Allianz

In terms of senior leadership accountability, Allianz links the remuneration of its executive team to sustainability performance criteria. Moreover, the responsibility for sustainability issues within the company lies with the Supervisory Board and its Sustainability Committee. In terms of its approach towards impact management, Allianz acknowledges that its financing activities have both positive and negative impacts and has identified and prioritised its impacts through a materiality assessment process which included feedback from external stakeholders. As for engagement, the company publishes case studies describing where it has engaged successfully and unsuccessfully with its investees on sustainability themes and impact topics. 

As a member of the UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance and Net-Zero Insurance Alliance, Allianz has set a target of net-zero financed emissions by 2050. Similarly, as a member of Climate Action 100+, the company discloses that it collectively engages with its clients on the topic of climate change. It also discloses that it engages with the oil and gas and other high-emitting companies on the topic of climate change, specifically on the topic of alignment with the Paris Agreement. Concerning climate solutions, it aims to finance EUR 3.9 billion in direct–debt renewables and EUR 5.7 billion in direct–equity renewables by 2024, as well as tracks progress against these targets. Moreover, Allianz discloses nature- and biodiversity-related impacts as one of its engagement topics with its investees.  

Allianz has a publicly available policy statement committing it to respect human rights and the ILO core labour rights. It also describes its global system to take action to prevent, mitigate or remediate salient human rights issues, and this includes a description of how its global system applies to its financing activities. Regarding diversity, Allianz discloses the proportion of its total direct operations workforce for each employee category by gender and age group. It also discloses the amount of revenues coming from products that cater to customers entering financial services markets for the first time. Furthermore, the company has a policy prohibiting bribery and corruption and takes steps to identify and address them. 

In terms of female representation in leadership positions, women are underrepresented on the board of directors where only 4 out of 12 board members are women. There is no evidence that Allianz discloses the ratio of basic salary and remuneration of women to men in its total direct operations workforce for each employee category. Moreover, the financial institution has an opportunity to describe its engagement approach on sustainability themes and impact topics with its insurance clients and its investees, across its financing activities, including underwriting activities as well as investment activities related to its proprietary portfolio and third-party asset management. 

While Allianz sets interim targets for its listed equities, corporate bonds, fully owned real estate portfolio and infrastructure portfolio, it has an opportunity to disclose an interim absolute emission reduction target which covers all its financing activities. It could also make it a requirement for investees to set a strategy aligned with the Paris Agreement. No evidence was found regarding the financial institution’s approach to fossil fuels that spans across the fossil fuel value chain and its financing activities, such as the amount or share of finance it directs towards fuels. Moreover, there is no evidence that Allianz is committed to minimising the negative impacts it has on nature and biodiversity. 

Though Allianz describes its process for identifying its human rights risks, the company could clarify if this covers all its financing activities. Regarding its grievance mechanism to raise human rights complaints or concerns, it could specify that the complainant has the choice to identify themselves or remain anonymous. To provide transparency on financial inclusivity, Allianz has an opportunity to disclose the amount of finance directed towards, for example, women-owned businesses, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or low-income developing countries.