The CEO of Allianz, Oliver Bäte, is engaged in life insurance



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Munich Oliver Bäte, the boss of Allianz, has been in power for three years. He has already implemented most of his agenda for the renewal of Munich's insurance giant. He is now moving to the next step: a new strategic plan, which he intends to introduce later this year. "Yes, we are working on it and we will present the results in late November," he explains in an interview with Handelsblatt

The focus should be on customer focus, more products simple and consistent digitization. As a goal, Bäte exclaimed that each zone outperformed competitors in terms of customer satisfaction.

In the past, customers had repeatedly criticized the fact that the product line of the largest European insurer was too extensive. Now, as promised the general manager, the offer to customers should be more compact and easier to understand.

In order to make the next step of the successful conversion, last year the insurance giant Munich raised the sum of 3.7 billion euros. Converting the IT put. This makes Allianz one of the leading investors in this sector. However, up to now, the group has oriented digitization towards pure distribution benefits. "We built complexity instead of reducing", Bäte is self-critical. Meanwhile, however, it has been understood that it is not technology, but changing the underlying business model.

The business model of the insurer is changing, not only because of the increasing digitization. The persistent interest rate policy of the European Central Bank (ECB) also affects the insurance sector, especially life insurance.

More information on life insurance

Recently, the Italian insurance giant Generali announced that it would sell four million life insurance contracts to Viridium. Previously, several small insurers had already decided to take this step. This approach was however criticized by consumer advocates, but also by politicians as a breach of trust towards customers.

"For Germany, we exclude in principle sales of old stocks"

For Bäte, such a sale of shares is not a problem, "We have always said that we would not do it globally if possible – and for Germany we fundamentally exclude it, "confirms Mr Bäte.

In general, he views the ECB and its long-term low interest rate policy as the main reason Why are many insurers struggling to meet their high guarantee obligations of the past? "If you suddenly change the fundamentals of an industry, because the central bank says: The economy does not interest me, then a reasonably well-managed company is not always prepared for it "growls Bäte. But he also warns against killing the life insurance product.

On the other hand, Bäte considers the recent stock market correction, which is mainly justified by the threat of new punitive tariffs by US President Trump, with some serenity. Even if this resulted in a further decline in prices: "For example, we have hedged our shares in the portfolio", so if there is a significant correction, the negative effects are small.
Read the complete interview of Oliver Bäte here. The Alliance leader speaks at length about the future of life insurance, Dax's remodeling plans and the threat of a trade war between China and the United States

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