A financial injection for infrastructure projects
36 Tryst with Hamilton
Formula 1 up close
THE AMERICAS
38 “Like a war zone”
Hurricane Sandy – solidarity in the wake
of a disaster
AUSTRALIA
40 Elephants in the outback
Risk management the Aussie way
ASIA
43 “Tough competition”
Uwe Michel on the new strategy in China
SOCIETY
46 Boulevard of freedom
Musical awakening in Casablanca
48 Enemy on the screen
Training in tolerance in the chatroom
51 Dilbert
2
3

AROUND
THE WORLD
Allianz Group Journal 2/2013
Shutterstock
Ambassador at the keyboard
Allianz
Credit insurance
for HSBC clients
Euler Hermes is now the exclusive provider of credit
insurance for commercial banking clients at HSBC.
An agreement to this effect was concluded in May.
The global sales agreement provides protection
against non-payment of receivables debt for HSBC
customers trading on “open account”. HSBC and
Allianz subsidiary Euler Hermes have been strategic
partners in Brazil, Mexico, the USA, Hong Kong, the
UK and the United Arab Emirates since 2008.
WWW.HSBC.COM
Arena in green
On March 17, the Allianz Arena in Munich was illuminated
in an unusual color in honor of the patron
saint of Ireland. Instead of red for FC Bayern, blue
for TSV 1860 München or neutral white, the football
temple was lit up in emerald green to celebrate
St. Patrick’s Day, the Irish National Holiday. Famous
buildings in other parts of the world were also lit
up in green, from the Empire State Building in New
York to the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Christ the
Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro.
Market leader in Turkey
Allianz has acquired the nonlife, life and pensions business from Turkey’s
fourth biggest private bank, Yapi Kredi, making it the top-ranking insurer on
the Turkish insurance market. Allianz has also secured a 15-year exclusive
distribution agreement. The move was announced by the two partners in
March. Thanks to the acquisition of the P&C insurer Yapi Kredi Sigorta and
the life and pensions subsidiary Yapi Kredi Emeklilik, Allianz Turkey is now
the top-ranking nonlife insurer, second-ranking pension provider and thirdranking
life insurer in the country.
Allianz’s position in the Turkish market has also been strengthened by a tenyear
exclusive distribution agreement with HSBC bank. Both companies are
already cooperating in a number of Asian markets selling life, health and
credit insurance. From the second half of 2013, HSBC will sell Allianz life insurance
and pension products to HSBC customers. Other European countries
are set to follow suit.
WWW.HSBC.COM | WWW.ALLIANZ.COM.TR
Allianz Stadium
in São Paulo
Allianz has formalized a 20-year naming rights deal for
the new Palmeiras soccer club’s stadium in São Paulo.
The Nova Arena will be used as a sports stadium and
also as a venue for major events and mega shows. Apart
from the Allianz Arena in Munich, Allianz is already the
naming sponsor for stadiums in Australia, the UK and
France. Construction costs for the Palmeiras stadium
are estimated at EUR 125 million.
In January, the acclaimed Chinese pianist
Lang Lang and Allianz launched a global
partnership, which will run initially for
two years and give Allianz access to a
new customer segment. Lang Lang will
act as Allianz’s global brand ambassador.
At the same time, Allianz and the Lang
Lang International Music Foundation
announced that the Foundation plans
to run a dedicated youth program to be
sponsored by Allianz. Lang Lang is a superstar
on the international music scene
and performs on a regular basis with the
best symphony orchestras in the world,
giving more than 120 concerts a year.
WWW.LANGLANG.COM
Allianz buys
gas network
After buying a stake in the Norwegian gas transport network Gassled early last
year, Allianz together with the Canadian firm Borealis Infrastructure also acquired
Czech gas pipeline operator Net4Gas in March. Net4Gas, a subsidiary of the German
energy provider RWE, operates a 3,600 km grid of high-pressure pipelines, supplying
the Czech domestic market, as well as transporting Russian natural gas to
Central and Western Europe. The purchase price was EUR 1.6 billion. Allianz and
Borealis will each hold a 50 percent stake in Net4Gas.
Shutterstock
Allianz
Allianz Life in
the top 100
For the second time in a row Allianz
Life has made it on to the Fortune
magazine’s annual list of the 100
best companies to work for in the
USA. The American life insurance
subsidiary, with its head office in
Minneapolis ranked 59th. The winner
was Google, which also won last
year. 259 companies took part in
the survey, and more than 277,000
employees rated their managers,
as well as job satisfaction and qualification
measures offered by their
company.
WWW.ALLIANZLIFE.COM
Allianz Bank
closes up shop
Allianz Bank in Germany is to cease
operations on June 30. According to
Andree Moschner, board member
of Allianz Beratungs- und Vertriebs-
AG (Allianz sales organization), the
decision follows accruing losses
over the years with no turnaround
in sight. The move means the loss of
450 jobs nationwide and the closure
of 45 bank offices within Allianz
agencies. Allianz Bank was set up in
2009 as a branch of Oldenburgische
Landesbank, which is part of the
Allianz Group.
WWW.OLB.DE
WWW.PALMEIRAS.COM.BR/HOME
4
5

AROUND
THE WORLD
ACIS
Allianz Group Journal 2/2013
Allianz
PERSONALIA
Noboru Tsuda has been appointed new
CEO of Allianz Life Insurance Japan, effective
March 1, 2013. He replaced Olaf Kliesow
who took over as Head of Global Life &
Health Portfolio Management at Allianz SE
in Munich.
After more than 15 years as the CEO for
Allianz in Poland, Pawel Dangel has decided
to retire in mid 2013. His successor is Witold
Jaworski who brings to his new position
long-standing experience in the Polish insurance
industry.
David Fried, former Regional CEO of Allianz
Asia Pacific, has left Allianz Singa pore Branch
to pursue other career opportunities outside
the Allianz Group, effective January 1,
2013. His functions have been taken over by
Manuel Bauer for the time being.
In May, Chris James, CEO of Allianz Taiwan
Life, retired after 13 years with Allianz. He
was succeeded by Danny Lam.
Flashmob for the 10th
Ten years ago, Allianz UK established its
IT subsidiary ACIS in Trivandrum, India.
What started out as a small unit with
50 employees has grown into a fullfledged
company with four offices and
a staff of 1,600. A surprise awaited the
Allianz UK CEO Andrew Torrance when
he arrived to join in the 10th anniversary
WWW.ACIS.CO.IN
celebrations there: dozens of ACIS staff
greeted him with a flashmob dance to
the Korean pop song Gangnam Style.
ACIS intends to use this anniversary year
to increase its support for social projects
in the city and to present the company
to schools and universities.
Cooperation with Paralympic Committee
Allianz has extended its sponsorship of disability sport around
the world over the next four years. In April, Sir Philip Craven
(right in photo), President of the International Paralympic
Committee (IPC), and Allianz board member Werner Zedelius
signed an agreement to this end in Munich. Allianz has been
working with the IPC since 2006 to promote public awareness
of the sport. The four-year agreement comprises a full
Olympic cycle and includes support of numerous Paralympic
committees during the preparations for the Winter Games
in Sochi in 2014 and the Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro in
2016. Sports associations in Australia, Germany, Ireland, Croatia,
Mexico, Austria, Portugal, Switzerland, the Czech Republic
and Hungary will also be involved.
WWW.SPONSORING.ALLIANZ.COM
Allianz
Allianz Journal
on the internet
Since March, Allianz Journal has also been
available to readers on the internet. On the
Allianz Group’s knowledge portal, the Journal
has its own section from which readers can
access the magazine contents. Pdf files of the
printed version, as well as formats for smartphones
and tablets, are also available here.
HTTP://KNOWLEDGE.ALLIANZ.COM/
JOURNAL
Junior Football
Camp in Munich
In August, Allianz will start its fifth Junior Football Camp in Munich.
75 teenagers from 25 different countries will have the opportunity to
observe first hand their football heroes from FC Bayern Munich at the
Bayern training ground. But the program offers even more for the
kids: training with FC Bayern youth coaches, a visit to a home game,
a special tour of the Allianz Arena and a look behind the scenes of the
Champions League winner. And, as a particular highlight, a personal
meeting with the stars of Germany’s most successful football club.
WWW.FOOTBALL-FOR-LIFE.COM
AWARDS
Insurance from
a cell phone
Allianz Zagreb is the first company in Croatia
to launch a smartphone app for travel health
insurance. The free m-Allianz app enables users
to take out insurance in just a few simple steps.
All a customer has to do is enter his personal
details, the type of insurance needed and the
duration. The premium is then paid by credit
card. Even users who decide to go away on the
spur of the moment can easily get insurance
cover. The policy is issued by e-mail. A 24-hour
helpline can provide assistance, for instance,
if a client is experiencing language problems
abroad. The team can also inform the client’s
family in case of an emergency and pass on
claims for costs incurred directly to Allianz
Assistance, so there’s no need to file a claim
after returning home.
WWW.ALLIANZ.HR
Allianz came out the most trusted insurer in Europe
in the Reader’s Digest European Trusted Brands 2013
survey. Approximately 20,000 readers from 12 European
countries took part in the survey. It was the 12th time
in a row that Allianz was named most trusted insurance
brand in Europe.
Allianz-Tiriac has been awarded “Insurance Company
of the Year 2012” by the Romanian insurance magazine
PRIMM. It was the 11th time that the Allianz subsidiary
received the award.
Euler Hermes was named trade credit insurance firm
of the year by the business magazine Trade and Export
Middle East at the first Trade & Export Middle East
Excellence Awards in Dubai.
6
7

Opinions
dpa / picture-alliance
Dialog in times
of terror
In a time when the rift between
the Muslim and the Western
worlds seem to be widening, a
small organization is set to bridge
the gap via the internet. We talked
to the CEO of Soliya, Shamil Idriss,
about dialog in times of terror.
Hatred of the West: the suspected Boston bombers
INTERVIEW: FRANK STERN
Mr. Idriss, when you look at the world
today, do you really think the profound
divisions and conflicts can be solved
by virtual Round Tables of students on
internet platforms like the one Soliya
has established?
15 or 20 years ago, if a pastor in Florida with
fewer than 50 people in his congregation
threatened to burn the Quran nobody would
have cared, nobody even would have known
who this guy was. But now these things go
viral so quickly. The only conclusion I draw
from this is that we have to build up the willingness,
the interest and the skills of a much
larger group of people to foster cooperation
across societies. And the only way I think you
can do that is through virtual means because
exchange programs are too expensive and
too difficult. Right now fewer than two percent
of young people participate in any kind
of study abroad program or exchange experience.
We’ve got to use the virtual means
to connect a much larger group of people.
And not just connect them. They have to
have a really profound cross-cultural experience,
not just a facebook link. If we could
reach a critical mass of let’s say 15 percent
of the population across the board with our
programs, then I think we could build a real
constituency to make a difference.
How far should cross-cultural dialog go?
Where is the line between tolerance and
giving up your own values?
It can be legitimate for government representatives
to refuse to engage with certain
parties because they don’t want to legitimize
them. I’m much less understanding of the
refusal for people to speak to people. And I
think often the best way for people to learn
about their own positions is through engaging
others who disagree with them. I think
whatever your values are you will benefit
from engaging with people and having
those values challenged. You may come out
questioning some of those values or you feel
all the more confident about your position.
I think a much bigger danger is to live in a
metaphorical bubble.
But how can you find common ground
with a perception of society that was
overcome in Europe with the era of
Enlightenment?
I don’t accept the notion that you can’t start
dialog between people who come from
different intellectual traditions and societal
histories, that there are two succinctly
defined and static intellectual traditions that
are mutually exclusive. You have much more
fluid realities both in the West and in Muslim
societies today. Especially now where many
Muslim societies are really questioning a lot
of fundamental assumptions.
According to a professor from Egypt
who took part in your program some
of the Muslim students were shocked
when first confronted with Jews.
There is a combination of policy differences
and fears, stereotypes and ignorance among
people. The best way to deal with those
stereotypes is through connecting people
to real people and having that experience
where your assumptions are turned on
their head. There were students who quite
8
9

OPINIONS
Allianz Group Journal 2/2013
Stern
literally thought that Jews look different – it’s
shocking but I mean this is what students
think who have never met a Jew, who have
grown up in a world where the view about
Jews is purely negative. For them it’s a very
profound experience to have a face-to-face
encounter. So when you ask, can it solve the
problem – I actually think on the people-topeople
ignorance side of the equation, the
internet is indispensable.
Some could say Soliya is infiltrating the
Western phalanx, others might suspect
you are a collaborator.
We’ve had it on all sides. People are often
suspicious at the outset.
Which is understandable. In the eyes
of Muslim students it must be ominous
that the US government is funding the
program.
First, we actually haven’t had US government
funding for our Connect program. We
had US government funding for the fellowship
afterwards. It’s an important question
because we do get asked who funds the
program. So we are always very transparent
with that. We do take some pride that
we have Swiss and Norwegian government
funding. But we also have funding from the
Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation, from the Ford
Foundation, from the Allianz Foundation
for North America and other sources. That
diversity of funding is actually really important
for this reason.
Many of the colleges you are cooperating
with are located in Egypt where the
Muslim Brotherhood is the ruling party
now. What will Soliya’s future in Egypt
look like?
I don’t know. Before the Brotherhood, we
were dealing with an autocratic regime in
Egypt and I was at least as worried then. I tell
you what the more exciting indicators are.
One is students who go through our program,
who are Brotherhood advocates and
participants. That’s part of society. You can’t
get away from the importance of religion in
the society there. But they love the program
too. Al-Azhar is the oldest school of Sunni
Muslim thought in the Muslim world. We
run the program at Al-Azhar in two classes
there. And they are interested in a vast
expansion. That’s a very big deal for us. So
we’re seeing people coming from religious
perspectives actually being really interested
in these connections.
At the moment it looks as if Egypt is
follwing a path towards a new autocratic
development.
Well, it depends from which perspective you
look at it. Last year’s elections were seen as
legitimate elections.
The Nazis in Germany came to power
via elections too.
This danger is present in any transitional
society. I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion
though. I don’t know whether President
Mursi is Idi Amin or if he is Abraham Lincoln.
I challenge anyone to definitively say which
he is. It’s not that I would defend all that
Mursi does but what I am suspicious of is
that people on either side of the ideological
equation are so convinced. I think the situation
is much more complicated. Yes, there is
a danger that it could go into that antidemocratic
direction. But I also don’t think that is
a foregone conclusion. When looking at any
transitional society one of the challenges is
impatience. This societal experiment is going
to take at least a generation to work through
and maybe more. So we are talking 30 years.
Minimum.
You cooperate with more than 100
universities in 27 countries all over the
world. If you want to cross ideological
divides, why is there not even one from
Israel?
We do have Israelis participating in the fellowship
that we run. We have fellows from
Israel being trained as facilitators. And we’ve
had Israeli participants in our Connect Program.
As for the university partnerships,
unfortunately, it’s so challenging right now
in the Middle East. Lebanon and Israel are
still officially at war. It could become quite
difficult and dangerous for students, whose
universities have official contacts to an Israeli
institution. For a lot of universities from Arab
countries participating in our program it’s a
very challenging situation.
A situation which virtual discussions
won’t change.
Our program is a long-term endeavour in
the sense that we have to maximize the
numbers of participants over time. I think
if we were already doing this with a million
students a year they’d already be changing
the world. It’s urgent that we scale-up
these kinds of connections between people.
Because the other side of things can still go
wrong with hate-mongers influencing the
agenda, a ridiculous video stirring up emotions
or something goes viral and sets our
societies on a collision course. We need to
stop that.
We have to cooperate across a lot more
divides than we ever did before to solve our
problems as a human race. It’s an urgent
requirement now that we maximize the
number and the diversity of people who
have the willingness and the skills to foster
that cooperation across divides. Governments
are decreasingly influential in the
world today. The broader issue we have is
not the Clash of Civilizations but the deeprunning
differences in the world. If you look
at my own country, the divide between
secular and religious, between far left and
far right is very polarizing and it’s getting
so extreme that we are more and more
dysfunctional in our ability to do what is
necessary.
Maybe you should set up a dialog program
just for the US.
There are many European societies which
are also very much divided. So forget the
clash between Islam and the West. If we
aren’t even able to foster connections across
divides in our own societies we won’t be able
to solve fundamental problems of humankind
as a whole. We need to be able to cooperate
across our differences.
As long as the Palestinians don’t have
their own state the rift won’t go away.
This is the tinderbox. I agree with you, I don’t
think that if you solve that conflict everything
will go away. But I’m sure that if you
don’t solve that conflict you will always be
very limited in what you can do. In my view,
the key to solving that conflict is increasingly
building up constituencies that are able to
talk to each other and have an impact on the
solution. There are countless other conflicts
in history that seemed inevitable or intractable.
But in the end, they were eventually
solved.
To read the long version of this interview please go to:
HTTP://KNOWLEDGE.ALLIANZ.COM/JOURNAL
PROFILE
Shamil Idriss has been CEO of Soliya since
2009. He is an American of Syrian and Turkish
ancestry and an expert in the field of conflict
mediation. In 2005, he was appointed by
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan as Deputy
Director of the UN Alliance of Civilizations,
which was set up to counter extremism and
polarization in the world. He has worked for
the World Economic Forum and as an adviser
to Search for Common Ground (SFCG), an
organization for conflict resolution with
offices in 17 countries. The 40-year-old New
Yorker is a member of the Muslim Leaders
of Tomorrow network and the Young Global
Leaders network of the World Economic
Forum. Idriss lives with his wife and two
daughters near New York.
10
11

OPINIONS
Allianz Group Journal 2/2013
Letters
to the editor
Simplistic answer
Heidrun Naujoks of Allianz Leben
in Munich comments on the article
“Fruitful investments” in Allianz
Journal 1/2013:
In the article “Fruitful Investments” by
Michael Grimm the following question was
posed: “So why (despite growing yields)
do hundreds of millions still go hungry?”
Bryan Agbabian of Allianz Global Investors
answered: “We’re still not producing
enough.” This statement is simply accepted
as though it’s an undisputed truth.
But the answer is far too simplistic and may
in fact be wrong. For instance, according to
the United Nations, about 1.3 billion tons of
food is thrown away every year around the
world. Theoretically, the quantity of food
discarded in industrial nations alone would
be enough to feed every person on the
planet suffering from hunger. Many experts
believe that enough food is grown and produced,
but it isn’t fairly distributed around
the world.
There are many other points of view on this
subject, and it would have been good if they
could at least have been mentioned briefly
in the article, because the issue is certainly
too complex for simple answers. It is also
questionable, to say the very least, whether
global agribusiness corporations and their
investors are actually helping farming in the
world’s poor and poorest regions.
On the subject of meat consumption, I share
the view of economist Gernot Klepper and
many other experts who believe that the
rising global demand for meat is one of the
causes of food shortages due to increasing
use of arable land to grow animal feed. I’d
be interested to know whether Allianz still
invests in companies in the meat industry.
One must unfortunately assume this to
be the case if investments by the Global
Agricultural Trends Fund do in fact cover
“the entire chain of agricultural production,
processing and distribution.”
Readers’ Forum
If you liked or even disliked any items in the
Journal, we would like to hear from you.
Your feedback will help us to improve our
content, so all comments and suggestions for
improvement are welcome. Please send to:
journal@allianz.com
Allianz Journal
Königinstr. 28, D-80802 Munich
Group Intranet (GIN) → Allianz key information
→ Journal
http://knowledge.allianz.com/journal
Deadline for submissions for the Allianz
Journal 3/2013 is August 30, 2013.
Disastrous
consequences
Sepp Sperr from Allianz Deutschland in
Munich also takes the “Fruitful Investments”
article to task:
You write: “We’re still not producing
enough”. I find that hard to accept. Have
you ever asked yourself why so much food
is thrown away? To quote from the film We
Feed the World: “Every day in Vienna the
amount of unsold bread sent back to be
disposed of is enough to supply Austria’s
second-largest city, Graz. Around 350,000
hectares of agricultural land, above all in
Latin America, are dedicated to the cultivation
of soybeans to feed Austria’s livestock,
while one quarter of the local population
starves. Every European eats ten kilograms
a year of artificially irrigated greenhouse
vegetables from southern Spain, with water
shortages being the result.” You also write,
Shutterstock
“Our fund invests in companies that help
boost productivity.” However, you don’t write
– presumably intentionally – in which regions
food production is increased by those
companies.
Nor do I share your view that biofuel production
has little impact on prices. Quite apart
from the fact that biofuel is extremely bad
for the environment (as a result of clearing
rainforests, for example), the conversion
of basic foodstuffs into fuel increases the
demand for these commodities, thus increasing
prices, which poor countries can
then no longer afford. Rich farmers who
can produce surpluses prefer to sell their
food to rich countries and make a fat profit
in the process, so there’s even less to eat in
poor countries. Poor farmers, by contrast,
are barely able to produce enough to feed
themselves and have to buy the expensive
food that they can’t afford.
I do agree that the situation can be remedied
only by taking an ecological approach
to farming, not by increasing the use of fertilizers.
Fertilizer, after all, is generally used
only where there’s already enough to eat
or where farmers export their produce (for
instance, soybeans from Brazil). And that
has disastrous consequences.
More than
financial support
Linda Murphy of Allianz Global Corporate
& Specialty in Los Angeles on the
cooperation of Allianz and MyHandicap:
Recently, a family member of mine lost their
leg and we have been going through months
of surgery, as well as months of adapting to
a new life without a leg and with wheelchairs
and prosthetics. It is wonderful to see again
how Allianz goes beyond just providing
financial protection and support for individuals
but also partners up with social initiatives
that are looking to improve quality of life.
We had not heard of MyHandicap and really
enjoy learning about all of its benefits. The
insurance products being developed will be
great for handicapped people. It is very rewarding
knowing that I work for a company
that partners social initiatives in this way.
Frustration in sales
Allianz general agent Horst Frei from
Mosbach in Baden-Württemberg on the
interview with Karsten Crede of Allianz
Global Automotive entitled “The future
is inconceivable without cars” in Allianz
Journal 1/2013:
I can understand that Allianz would like
to expand its Global Automotive business
but why this article has appeared in Allianz
Journal is a complete mystery to me. My colleagues
and I make a living selling insurance.
Now we’ve got competition from our own
company again. We’ve just sustained two
years of substantial premium adjustments.
Many clients have left us because they were
annoyed about their premiums.
At the same time, the designated CEO of the
newly founded VW Insurance (under the
aegis of Allianz!) was quoted in the press as
saying: “There’s still room to lower prices
further”. And this comes from an insurer that
is already significantly cheaper and can offer
better services than the Allianz agent around
the corner.
Surely an article of this nature will encourage
exclusivity sales enormously. I don’t expect
every article in the Allianz Journal to make
me dance for joy. However, a little more sensitivity
would be welcome to prevent even
more frustration in sales.
“Many roads lead
to Rome”
Axel Steinhoff of Allianz Beratungsund
Vertriebs-AG in Munich comments
on the interview with Dieter Wemmer
and Manuel Bauer on the subject of
corporate culture:
In his interview with Manuel Bauer and
Dieter Wemmer, Frank Stern asked how
different value systems and cultures affect
management behavior and management
culture, but in my opinion the answer he
received was just one side of the coin. To
me the answer was more a comment on
the development status of another value
system from a German point of view. It
focused on the impact of German (management)
behavior in the countries mentioned,
for instance in the sense of a different way of
communicating or exchanging information.
However, as I understand it, the question
was really about the impact of other value
systems and cultures on management behavior
in general, for example, on the behavior
of managers here in our country. From
my own experience I would say that we
should not underestimate the importance
of accepting and respecting other cultures,
values and communication systems, as well
as their application in the context of our own
system or guidelines.
In my view, the effect of such interaction
with foreign cultures lies in a more enriching
and healthy reflection of our management
behavior, helping us to become tolerant and
open-minded here to the many roads that
lead to Rome.
12
13

Global
dpa / picture-alliance
No place
on earth
It’s one of the great mysteries of our time
that nature repeatedly catches the insurance
industry on the back foot. The earthquake
in New Zealand, the tsunami in Japan, the
hundred-year flood in Thailand – each time
experts are amazed that no one saw it coming.
Since 2011, the worst year for disasters of all
time, one Allianz unit has been trying to sharpen
the awareness for risk.
FRANK STERN
First the bad news: there’s no safe place on earth. Nowhere.
The meteorite that exploded over Chelyabinsk in
Russia on February 15 has made that very clear. “Had it
fallen a little later, it could have hit Germany, for instance,”
says Markus Aichinger. “And it would have shattered a lot
more windows then than it did in the Urals.”
Aichinger is one of a group of experts helping Allianz
underwriters recognize the damage potential of natural
events, particularly in the corporate insurance segment
(MidCorp), and to set appropriate premiums. The NatCat
team, which belongs to Global P&C (Property & Casualty)
isn’t too worried about meteorites. “The probability that
a rock from space will fall on your head is miniscule,” says
Aichinger. “What eats into business profits is damage
caused by hail, water and storms. And the trend is clearly
going upwards.”
On 11th March, 2011, a devastating tsunami was triggered by an earthquake
off the east coast of Japan’s main island Honshu. More than 20,000
people perished in the floods
Aichinger, a meteorologist by training, sees premiums
always lagging one step behind claims. “P&C business
contributes 50 percent to Allianz’s operating profit.
Just a small improvement would translate into a huge
advantage,” he says. The P&C Academy, part of Global
P&C, which was founded in 2011, provides underwriters
of Group companies with the technical expertise they
need. Aichinger and his colleagues are also involved here
(see box).
Besides risk assessment and premium calculations, the
P&C Academy trainings and seminars also deal with
fundamental questions, such as how the danger of risk
Global P&C
Global P&C was set up in 2011 to help Allianz companies
ensure the profitability of their P&C business. The technical
expertise for risk assessment, premium setting and portfolio
management is conveyed in trainings and seminars
at the P&C Academy. In addition, Global P&C’s experts
examine the property & casualty sector of several Allianz
companies (MidCorp business reviews) every year and
make recommendations for improving profitability. Best
practice models are also presented to other Group companies
and are incorporated into the P&C Academy’s programs.
Since 2012, the Global P&C’s NatCat team headed
by Edzard Romaneessen supports Allianz entities
in protecting their business both against NatCat events
and risk accumulation in their portfolios.
GLOBALPC@ALLIANZ.COM
14
15

GLOBAL
Dlouhy
Allianz Group Journal 2/2013
both pictures: Roth
accumulation in the subsidiaries can be addressed – a
problem that was dramatically highlighted by the 2011
flood in Thailand. “Our underwriters shouldn’t just focus
on individual risks,” stresses Raimund Büllesbach, head
of the P&C Academy. “They also have to understand
how their underwriting practice could affect the exposure
of the NatCat portfolio and eventually the Group’s
overall result.”
The NatCat team: (from left) meteorologist
Markus Aichinger, oceanographer Edzard
Romaneessen and economist Curzio Coli
including the amounts insured and excesses. Allianz
Risk Consultants (ARC) also uses Google Earth. So far,
a similar instrument hasn’t been employed in the
MidCorp business.
Signal from Spain
Allianz board members Dieter Wemmer (left) and Michael
Diekmann presented a positive outlook in Barcelona
However, they need the technical tools to gain this overall
view. That’s the crux of the matter: IT systems able
to provide information about clusters of similar risks in a
region are often missing – at least in the MidCorp business.
Other departments are already more advanced in
this respect. Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS),
for instance, has been using Google Earth for years to
identify cumulative risks before insuring major companies.
Google Earth supplies the geodata, while the
AGCS database provides information on insured objects,
Of course, gaining a foothold in a market may mean
deliberately underpricing policies, at least temporarily,
explains Markus Aichinger: “Accepting such a lean period
might make good sense in some circumstances, but you
have to know what you’re doing and consider beforehand
where to draw the line.” In the past, however, the miscalculation
of risks and premiums has only been revealed
by the occurrence of a major loss event, particularly in
growth markets. The NatCat team at Global P&C aims to
shield Allianz from such nasty surprises in the future.
Up to now, Allianz has fared pretty well in the financial crisis, even sailing ahead
of its competitors. At this year’s Allianz International in Barcelona, 200 top managers
from more than 40 countries discussed ways to stay on top.
PETRA KRÜLL
Raimund Büllesbach:
”Our underwriters
shouldn’t just focus
on individual risks”
As a meteorologist, Aichinger naturally focuses mainly
on storms, hail and flooding. “For us, atmospheric events
cause the most damage,” he says. “But the risk is often
inadequately reflected in premiums.” He’s hoping for a
breathing space, since global warming has stagnated in
the past 15 years: “Maybe that will give us some leeway
for premiums to catch up.”
GIN → ALLIANZ SE → H5 → GLOBAL P&C
“Allianz is truly where I wanted it to be.”
In his opening remarks at the Allianz International
(AZI) in Barcelona in March, Allianz
CEO Michael Diekmann described how the
Group again reached the top-position in
the industry in terms of operating profits
and how the asset base helped to mitigate
the impact of a low interest rate environment.
“Yes, we can be content,” he added
but sent out a warning right afterwards:
“There may be dangers lurking right behind
the next corner.”
As well as strategy and financials, digitalization,
distribution, life products, investments
and risks were the main topics on
the agenda during the two day meeting.
To face all present challenges, whether
from higher capital requirements and lower
interest rates or from growth opportunities
in emerging markets, whether from
digitalization or from the need to mitigate
unforeseen developments, Allianz needs
to create a common understanding of
values and goals, Diekmann said.
Allianz CFO Dieter Wemmer picked up
the thread, emphasizing that regarding
decisions on capital allocation it is crucial
for the group to have a common language
and how underwriting is key when it comes
to expenditures. “We have all the right ingredients
but we need to fight like lions
when it comes to execution,” Wemmer said.
In order to stay ahead of the competition
and be a reliable partner for stakeholders,
capital strength is the most important component
for a financial service provider.
16
17

GLOBAL
Shutterstock
Europe
To improve competitiveness, it’s important
to simplify products and processes, emphasized
many of the speakers. In addition,
Allianz’s strong global brand, as well as smart
acquisitions such as those in Belgium, France
and recently in Turkey will provide for smart
growth. But all agreed that the company’s
integrity and reputation provides the foundation
for its success.
“A hell of a model”
Digitalization was again one of the hot topics.
Allianz Seguros, the Spanish Group company
has been at the forefront here. Their common
business model and IT platform for the
Ibero-Latin American region is a showcase
for higher productivity, best service quality
and efficiency. The transfer of know-how
across the borders improved positions in
local markets with different economic situations,
and with Latin America opened up
a third growth market for Allianz in addition
to Asia and Eastern Europe. “A hell of a
model”, as Michael Diekmann described it.
Digitalization will change the way business
is done because it changes the way people
interact. Social media is everywhere and
provides Allianz with a business opportunity
by increasing the number of contact points
with customers. Digital elements need to
be integrated into the established business
model to offer tied agents various access
points to their clients. Furthermore, the
ability to analyze and harness Big Data will
help develop a holistic view of customers,
allowing Allianz to foresee their needs,
which might have an impact on pricing.
To deliver on a global scale, Allianz needs
to apply an integrated approach to client
needs. “What we really care about is partnership,”
Michael Diekmann said. The new
Group wide initiative “Allianz Worldwide
Partners” is an example. It bundles the expertise
of the global entities Allianz Global
Assistance, Global Automotive, Allianz
Worldwide Care and the international health
insurance of Allianz France to win business
clients as partners and enable them to better
fulfil their end customers’ needs.
Another focus within Distribution was the
broker business. More than a third of Allianz
insurance revenues are already generated
through the broker channel but simply
meeting basic needs is no longer enough to
be the preferred supplier. The Global Broker
Management Team provides the opportunity
to leverage the Allianz global brand and
financial strength and the existing expertise
of local entities.
The retail business is also changing. Customers
who use digital channels no longer
fit into the traditional distribution boxes. This
challenge can be met by a multi access
strategy, i.e. a modular product approach,
different touch points, superior online experience
and personal advice “on demand” –
whenever and wherever the customer asks
for it. Allianz Hungary has already successfully
applied this model and enabled 1,600
agents for the digital age.
Demographic challenges
Enabling customers to provide for old age
was another field of discussion in Barcelona.
“The social security systems cannot cover
the demographic challenges, so life insurance
is needed”, board member Maximilian
Zimmerer pointed out. But how can Allianz
help customers provide for retirement in
the low interest rate environment that will
prevail in the years ahead? How can it control
the business risks yet still meet clients’
expectations of guarantees and returns on
investment?
As research shows, clients are willing to
lower guarantee expectations in exchange
for higher returns. Sales forces must be able
to provide superior advice to customers to
help them make the right choice between
guarantees and return in accordance with
their needs. As one presenter put it: “What is
good for the clients will in the end be good
for Allianz.”
both pictures: Dlouhy
Country of naggers?
Democracy can be tedious: although it safeguards civic participation, decision
processes can also degenerate into an endless tug-of-war. At this year’s Allianz
Environmental Foundation talks at Benediktbeuern, discussions focused on
how to reconcile people’s will with the viability of a modern political system.
FRANK STERN
18
19

EUROPE
Darchinger
Allianz Group Journal 2/2013
“Civic participation doesn’t mean that there
will always be a socially desirable solution
at the end of the day.” Beate Jessel
danger that people will have a knee-jerk reaction to any
given project,” added Jochen Homann from the Federal
Network Agency. And he should know.
Stuttgart 21: protest; Frankfurt Airport: protest; energy transition:
everyone in favor; wind farms and overhead power
lines: protest. All over Germany it’s the same story: no matter
where a large-scale project is proposed, opposition isn’t
far behind – well organized, grey-haired and obstinate.
Are Germans a population of naggers, obstructionists and
objectors? This was the question behind the theme of this
year’s Benediktbeuern talks “The will of the people versus
large-scale projects”, organized by Lutz Spandau, the Foundation’s
CEO. It’s no surprise that there was plenty of discord.
Claudia Roth probably had the most difficult role during the
talks. As chair of Germany’s Green Party she attempted to
represent both her party’s roots of direct democracy and the
“realist” wing. She advocated more direct civic participation,
while at the same time making it clear that as far as she is
concerned, parliament remains the backbone of the decisionmaking
process in a representative democracy. “At a certain
point, politicians must make the decisions,” said Roth. Not
everyone’s point of view can be accommodated.
This was one of the few occasions when she agreed with
the President of the German Federal Network Agency,
Jochen Homann. However, Homann, whose responsibilities
include ensuring fair competition in the power and gas sector,
deplored many citizens’ “refusal to take responsibility”.
People aren’t against abstract goals such as energy transition
and expansion of the electricity grid, he said, but as soon as
there are specific plans at regional and local level, the protests
begin. So vested interests take precedence over the common
good “irrespective of party affiliation.”
“Rubbish,” countered Roth vigorously. The fact that expansion
of the power grids in Germany has stalled is not the
citizens’ fault, she said, but the energy companies’, who don’t
consider investment in this area lucrative. Homann, however,
was backed by Peter Schmitz, board member at Fraport AG,
who also noted that many citizens are becoming increasingly
opposed to change, in accordance with the motto “not
in my backyard”. This is particularly odd when it comes to
Frankfurt Airport, as everyone wants to fly but without the
airports and noise that go with it. Schmitz is snowed under
every month with around 175,000 letters of complaint
from about 1,000 people in the surrounding area protesting
against a new runway opened in 2011. And there is a demonstration
every Monday at the airport – “as ritualistic as a
Catholic mass,” says Schmitz.
Species protection as project killer
Anke Domscheit-Berg, internet activist and member of the
Pirate Party, had more understanding for citizens’ anger and
cited studies indicating that many people find the decisionmaking
processes of large-scale projects opaque. Civic participation
is nothing more than fraudulent labeling, she said:
“The ‘if’ of a project is often neglected, and only the ‘how’
discussed.” And mostly in language that the layperson can’t
understand – “fig-leaf politics” as Domscheit-Berg put it.
Beate Jessel, president of the Federal Agency for Nature
Conservation, bemoaned the lack of transparency of many
project procedures too. There should be open-ended discussions
with regard to planning, she opined. In her view the
people affected should be included early on in the process;
and adequate compensation should be offered for any
disadvantages incurred. Encroachment of the countryside
by large-scale projects also influences people’s sense of
belonging and regional identity. “And we must take these
emotional components seriously,” said the professor for
landscape development. On the other hand, she didn’t hide
the fact that nature and species protection are sometimes
used as a pretext to prevent unwelcome projects: protesters
go out of their way to find some endangered animal or plant
species in order to oppose an airport expansion, commuter
train line, national park, hydroelectric plant, wind farm or
underground cable.
(From left) Anke Domscheit-Berg, Claudia Roth, Lutz Spandau, Beate Jessel,
Peter Schmitz and Jochen Homann at the Benediktbeuern talks
Progressive aging of the population will only make people
more intransigent, said Peter Schmitz from Fraport.
Demographic trends go hand in hand with a decrease in a
willingness to change, he noted. The well-off “Wutbürger”
(enraged citizen) isn’t thinking about his grandchildren’s
generation or the country’s future. “I’m not very optimistic,”
said Schmitz. “We’re becoming very inflexible.”
Anke Domscheit-Berg, on the other hand, has witnessed a
movement developing especially in the digital world that
doesn’t reject or obstruct but gets involved, seeks an active
part and isn’t frightened off by red tape. The influence of
the internet community was evident in 2012 in the anti-ACTA
movement, which Domscheit-Berg believes prevented a
censorship infrastructure on the internet. In Hamburg, civil
society groups initiated a transparency law, obliging the
authorities to make all its data accessible on the internet –
the first of its kind in Germany.
“Of course civic participation doesn’t mean that there will
always be a socially desirable solution at the end of the day,”
Beate Jessel cautioned, before anyone got too excited. In
the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, for instance, the
coalition government of Greens and Social Democrats is at
loggerheads with the electorate, which is firmly against a
national park in the northern Black Forest. In North Rhine
Westphalia the will of the people has already prevented
the establishment of a national park. “There’s a substantial
Sometimes opposition produces strange results: while the
citizen’s army in one region is against underground electric
cables, the people in another region are vehemently in favor
of it to put a stop to high voltage above ground power lines.
“You sometimes get the impression that protests have
become the business model of assessors and lawyers,” said
Homann. Politicians haven’t been any real use to him in these
disputes. The greatest risk to energy transition is the disagreement
between the federal states about the future of
energy supply, he cautioned. “Sixteen different opinions
add up to a load of nonsense in the end. We suffer under
federalism when it comes to this issue.”
The guilty party
Claudia Roth, who could hardly contain her anger during
Homann’s statement, accused the government of being the
guilty party in the energy transition debacle. It’s unacceptable
that the Environment Ministry and Ministry of Economics
are at odds with each other in this matter, said the Green
politician: “We need coherence. It should have top priority in
the Chancellery.” Peter Schmitz concurred. “Politicians must
put forward a clear policy,” he said.
In the controversial prestige project Stuttgart 21, Roth’s party
has just had the painful experience that a clear policy isn’t
always enough. Although the Greens were emphatically
against the railway project, a majority in the 2011 referendum
voted against withdrawal of the federal state. The regional
government led by the Greens now has to implement the
development plan. “We crashed and burned,” admits Roth.
But she was in no doubt that direct civic participation is indispensable
for a living democracy. “Even if it hurts sometimes.”
HTTPS://UMWELTSTIFTUNG.ALLIANZ.DE
“You sometimes get the impression that protests have become
the business model of assessors and lawyers.” Jochen Homann
20
21

EUROPE
Allianz Group Journal 2/2013
Of the end of men and
the cowardice of women
Well over a year ago the percentage of women in top and middle management in
German corporations was just under 15 percent. That figure hasn’t increased much
since. The Fraunhofer Society has conducted a study on the reasons for the dearth
of women at executive level.
FRANK STERN
The issue of women and careers produces conflicting messages. Whereas the US author
Hanna Rosin proclaimed “The End of Men” in her latest book, the German journalist Bascha
Mika has written over 200 pages bemoaning “The Cowardice of Women”. What stops
women from advancing in their careers? Do they not want to? Are they unable to? Are
they the victims of male alliances that nip their ambitions in the bud?
In a study report entitled “Changing corporate culture – avoiding career breaks”, published
at the end of last year, the Fraunhofer Society investigated the causes behind the
lack of women in the corporate corridors of power. Nine major companies, including
Daimler, Bosch, EADS, Microsoft and Allianz Germany, took part in the study, in which
220 male and female managers were interviewed between March and November 2011.
The result: men and women are incompatible – at least as far as their ideas on promotion
and career are concerned.
Children as a stumbling block
The Fraunhofer study, written by four female authors, concludes: “A comprehensive change
in corporate culture is needed to boost the percentage of women in management positions.”
Mentoring and seminars organized specifically for women are not enough to prevent career
breaks. Quite the contrary, according to one of the surprising findings in the study, such
programs can be counterproductive. This is because special programs to promote women
reinforce prejudices that women have leadership deficiencies that must be redressed with
the help of specific measures.
Other findings of the study were less surprising, for instance, that children hamper
a woman’s career but not that of the proud father. Or that men and women
are officially allowed to take time off or work part-time, but in reality these
opportunities are usually taken up only by women. Interestingly, the study
revealed that if a man takes parental leave, the harm caused to his
career is much greater than that incurred by a woman.
Male and female employees who take a break, “are usually not at the
focus of employment decisions,” is how the female authors gallantly
paraphrase the current discriminatory practice in many companies.
Only taking short parental leave would not be detrimental to a career.
Shutterstock
According to the study, “supervisors and HR departments are often oblivious to the constraints
that different life stages place on career decisions”. In other words, those who plan
their career paths around their personal circumstances are regarded as inflexible. “A longterm
career plan oriented around a person’s life stages,” states the sobering conclusion of
the Fraunhofer study, “is currently neither implemented nor accepted.”
For women in particular, it is a major disadvantage that careers in middle and top management
are decided between the ages of 30 and 40 – which often coincides with the family
stage in life. Late careers from the age of 40 are rare. Female managers wishing to return to
work after maternity leave must first see where there’s a suitable job for them in the company.
And systematic return-to-work programs? Mostly non-existent. On the other hand,
these women still have a good 20 years to go before retirement. By ignoring the abilities
and experience of female employees who take a career break to have children, companies
throw away a lot of potential, say the Fraunhofer authors.
Consequently, higher management positions are often taken up by people without any duties
or family obligations outside work. Quoting from the study: “For the most part, male managers
with children are in relationships in which their partners either don’t work or only work parttime
and can therefore take on many of the family obligations. Female managers frequently
have professional partners who work full-time and are more likely to be childless than their
male colleagues.”
The economic card
A commercial enterprise isn’t a charity of course. That’s why the authors of the study don’t
even attempt to address the topic of fairness between men and women. Instead, they play
the economic card and repeatedly point out the productive benefit of a higher percentage of
women to a company. Comparative studies have confirmed the economic advantages. Even
men understand that.
However, men are becoming increasingly concerned that they could be at a disadvantage
if social pressures elevate more women into management positions. One of the men
interviewed thought that companies often over-egged the pudding by trying to
make up for the failings of past generations: “Young male colleagues then
say: I have no chance of getting ahead here.”
But the end of men? It probably hasn’t come to that just yet. Often,
according to complaints by HR staff, diversity managers and headhunters,
women don’t want to take on managerial tasks – at least not
under the present conditions where they feel that not enough allowance
is made for their circumstances and where they have to work
harder in order to gain the same level of appreciation and recognition
as men. But this probably doesn’t have much to do with cowardice as
Bascha Mika thinks.
WWW.UNTERNEHMENSKULTUREN-VERAENDERN.DE
22
23

EUROPE
The number of 18-to-20-year-olds in Germany who have
fallen into debt has more than trebled since 2004. The situation
is hardly better in other countries. The foundation My Finance
Coach has developed a program to address this issue.
FRANK STERN
Caution: debt trap!
Even adults can find it hard to resist the temptations
of the consumer world. So how are children and adolescents
supposed to cope, especially since they don’t
learn how to manage their money at school? To fill this
educational gap, Allianz, management consulting firm
McKinsey and marketing agency Grey set up My Finance
Coach in 2010. In the meantime, accounting firm KPMG
and conglomerate Haniel have joined the club.
Praised by some for its commitment and viewed critically
by others, the foundation is now active in Germany,
Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Argentina. “Naivety
about money matters is a global problem,” says managing
director Christian Keller. “Young people need practical
financial instruction to act as responsible consumers.”
My Finance Coach goes where the knowledge gaps
are the greatest: in less academic secondary schools.
It presents lesson material developed by experts and
sends employees from the founding companies to coach
students. But consumer protection agencies remain
skeptical. They are afraid that big business will exert too
Generation smartphone: My Finance Coach
explains where hidden costs lie
much sway on the lesson content in schools and that the
participating companies could engage in subliminal lobbying
in the classroom. But that’s precisely what doesn’t
happen with My Finance Coach, says Christian Keller
reassuringly.
The charitable foundation was declared an official
project of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable
Development in 2011 and was awarded the Comenius
Seal for exemplary educational media by the German
Society for Pedagogy and Information. Coaches must
confirm in writing that they will not use the lessons for
marketing purposes. No company brochures, no advertising
material, not even a ballpoint pen bearing the
company logo are allowed.
Since the project’s launch in 2010, 1350 coaches in
Germany have instructed over 200,000 students aged
between 10 and 16 on the ins and outs of financial matters:
how to manage money, how to recognize hidden
costs and how to avoid exceeding one’s budget. Some of
the modules, which have been devised by teachers and
Shutterstock
My Finance Coach
Christian
Keller
“Everything is
above board”
My Finance Coach, an initiative of Allianz, Grey,
McKinsey, Haniel and KPMG, was set up to teach
school children how to manage their money wisely.
Critics are skeptical. We interviewed the managing
director of My Finance Coach, Christian Keller.
Mr. Keller, how independent is My Finance Coach?
Well, we have no financial agenda, if that’s what you
mean. Our work has nothing to do with marketing, sales
or data collecting. Our aim is to prepare young people
for life in general and to fill a gap in their knowledge
that the school curriculum evidently fails to address.
In this respect we’re assuming an important social and
political role. In the best-case scenario we’re educating
a new generation of young adults who will have a more
informed approach to their finances. In the long run this
will benefit everyone, not just the initiators of My Finance
Coach. Young people will be more knowledgeable about
money matters – whether they’re purchasing a car, an
insurance policy or a cell phone. In the end, our commitment
today will help prevent people from falling into
debt in the future.
Critics fear that the business community could
exert a subliminal influence on the teaching of the
subject.
All our lesson materials are freely available on the
internet – and that’s an important seal of approval.
Everything is above board. We’ve established a code of
conduct that forbids our coaches from engaging in any
form of advertising in the classroom. Violators can
be prosecuted under employment laws. That’s no
joke. The trust that pupils and teachers ▶
24
25

EUROPE
Allianz Group Journal 2/2013
50.4
47.8
46.3
44.6
43.8
43.7
42.3
41.9
41.7
41.7
40.8
40.3
39.9
39.4
39.1
38.6
38.0
38.0
37.4
37.1
35.9
35.6
35.0
34.4
34.0
31.8
Brazil
Mexico
Australia
USA
Canada
New Zealand
Japan
Belarus
Thailand
Malaysia
International Financial Literacy Barometer – ranking of 28 countries
(Visa study 2012, maximum score: 100)
27.7
27.3
UAE
Lebanon
Taiwan
Egypt
Bosnia
China
Hong Kong
Saudi Arabia
Russia
Serbia
Ukraine
Colombia
India
Morocco
South Africa
Vietnam
Indonesia
Pakistan
educational researchers, are dedicated to the internet.
Students are told how to protect their personal data, they
are warned about the addictive potential of online gaming
and learn how to avoid the pitfalls of “free offers”.
But it isn’t just students who benefit from the coaching.
My Finance Coach also offers financial literacy workshops
to teachers as well as free online modules
to continue training. Demand is growing. Over 30 companies
and organizations have joined the initiative.
They include the SOS Children’s Village Association,
the German Business Foundation, Munich Technical
University and the weekly German business magazine
Wirtschaftswoche among others.
Following the successful launch of My Finance Coach
in Germany and pilot projects in Asia and Latin America,
similar schemes are sprouting up the world over. Programs
are now in planning in Ireland, France, Poland,
the UK and Brazil, and many other countries intend to
follow suit. As far as purchasing, planning and saving are
concerned, there appears to be a lot of catching up to do.
Anyone can fall into debt.
WWW.MYFINANCECOACH.COM
“An extraordinarily
ugly species”
place in us is a precious commodity that we need to
handle with the utmost care.
Why are you focusing on less academic secondary
schools? Don’t students in the more academic schools
have debt problems too?
Sure they have. However, most financial literacy initiatives
are aimed precisely at those schools. Students in less
academic schools receive far less attention. And they are
particularly grateful for our support in this area. We get to
know terrific young people who perhaps don’t always get
the encouragement that their peers in other schools get.
What specific advice do your coaches give the school
children?
We tell them that when it comes to money, always sleep
on a decision. Never sign a contract immediately. You can
avoid a rude awakening if you take your time and get more
quotes for comparison.
Do you also make them aware of the tricks of dodgy
financial advisers?
We tell them what they should look for in any business
deal: cost, profit and risk. And not least of all to ask the
question: when will I recover my money? They must make
it a rule to ask about the risk whenever someone promises
them a fantastic profit. How much risk does that involve?
Could I lose everything? They need the presence of mind
to wait a while and not yield to their first impulse. We also
advise them to get independent advice, from Finanztest,
for instance, or from consumer protection agencies.
© Bjorn Olesen
Sex is more the exception than the rule, their food is purely vegetarian,
and they work hard most of the time – the life of a naked mole rat is, on
the whole, extremely tedious. It’s a long one too: the wrinkly rodents
can live for up to 30 years – an unusually long time for animals of this
size. Scientists are hot on the trail of their secret of longevity.
FRANK STERN
26
27

EUROPE
Shutterstock
Allianz Group Journal 2/2013
in relatively good health. Early this year Buffenstein
received the Longevity Research Award worth 15,000
euros from Allianz France and the French Healthcare
Association Les Associations de Prévoyance Santé for her
pioneering work.
AFRICA
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But when we look
at the East African naked mole rat everyone can only
agree with the British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace,
who described the tunnel digger as “an extraordinarily
KENYA
ETHIOPIA
SOMALIA
ugly species”. Its skin is already wrinkled at birth, its eyes
are covered by thick lids, and its protruding teeth are
enormous – Heterocephalus glaber, the “hairless otherheaded”,
is an evolutionary quirk.
The secret of longevity
Naked mole rats are able to remove damaged proteins to
prevent toxic build-up in their bodies. Their low metabolic
rate may also help to slow down aging. Naked mole rats
who can be found mainly in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia
are cancer-proof. They have a gene to prevent cancer-causing
cell mutation. They are also immune to pain.
A quirk admittedly that has fascinated scientists ever
since the animal was first described by the German
biologist Eduard Rüppell in 1842. This is partly due to
the fact that the naked mole rat lives in colonies that are
organized in a similar way to an ant or bee colony – a
unique social structure among mammals. The mousesize
animal also contradicts conventional wisdom that
small species have a shorter lifespan than larger ones:
Unlike mice, which usually survive for no more than
three years, naked mole rats can live for 30 years, biblical
by comparison, and remain healthy to boot.
The naked mole rat is thus a perfect research object
for scientists like Rochelle Buffenstein of the Barshop
Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies at the University
of Texas. The American is researching the cellular
mechanisms that permit the naked mole rat to age
Some might find it a bit disconcerting that the pinnacle
of creation is seeking analogies in a creature that fate has
so blatantly dealt a bad hand. But maybe naked mole rats
actually do carry the secret of longevity in their wrinkled
little bodies. There is at least some evidence that their
life expectancy is increased by sexual abstinence, calorie
restriction and constant physical activity. Still, with such a
life in prospect, we might ask “what for”?
Only the queen and one to three males provide offspring
in the colony. The others dig fresh tunnels the day long in
search of food, clean the burrow and look after the pups.
If the queen dies, the females next in line to the throne
often engage in violent fighting, shredding each other’s
wrinkly skins to the bone, sometimes with fatal consequences.
Males, on the other hand, don’t exactly fall over
themselves for a place at court. It is still unclear why
those who then come forward to mate with the queen
suddenly age rapidly – but we have our suspicions.
It’s also a mystery why, despite a high rate of incest, the
sausage-like Methuselahs rarely suffer from hereditary
diseases or why they don’t succumb to cancer or osteoporosis
in old age. Meanwhile, humans are living longer
even without solving the naked mole rat code. According
to the UN, there are already over 340,000 men and
women in the world who are one hundred years old or
older. In 2050 there will probably be ten times that many.
Statistically speaking, well-educated women have the
greatest chance of reaching 100. This adds a whole new
meaning to the phrase “learning for life”.
HTTP://BARSHOPINSTITUTE.UTHSCSA.EDU
340,000
3,400,000
2013 2050
CENTENARIANS
WORLDWIDE
28
29

EUROPE
Allianz Group Journal 2/2013
On the edge
The country’s economic situation is currently in keeping with its geographic
position: Portugal is right on the edge. The erstwhile colonial power is one of
the poorest states in the European Union. Prime Minister Coelho has even
encouraged his countrymen to emigrate.
all pictures: Stern
ALL TEXTS ON PORTUGAL: FRANK STERN
ALLIANZ PORTUGAL
If Portugal is deserted one day, which in view of the low
birthrate and rapidly increasing number of emigrants
can’t be long in coming, its inhabitants will be remembered
for two achievements: for the world weariness
inherent in its melancholic fado music and for its bloodred
wine in which it drowned its sorrows. Portugal’s
history has often provided reasons to savor both these
things, but the current crisis must be one of the most
difficult that this country on the southwestern tip of
Europe has ever endured.
Unemployment is at 17 percent, while youth unemployment
has reached 40 percent. The 15-to-24-year-old
age group is worse off only in Spain and Greece, where
respectively 56 percent and 60 percent of young people
are without a job. An end to this downward trend is not
in sight. Economic performance in 2012 contracted by
3.2 percent, and a 2.3 percent shrinkage is forecast for
this year. The Portuguese economy had not been running
smoothly in previous years either. Experts have
written off the first ten years of the 21st century as a lost
decade. It could be 2014 before the country experiences
a slight upswing, though this is by no means certain.
At least the state was spared bankruptcy, thanks to a
rescue package from the European Commission, the
European Central Bank and the International Monetary
Fund to the tune of EUR 78 billion. Although the constitutional
court blocked some cuts, the prime minister has
stuck to his rigid austerity measures with which he hopes
to steer the country into safer waters. But hundreds of
thousands of people have taken to the streets in protest.
This is a clear sign of an impending storm – things have
to be pretty bad before the Portuguese take to the streets.
Portugal’s ex-premier Soares has recently called for the
overthrow of the government – also a rare occurrence.
In view of the precarious situation, Prime Minister Coelho
has called on his unemployed countrymen to emigrate –
to Brazil for example or to the former Portuguese colonies
in Africa. Many Portuguese have taken this advice to heart
and turned their back on their native country. Observers
speak of the greatest exodus the country has ever seen,
although, unlike the 1960s and 70s, today it is mainly the
well trained who are trying their luck far from home. This
bloodletting could cost the country dearly in the future.
Employees: 550
Agents: 4500
Offices: 30
Customers: 865,000
Premium income 2012
P&C: EUR 316 million (+5 %)
Life: EUR 190 million (-2.3 %)
Market position overall: Ranking: 5th
Market share overall: 4.6 %
P&C insurance:
Ranking: 3rd
Market share: 8.7 %
Life insurance:
Ranking: 7th
Market share: 2 %
30
31

EUROPE
both pictures: Stern
Teresa Godinho is the first female
CEO of an Allianz insurance company in
Europe. Before the economist took up her
post in Lisbon in 2011 she already had
17 years’ experience in various Allianz
companies behind her, most notably as
Chief Financial Officer and head of Risk
Management at Allianz Brazil.
Allianz Group Journal 2/2013
“We have to fight hard” –
(back row from left) Rui Silva,
Ivany Sousa and Rosa Nobre,
with their assistants
The price of success
Portugal is going through a difficult period. Economic output is declining and unemployment is at record levels.
The insurance industry is also suffering – except Allianz Portugal. We talked to CEO Teresa Godinho about the price of success.
former Eastern bloc. But behind the uninspiring façade
the three agents are showing everyone how to buck
the trend and be successful. They got together three
years ago, and twelve months later they were already
one of Allianz Portugal’s most successful agencies. And
despite a collapse in car sales across the country, the
number of car policies they sell is still rising. But business
is getting tougher. “We have to fight hard,” says Ivany
Sousa. “Customers keep calling us to ask for a reduction
in their premiums.”
Mrs. Godinho, for some time now we’ve
been hearing only depressing news from
Portugal. Can you see a silver lining on
the horizon?
I’m a positive person and I want to believe in
a turnaround. In the past few months Portugal
has done a great deal to achieve this, and that
gives me confidence. But we need further
reforms, for instance in the tax system and
labor legislation. At the moment no one can
say how things will turn out. Even though we
Portuguese don’t often take to the streets,
dissatisfaction is rife.
What do the Portuguese think about
the euro and the European Union?
I think no one in a position of responsibility
here wants to leave the eurozone. Of course
a few economists are advocating that in
the media, but they remain in the minority.
The Portuguese don’t want to be isolated
again as we were during 40 years of dictatorship
under Salazar. The motto at the time
was “proudly alone”. Many people remember
that time all too well and what it meant
for the country.
The insurance market in Portugal
is shrinking, yet Allianz Portugal is
growing. How can that be?
There are several reasons. Firstly, four years
ago we began to revamp all our working
methods – not just our internal processes
but also our dealings with customers and
agents. We have 30 branches across the
country, which are there for the sole purpose
of supporting agents so they can give their
customers the best service possible. We
want to be the preferred partner in Portugal
for free agents.
We developed a simply structured product
range for them, which we offer as packages.
These bundled policies enable us to reduce
internal costs and pitch our products at very
competitive prices. This is how you can do
healthy business even in a low-profit market
like Portugal.
In addition, many people are worried about
their savings. They’re losing trust in the
banks and are increasingly turning to insurance
companies. Of course when it comes
to savings, we’re not like the Germans. We
spend our money more readily, we enjoy
life. But saving rates have increased since
the crisis.
What was the price of success at
Allianz Portugal?
We had to cut our back office staff by
20 percent. But this adjustment put Allianz
Portugal on a firm footing. Today we’re the
most efficient insurance company in the
country. Even now in this major crisis we’re
in a stable position. That conveys a positive
message to all our employees and it gives
them security. We’re even recruiting trainees
from the best universities again.
Many young Portuguese are now trying
their luck abroad. Are applicants thin on
the ground?
No, we have enough people to choose from.
But if the crisis continues, more young people
will probably emigrate. That would be a bad
sign because it would mean that the economy
is failing to generate enough growth to offer
our people a future in their own country.
If there’s anything positive to glean from the
situation, it’s that young people working
abroad will gain experience that they’ll be
able to apply to the benefit of the country
when they return.
If they return.
Most of them will – and will be better trained
and will have experience of other countries
and cultures under their belt. That will be an
asset for our country.
Bucking the trend
Many Portuguese don’t have a good word to say
about Germany at the moment. German virtues
on the other hand are very popular, and that’s
one reason why the insurance agency run by
Rosa Nobre, Rui Silva and Ivany Sousa is thriving,
despite the crisis.
Many of their friends have left already, particularly those
in technical professions, heading for Africa and South
America, the UK and France, Norway and Germany.
One even ended up in Uzbekistan – a destination one
might consider out of desperation or for a heap of
money. Rosa Nobre, Rui Silva and Ivany Sousa stayed –
Portuguese insurance agents aren’t as sought after as
civil engineers abroad.
Their agency is in the Benfica district, not far from the
stadium of the same name, in a residential area with
the charm of a prefabricated housing estate in the
No wonder, after all the austerity measures the government
has imposed to meet the demands of the troika
(European Commission, European Central Bank and
International Monetary Fund): cuts to pensions and unemployment
benefits, an increase in VAT, redundancies
in the public sector – the list goes on and on. Insurance
agents feel the effects of the crisis also in their corporate
business. Last year twenty companies went bankrupt
across the country every day and premiums and profit
margins went south.
Unlike in Germany, where Allianz works with a network
of exclusive agents, Allianz in Portugal operates with
brokers and free agents. The Benfica trio, who serve
almost 5,000 customers, has several irons in the fire.
But 85 percent of all policies they sell sport the Allianz
logo. “A safe bank in these uncertain times,” says Rui
Silva.
Although many Portuguese believe that Germany is
behind the tough fiscal measures of the troika – they
still trust the unloved Teutons to look after their money.
“Integrity, trustworthiness and financial solidity are
German hallmarks,” says Rosa Nobre. These are the best
selling points that she and her two partners can offer
in the current situation. “Our customers are confident
that they’re better off putting their trust in a German
company.”
WWW.ALLIANZ.PT
32
33

EUROPE
Shutterstock
Allianz Group Journal 2/2013
Allianz Global Investors is one of the first major asset managers to set up
an infrastructure debt fund for institutional investors. Demand for project
financing is huge: according to the latest estimates by the EU Commission,
infrastructure investments to the tune of up two trillion euros will be
needed in Europe alone by the end of the decade.
FRANK STERN
Europe as a
building site
Allianz Global Investors
The Infrastructure Debt team: (from left) Adrian Jones, François-Yves Gaudeul, Deborah Zurkow,
Claus Fintzen and Paul David
Streets and airports, local public transport
and water utilities, power grids, hospitals
and schools – the list of infrastructure
projects planned for Europe by the end of
the decade is extensive. If all come to fruition,
the old continent will be transformed
into one enormous building site during the
coming years. However, with state budgets
constrained and banks, faced with stricter
capital investment regulations, less inclined
to finance new, large-scale projects such
ambitious funding requirements stand on
shaky ground.
Up to two trillion euros will be needed in
the next few years to maintain and expand
Europe’s infrastructure, says the EU. New
sources of investment – insurers, pension
funds and other institutional investors looking
for more attractive long term returns
than can be achieved with government
bonds – may be able to take up the slack.
Allianz Global Investors has become one
of the first major investment managers to
establish a specialized infrastructure debt
team, which will offer clients access to a
range of investment-grade projects. “We’re
not focusing on power stations in developing
countries or coal mines or oil platforms,”
explains finance expert Deborah Zurkow,
who heads the Infrastructure Debt platform
with a team of four. “There is a sizable pipeline
of transactions in communal electricity
and water supplies, schools, roads and hospitals
in EU states.” Studies by Moody’s and
Standard & Poor’s have shown that the risk
of losing money in these kinds of cooperation
projects between the state and private
sector is small.
In financing public construction projects,
the Infrastructure Debt platform generates
steady cash flow from usage fees for roads,
water and power, as well as from public
funding and leases over an agreed period
of around 30 years. “Both investors in search
of stable returns and developers who wish
to secure project financing will benefit from
private financing of government infrastructure
requirements,” explains Zurkow.
With guaranteed long-term returns, the
bricks-and-mortar business is eminently
suitable for pension funds and insurance
companies that have agreed long-term
payment obligations with their clients, says
Zurkow. By partnering with experienced
construction companies, construction and
planning risks are largely mitigated.
Allianz Global Investors is offering its clients
a range of opportunities from bespoke
investments to pooled investment vehicles.
A UK infrastructure debt fund will be
launched in the near future and is to be
followed by a euro-denominated fund
shortly after. The demand appears to be
there. “There’s enormous interest,” says
Deborah Zurkow. “We’re in the process
of establishing a new market.”
WWW.ALLIANZGI.COM
34
35

EUROPE
Allianz Group Journal 2/2013
Linda Kennedy
even skipped lunch
for Lewis Hamilton
private
Linda Kennedy, after being with Allianz UK for 50 years, was presented
with a special gift from her colleagues. She could choose between a
visit of the British Grand Prix in Silverstone or the F1 winter testing in
Barcelona. For her, the choice was easy. Here is her report:
Allianz | rechts unten: Shutterstock
LINDA KENNEDY
Tryst with
Lewis Hamilton
Soggy Silverstone or Barcelona? For me and my husband there was no
contest here. On 18th February, we flew off from Leeds Bradford to Spain.
Flight was good, the hotel was very nice also and the following morning
we got up to prepare for our trip to the Circuit de Catalunya. On the
grounds that I might actually see someone famous, I made a bit of an
effort and we then awaited our taxi (somewhat nervously).
I need not have worried. When we arrived at the circuit, we were met by
the Allianz F1 team and their tour guide. They were all absolutely amazing
and we could not have had better treatment. We were shown to the Mercedes hospitality area
and then spent a little time watching the drivers testing. The guide then took us off to the Mercedes garage (no photos
allowed in there for obvious reasons) and we sat down whilst they worked on the F1 car. It was in absolute bits as the
driver of the day, Nico Rosberg had had a gearbox problem that morning. Unbelievably they got the car fixed and out on
track again after lunch.
We then walked down the pit lane, saw all the other teams’ cars, had loads of photos taken with the car, the steering
wheel (worth £35,000!), the jack and the “lollipop”. After all of that, we went back to Mercedes hospitality for some lunch.
Halfway through that, one of the Allianz F1 team came and whispered in my ear: “If you come and stand near the door
now, Lewis Hamilton is going to do a Q & A session in about three minutes.” Well obviously, him being my hero, I didn’t
waste any time. Lunch was forgotten and I stood there to await his presence.
Lewis was lovely. He was so friendly and laid back with everyone. Chatted for a few minutes about the team and the car
and how it was all going. Then we were able to meet him personally, get his autograph and have photos taken with him.
The rest of the afternoon was spent viewing from the gallery (ear defenders at the ready) and then our guide took us back
to the hotel in Barcelona.
I think the experience of winter testing just proved to me how much hard work goes on with the F1 teams,
not just the Grand Prix but actually seeing the guys working in the garage on the car. Everyone knew
what their job was and just got on with it. A real view of team working and collaboration which we
can apply anywhere.
This was certainly a day never to be forgotten and I can’t thank everyone involved
in arranging it enough. It was worth working 50 years with Allianz to get that
opportunity!
LINDA.KENNEDY@ALLIANZ.CO.UK
36

The Americas
Englerth
in New Jersey. The wind was so fierce we could barely make ourselves
heard above its roar. Again and again we heard large pieces
of debris, which the storm had hurled through the air, crash onto
the roof. The next morning revealed the extent of the damage: The
streets were impassable, there was no electricity, telephone service
or heating. Stores and restaurants were closed until further notice.
Team Orange in action: Jürgen Englerth and other marathon
runners pitched in to help the people in the flooded areas of Brooklyn
and Staten Island
“It was like a war zone”
On October 29, 2012 Hurricane Sandy hit the
east coast of the USA. The tropical cyclone
caused severe damage and claimed scores of
lives. Jürgen Englerth of Allianz Deutschland in
Munich was visiting New Jersey when the
storm struck. This is his report:
JÜRGEN ENGLERTH
On October 29, 2012, Hurricane Sandy caused 120 deaths and
damaged or destroyed tens of thousands of homes on the eastern
seaboard of the United States. The storm had previously also
wreaked havoc in the Caribbean. Aid funds, which have since been
released, will be disbursed over a period of ten years. Some of the
money will go to affected homeowners and businesses, but much
is earmarked specifically for repairing damaged infrastructure and
providing better sea defenses against future storms.
I flew to the USA at the end of October 2012 to visit my family and
to run the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington D.C. and the New
York Marathon a week later as part of a charity campaign. There were
warnings of approaching bad weather before the start of the Marine
Corps Marathon, but at that point no one had any idea it would turn
out to be the worst storm ever to hit New York City and New Jersey.
In the end, with interruptions, I was there for almost two months,
helping my family and the victims of the flooded areas. I spent the
night of the storm with my 92-year-old mother-in-law in her house
Shutterstock
In the following days I was kept busy finding safe places for my
mother-in-law to stay and to rustle up gas and food. Long lines
formed in front of the few filling stations that still had fuel. There
was up to a six-hour wait. Since public life had completely broken
down, people were totally reliant on their cars to reach safe, warm
places equipped with generators: city halls, emergency stations
and some cafes where people gathered and waited for the power
supply to come back on.
In the space of a few days the situation deteriorated from being
bothersome to life-threatening. Temperatures fell to minus five
degrees Celsius, and fuel became scarce. To crown it all, heavy
snow fell in the second week. I therefore decided to prolong my stay
indefinitely until things became safe again. The Red Cross flew in
thousands of helpers from across the USA, who did sterling work.
Despite the emergency situation I was determined to take part in
the New York City Marathon. But the event was canceled at short
notice because the route would have passed through badly damaged
areas in which many had lost their lives. A group of young people
then organized a Run Anyway Marathon via facebook. The run followed
the original route of the first NYC Marathon of 1970 through
Central Park. About 20,000 runners took part. The Run Anyway
Marathon became a celebration of hope and joy. The runners
Englerth
donated money and food to the victims of Sandy. New Yorkers
actively supported the runners’ efforts by cheering them on and
providing them with food and drink along the way.
After eleven days, when the electricity finally came back on in our
house in New Jersey, I joined a team of marathon runners from
New York who I’d befriended to help out in the worst affected areas
in Brooklyn and Staten Island. The organizer was the US “Marathon
Maniac” Hideki Kinoshita. We wore our orange-colored marathon
shirts and dubbed ourselves Team Orange – a name the press picked
up on in the following weeks.
The destruction in the flooded coastal areas of New York City was
heart-rending. It was like a war zone. The first day I worked in a
donation center in Far Rockaway, where I was in charge of accepting
and distributing countless truckloads of food. I don’t think I’ve ever
worked so hard in my whole life. It was also touching to witness the
helpfulness and generosity of New Yorkers.
Team Orange spent the next few days on Staten Island, where we
ripped out plasterboard and insulation in damaged houses to prevent
mildew from forming. Despite wearing dust masks, we soon all
developed stubborn coughs. We probably inhaled loads of asbestos
dust and toxins, but when you see people in trouble, you just get on
with the job.
Team Orange was a motley crew of marathon runners that became
a symbol of selfless altruism. In addition to their work, the team
members collected over 4000 dollars in donations for storm victims.
In the despair following the disaster, Team Orange became a guiding
star in the darkness. Shortly before my flight back to Germany I took
part in a 60-kilometer ultramarathon in New York City. After the trials
and tribulations of the previous weeks, it was the easiest and most
relaxing day of my entire stay.
ENGLERTH.JUERGEN@ALLIANZ.DE
38
39

Australia
Allianz Group Journal 2/2013
Elephants in the outback
Shutterstock
This year, Australia experienced one
of its hottest summers in a decade
with record temperatures of nearly
50°C in places. The heat wave was
barely over when Tropical Storm
Oswald caused major flooding in parts
of Queensland. The insurance industry
got off relatively lightly.
FRANK STERN
Talk about good timing: in January, a man in Tasmania
rang Allianz Australia and took out a home insurance
policy just as a bush fire was threatening to engulf his
property. The embargo by which the insurer usually
prevents policies from being taken out in the face of
imminent danger was not yet in place. Shortly afterwards
the man’s house went up in flames. No doubt
he was one of Allianz’s satisfied customers.
Nicholas Scofield, Allianz Australia’s spokesman, remembers
this episode quite vividly. Not everyone is that lucky
in a disaster. The bushfire, which raged through New
South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania in January, caused
less damage though than the dramatic images on TV
might have indicated. Most people and their property
were not at risk, says Scofield. “The fires were mainly
limited to forests and uninhabited areas.”
That was not the case four years ago when numerous
houses were destroyed by bushfires in Victoria. “Back
then losses for the Australian insurer totaled over one
billion Australian dollars,” recalls Jenny Lambert, general
manager of Claims Services at Allianz Australia. This year,
according to the Insurance Council of Australia, only
AUD 120 million (EUR 97 million) was paid out, most of
it – just under AUD 90 million – in Tasmania. Allianz had
to stump up for 72 cases with total insured losses of
about AUD 6 million (nearly EUR 5 million).
Cyclone Oswald in January this year was another story.
It brought with it such heavy rain that streams in
Queensland and New South Wales swelled to fast-flowing
rivers, which broke over dams and flooded numerous
settlements. Insured losses alone amounted to almost
AUD 850 million (EUR 675 million), AUD 68 million
(EUR 54 million) of which have been paid out by Allianz.
Of all the natural events in Australia, flooding has the
greatest damage potential, ahead of hailstorms and
tropical storms. According to the Insurance Council of
Australia, flooding has caused AUD 4.5 billion of damage
in the past decade. When large parts of Queensland
were deluged by a hundred-year flood in 2011 (insured
losses: AUD 2.4 billion), many insurance companies,
including Allianz, placed a temporary embargo on
new business in the worst-affected storm zones.
Pulling the plug
Last year, Queensland’s biggest insurer Suncorp also
pulled the plug and announced that it was no longer
issuing any new home insurance policies in the towns
of Emerald and Roma, which are regularly under water.
And premiums for existing policies were immediately
increased by as much as tenfold. In two years the company
had paid out AUD 150 million in flood claims in the
two small towns – compared with a premium income
of just AUD 4 million.
The insurance industry had been calling on the state
for years to provide more funding for dikes and dams
to protect property. But their pleas fell on deaf ears.
However, following the severe flood damage in January
this year, the government in Canberra reacted. In the
next two years, AUD 100 million will be invested in flood
mitigation projects – a measure which, according to Rob
Whelan, CEO of the Insurance Council of Australia, will
have a palpable effect on insurance premiums.
That remains to be seen. The penchant of Australians
to settle in high-risk areas might undermine that hope:
90 percent of the population live along the coast. Waterfront
properties in New South Wales and Queensland
are particularly popular. “Despite the known risks, more
and more people are building homes there, where tropical
storms rage on a regular basis,” says Jenny Lambert.
Of course, when a tropical storm rips the roof off your
house, a dike isn’t going to be of much use.
Local councils in the affected areas haven’t been particularly
helpful either in terms of active defense measures,
reports Bob Gelling, Claims manager at Allianz Australia
in Brisbane. “Settlements have been built next to rivers
and in depressions,” says Gelling. “Of course they will
all be under water when the next hundred-year storm
strikes.” And living areas of many of the typical Queens-
40
41

ASIEN AUSTRALIA
Asia
Allianz Group Journal 2/2013
Nicholas Scofield
all pictures: Ibrahim
“Tough
competition”
Jenny Lambert
A new heat record of 48.5 degrees was recorded in Sydney in January.
The authorities declared it the worst heatwave in over a decade
There was a time when Western managers became starry-eyed
whenever China was mentioned. Although not all their cherished
dreams have come true, many still regard China as a market of the
future. We talked to Uwe Michel, head of Insurance Growth Markets
Asia about Allianz’s strategy in the Middle Kingdom.
Stern
INTERVIEW: FRANK STERN
has at least devised a solution for this plague: elephants.
They could just eat the grass, which they know from
Africa, thus reducing the risk of fire, says the professor.
landers, houses that should be built on stilts because of
the danger of flooding, have been extended at ground
level – with the councils’ permission.
Dry as tinder
As the bushfires at the beginning of the year have shown,
inland areas are not immune to risk either, particularly
when a wet period of strong plant growth is followed by
an extreme heat wave. “There was a lot of scrub around,”
says Bob Gelling. “It was as dry as tinder.” Imported from
Africa as animal feed, savannah grass, which can grow
up to four meters high and spread like wildfire, so to
speak, additionally acted as a fire accelerant in the outback.
David Bowman from the University of Tasmania,
Australia has some experience when it comes to introducing
non-native animals and plant species, and for
the most part it has not been good. In the 19th century
the British shipped in camels from the other end of the
earth to serve as beasts of burden while exploring the
fifth continent. When railways and trucks took over
transport in the 20th century, the animals were set free.
There are now about a million wild camels, which are
regarded as a threat to the indigenous fauna and the
Australian landscape. Maybe elephants aren’t such a
good idea after all.
WWW.ALLIANZ.COM.AU
42
43

ASIA
Allianz in China
Beijing
Liaoning
Roth
Allianz Group Journal 2/2013
Shandong
Sichuan
Jiangsu
Shanghai
Chongqing
Zhejiang
Guangdong
Uwe Michel
Hong Kong
Mr. Michel, the One Allianz in China Initiative
was recently launched under your
leadership. What’s the story behind it?
We want to showcase ourselves to the Chinese
public as a company that can offer the
entire gamut of financial services. We have
ten units in China, from Euler Hermes to
Allianz Global Assistance and Pimco. None
of the foreign competitors can boast such a
broad product range and we need to make
this clearer in the public’s mind. Until now
the units have operated largely independently
of each other. The aim of the initiative
is to generate more profitable business
and the key to that is better cooperation
and concerted action in our dealings with
clients. We want Allianz in China to become
synonymous with financial solidity – just as
Mercedes stands for solidity in automobile
manufacturing.
Western companies complain about
difficult market access. What obstacles
does Allianz have to overcome in China?
Tough competition for one. The former state
insurers are still the dominant force in the
market. Regulatory restrictions are also a
problem. Foreign suppliers have a 4.8 percent
share in the life insurance market and
just a 1.2 percent slice of the nonlife segment.
The supervisory authorities don’t let
foreign insurers near the really rich pickings,
although the Communist Party has now
promised a measure of liberalization.
Not for the first time.
I’m not going to be naïve about it, nor will
I rule out the possibility. Chinese insurance
companies have become so strong that
they won’t have to tighten their belts even
without the protective hand of the state.
In a threshold country like China you need
a healthy dose of optimism, otherwise
there’d be no point in entering the market
at all. And you need to be in it for the long
haul. The time horizons in China are different
to what we’re perhaps used to.
Does One Allianz in China mean that
Munich is picking up the reins?
Not at all. One Allianz in China is an initiative
of the ten Allianz units in China. We see it as
our job to bring them closer together. They
should be seen in the marketplace as a single
Allianz. But the reins will remain in the hands
of the local Group companies. They know the
market, their clients and their needs. What
we’re providing is support. China works from
the top down. That’s why our executives
and experts should visit more often. In the
future we need to clarify what we have to
offer the Chinese and expand our role as a
knowledge provider in order to enhance our
brand image.
What does that mean specifically?
We’re going to send our experts to China
to give presentations, meet with decisionmakers
and get the media on board. Recently,
for instance, our chief economist, Michael
Heise, traveled to China to hold a lecture
on the future of the euro and the European
Union. This was well received in the press.
We don’t want to spend more money on
marketing – that would be ineffective in
such a big country with so many megacities
– but we do want to put our knowhow
to better use, for instance in the fields of
demography and infrastructure projects.
Who’s the target group in China?
The main target group is the growing middle
classes in the cities, now numbering 300 million
people. They’re increasingly interested
in insuring their wealth. This opens up
opportunities in all areas, particularly in life
and health insurance. We’ve just set up a
health insurance company with our partner
CPIC. But there are also opportunities for
Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS).
China wants to expand its green technology –
which is understandable given the country’s
huge environmental problems – and Germany
is a leading player in this area. We will
of course support our German insurance
clients in this respect as well but we’re also
setting our sights on Chinese companies.
China is a huge market. Are people
even aware of a foreign supplier like
Allianz there?
We’re strong in certain niches where the
Chinese can learn from us. Health insurance
is a typical example where the Chinese lack
experience. Private health insurance still
accounts for only a small fraction of healthcare
expenditure. We can contribute expertise
in terms of products, risk management
and IT. CPIC, with whom we’ve set up the
joint venture, is contributing its sales network
and contacts with state agencies. I’m
optimistic that we can secure a slice of the
pie in China. Of course we need to ensure
that the gains from this knowledge transfer
will benefit all parties concerned.
Allianz will be the minority partner in the
joint venture. Is that a paradigm shift?
It’s quite a step for Allianz to be the minority
partner in a joint venture, as is the case in
the health insurance company we’ve just set
up. But we realized that we wouldn’t stand
a chance if we entered the market alone.
So we asked ourselves three key questions:
What is the added value for Allianz? How
big is the risk as the minority partner? And
will we be able to take any profit we make
out of China?
Other companies have decided to
cut back or give up their commitment
in China. Is that also an option for
Allianz?
It’s always an option. Of course we must
ensure that we don’t fall by the wayside.
The question is whether we can do something
constructive in China with the money
that our shareholders put at our disposal.
I’m certain that we’re in a position to do
so, and One Allianz in China can make an
important contribution. Needless to say,
clients won’t take out insurance just because
we’ve launched this initiative. They’ll do
so because Global Automotive has a good
product range or because AGCS offers good
cover. One Allianz in China aims to facilitate
information exchange between the subsidiaries.
They need to discuss who’s got which
clients and how the units can cooperate in
supporting them. Customer managers from
the various Allianz units are already teaming
up to approach major clients.
How’s that working out?
The response has been extremely positive.
Allianz China, Global Automotive and
Allianz Global Assistance have already
signed contracts with an international
telematics company. The premium income
amounts to ten million euros. And we have
many other companies on our target list.
As Allianz is a European provider, isn’t
the financial crisis throwing a wrench in
the works?
Europe is no longer seen as a bastion of
security, and naturally the state of the euro
crops up in every conversation. But Allianz is
still regarded as a stable company in China,
and our good rating helps a lot. This is exactly
the strong image that we want to convey to
the public. It will also enhance our attractiveness
as an employer. Employee loyalty is an
on going issue for us in China.
Are people running away?
We have a very high staff turnover. It’s hard
to find good employees in China, and even
harder to keep them. We train them and
then they’re poached by the competition. In
April, we had our first internal China job fair.
More than 40 Chinese speaking employees
from different Allianz departments who can
see themselves working in China took part.
That gives me hope. We have to get the
message across that Allianz is a top-notch
company that is listed on the Fortune 100
Index and that, thanks to its wide-ranging
activities, offers exciting advancement and
career opportunities. Then we can get to
grips with staff turnover. We need to be
seen on the market as a single multifaceted
unit. This is precisely the aim of One Allianz
in China. I’m convinced that we can adapt
to the Chinese market and be successful.
How far should adaption go?
It’s got nothing to do with currying favor.
It’s about understanding the market so that
we can put our knowledge to good use.
The Chinese want to work with us precisely
because we’re German, because we’re European.
We’ve created a good base in China in
the past few years, also in terms of business
licenses. But now it’s finally time to reap the
harvest.
44
45

Society
Latouri, EAC-l’Boulvart
Allianz Group Journal 2/2013
a medium that is sure to gain in significance.” Thoss
stresses that the aim of the Foundation’s commitment to
the project is reciprocity. He hopes that the joint project
will not only empower civil society but also usher in new
cooperation agreements.
Casablanca
Boulevard
of freedom
MICHAEL GRIMM
Tanger
Rabat
SPAIN
MOROCCO
Ten years ago heavy metal was still condemned
in Morocco as the devil’s work. One hard-rock
band even landed in jail back then. These days,
heavy metal musicians are among the avantgarde
of the country’s culture scene, thanks
not least to the internet radio station Boulevard.
The Allianz Cultural Foundation is sponsoring
the project.
ALGERIA
Music helps us convey what we can’t always express in
words. It describes an attitude to life; it’s part of one’s
personal identity. In Casablanca in 2003, a heavy metal
band found out how powerful music can really be when
14 young men were arrested for endangering the Islamic
faith. They were accused of practicing satanism and sentenced
to between one month and one year in prison.
Ten years on, in the spring of 2013, one of the convicted
band members is preparing a rock and heavy-metal program
for Casablanca’s internet radio station Boulevard.
This newly created voice for musicians, journalists and
audio artists was initiated by the charitable organization
EAC-L’Boulvart (Education Artistique et Culturelle –
L’Boulvart). Since 1999 it has developed a platform for
free spirits from the worlds of music, culture journalism,
film, design, fashion and street art. Morocco’s culture
scene is now synonymous with EAC-L’Boulvart, and the
annual L’Boulvart music festival is the most important
music and youth culture event in North Africa. The web
radio station is finally giving artists and journalists a
permanent platform.
“We hope that the online radio will help us solve our
infrastructure problems,” says Chadwane Bensalmai.
The 36-year-old journalist and her colleagues Hicham
Bahou and Mohamed Mehari form the backbone of EAC
Christine Auerbach of Bavarian on3-radio (back row, 2nd from right) at a meeting
of web radio broadcasters from Morocco, Germany and France in Casablanca in March
L’Boulvart. Since 2009, the radio station has had its own
multifunctional base. It is located just outside the center
of Casablanca in a business park adjacent to several technology
companies – hence the name Le Boultek.
The Le Boultek culture center brings together everything
that makes the hearts of radio journalists and musicians
beat faster: recording studios, conference and rehearsal
rooms and even a concert hall that seats 200. This is pure
luxury: rooms for rehearsals and concerts are still scarce
all over Morocco. “The culture scene has a hard time here,”
says Nadine Müseler from the German Goethe Institute
in Morocco. The art historian from Cologne has been
working at the Institute in Rabat for the past five years.
In 2009, the Goethe Institute and the Institut Français in
Rabat applied to the German-French Fund for Culture
Programs in Third Countries for basic funding for Radio
Boulevard. The Arab Spring in parts of the Maghreb
finally paved the way. The money funded initial training
sessions with European internet radio stations. Basic
technical equipment followed.
In 2013 the “Online Radio: Culture across all Borders”
project gained another supporter – the Allianz Cultural
Foundation. Its head, Michael Thoss, was convinced by
“the combination of trans-Mediterranean networking
of European and North African online radio stations –
Christine Auerbach has already benefited from the project.
The journalist from on3-radio, the digital youth radio
platform of Bavarian Radio, attended a network meeting
in Casablanca in early March. Online radio broadcasters
from Germany and France met at the Boultek to exchange
views. Auerbach was particularly impressed by the drive
and enthusiasm with which her hosts got the new medium
up and running. “They just rolled up their sleeves and
did it. You can feel the energy,” she reported after her
trip. It was like Grand Central Station, she said. And at
the center of it was Chadwane Bensalmai, buzzing with
energy. “There was a great feeling of togetherness,”
recalls Auerbach.
The hounding of heavy metal bands finally appears
to be a thing of the past. What was once regarded as
a sacrilege has become an art form. Hard on the heels
of the training sessions, workshops and the network
meeting in the spring of 2013, the first pilot programs
were ready for broadcasting. In one of the programs,
Moroccan jazz legend Jauk Armal and the emerging
artist Yassine Tirassi wax lyrical about their music.
Jazz gives you a feeling of freedom – it’s inimitable,
says Armal.
The radio station has been on air since May, and the remix
of old and new has proved popular. The new sounds have
even been well received by the royal family: King Mohammed
himself has pledged his support to Radio Boulevard.
The next meeting with like-minded artists will take place
in the fall. Then there’ll be further networking with online
radio stations from Spain and Italy, and a women’s internet
radio station in Cairo.
To read the long version of this interview please go to
HTTP://KNOWLEDGE.ALLIANZ.COM/JOURNAL
WWW.BOULEVARD.MA
WWW.GOETHE.DE/MAROKKO
HTTPS://KULTURSTIFTUNG.ALLIANZ.DE
46
47

SOCIETY
Shutterstock
Allianz Group Journal 2/2013
“In the USA there’s extreme
unease with regard to Islam,
but Soliya has taught me to
see people as individuals and
to find out what they think
instead of tarring everyone
with the same brush.”
American student
SOLIYA
Soliya was set up ten years ago with the aim of
providing young people from Muslim and Western
countries with intercultural experiences. The NGO
with offices in New York and Cairo relies entirely
on the internet to put students from all over the
world in virtual contact with each other.
Over 100 universities worldwide are now involved,
and many of them have integrated the online
training program Connect into their syllabus.
Enemy on the screen
Many participants are wary initially. Just don’t say anything wrong! Don’t tread
on anyone’s toes! When students from Western countries first meet students
from the Middle East in the Soliya online seminars, everyone is extremely polite.
But the soft-line approach doesn’t last very long.
FRANK STERN
“I used to think that the West didn’t care
about other people, particularly people in
the Middle East.”
Egyptian student
The internet is a dangerous tool. It can drive a wedge
between people and peoples. It can reinforce prejudices
and become a vehicle for disinformation and hate.
But it can also connect people. It can resolve issues and
create trust. The internet is the disease and the cure –
depending on who uses it.
The terrorist attack on New York had occurred just
two years previously when Lucas Welch set up Soliya in
2003 to build bridges through intercultural exchanges.
While the world was exhausting itself in the Clash of
Civilizations, the American, a former TV producer for
the broadcaster ABC and media lecturer at the Bir Zeit
University in Ramallah, was developing a concept for
understanding and conciliation. It’s not by chance that
Soliya is a combination of the Latin sol (sun) and the
Arabic word for light.
Soliya uses the internet to bring students together
from various countries via video conferencing. The
10-week Connect program is now running in over
100 universities in 27 countries – from Egypt to Indone -
sia and from the USA to Switzerland. Some institutions
have even included Connect in their regular study
program. The Allianz Foundation of North America
became a sponsor of Soliya last year. “It’s about understanding,
overcoming prejudices and respecting each
other,” says Foundation head Christopher Worthley.
“A goal that we’re also committed to.”
The internet as a bridge between peoples and cultures
that could hardly be more different from each other:
Osama Madani, English professor at Menoufia University
in Shibin El Kom, 75 kilometers from Cairo, witnessed
how his students were on the defensive when they first
sat at the screen in front of Jewish students from the
USA – effectively their arch enemies – and how in the
course of the discussions each found common ground
WWW.SOLIYA.ORG
or at least an understanding of their counterpart’s
attitudes. “By the end of the semester the mindset of
many of my students had completely changed,” says
Madani. Meanwhile, the list of students who want to
take part in the program has grown ever longer.
Moderators supervise the online discussions to overcome
initial anxieties or to avoid overheated debates.
“Sometimes they even have trouble getting a discussion
going because the participants are just too polite
to each other,” explains Soliya CEO Shamil Idriss. On
the other hand, there’s no shortage of topics to ignite
an argument between the West and the Middle East.
And in the course of the semester nothing is taboo –
whether Islamist terrorism, Islamophobia, the relationship
between religion and the state, the role of women
in society or homosexuality.
The difference in their worldviews is regularly demonstrated
when the participants are asked to edit a news
item based on raw footage provided by the US wireservice
Associated Press and the Arabic broadcaster
Al Jazeera in a balanced manner. Up to that point the
online discussions may have been somewhat hesitant,
48
49

SOCIETY
Allianz Group Journal 2/2013
© 2011, Scott Adams, Inc./Distr. Universal Uclick/Distr. Bulls
should be in a position to overcome deep schisms in
the world. Shamil Idriss is convinced that schools and
universities provide the path to that goal.
but when the participants view the two-minute clip
by their fellow students on the Middle East conflict from
their different perspectives, reticence soon flies out
the window.
If such exchanges across ideological and cultural gulfs
were a standard part of university education, and if as
many young people as possible in Western and Islamic
countries grew up with this schooling – a critical mass
who see their differences as something to be worked
out and not as a reason to go to war – then, says Idriss,
a pastor burning a Koran would no longer cause such
outrage and blinkered young men wouldn’t fly planes
into buildings. “If we could reach a million students
a year,” he adds, “they would be changing the world
already.”
The Soliya seminars bring together people who would
normally do their utmost to avoid each other. They range
from atheists from Amsterdam to evangelical Christians
from Kentucky and Muslim Brothers from Cairo. And
maybe that’s the best service that Soliya has to offer:
The students talk to each other about God and the world.
They discuss and they argue – but they don’t smash
each other’s heads in.
In times when fundamentalists on both sides incite
enmity and hate and the internet is used to promote
those ends, Soliya provides the technology to make
young people less susceptible to such extremes. Armed
with intercultural experience, the capacity to respect
other opinions and to question their own attitudes, they
“To begin with I didn’t want to take part
in the Connect program. My professor
urged me to do so. In retrospect, I’m
honestly glad that I did it.”
Palestinian student
Readers’ Forum
If you liked or even disliked any items in the
Journal, we would like to hear from you.
Your feedback will help us to improve our
content, so all comments and suggestions for
improvement are welcome. Please send to:
journal@allianz.com
Allianz Journal
Königinstr. 28, D-80802 Munich
Group Intranet (GIN) → Allianz key information
→ Journal
http://knowledge.allianz.com/journal
HTTP://KNOWLEDGE.ALLIANZ.COM/JOURNAL
Deadline for submissions for the Allianz
Journal 3/2013 is August 30, 2013.
50
51

Stern