Strong 2016 results: Allianz Worldwide Partners on track to meet ambitious 2020 objectives

• 2016 revenues: 7.893 billion euros (+8.5%*)
• Operating profit: 417 million euros (+55.7%*)
• Combined ratio: 97.6% (-0.2 points)
• Over 17,500 employees worldwide speaking more than 70 languages
• Commercial activity in 76 countries
• 44 million cases and 39 million calls handled

With a significant increase in its annual results, Allianz Worldwide Partners confirms its status as a leader in the areas of assistance, international health, automotive and travel insurance. The Group continues to push towards achieving its ambitious goal to reach 10 billion euros revenues and 500 million euros operating profit by 2020.

“2016 was a critical year for us, marked by challenges that we were able to overcome, as demonstrated by the significant growth of our revenues and profit. This confirms the relevance of our operational strategy and of the new organization structure implemented during last year. The internal efforts made to put the customer at the heart of our business have paid off, and a number of business partners decided to place or renew their trust in us. We are clearly on track to meet the goals set for 2020 and are thus strengthening our position as the world leader in the market,” states Rémi Grenier, President of Allianz Worldwide Partners.

The success of customer-centric service offerings

Allianz Worldwide Partners is much more than simply a service provider. It is a trusted partner with the ability to seamlessly integrate its solutions into the business partners’ value chain. In response to new consumer trends, such as the rise of the sharing economy and the appetite for digitalization and apps, Allianz Worldwide Partners is constantly evolving to provide unique solutions that combine technology, services and insurance, as well as worldwide protection and care.

“We are asserting ourselves as a truly multimodal and global actor, able to adapt to each partner’s needs, anytime, anywhere, while supporting them in their growth and reinforcing their customers’ loyalty. We are heavily investing to extend our global IT platforms and thus delivery capabilities, and thanks to our global presence we are well positioned to offer worldwide scalable solutions”, adds Rémi Grenier.

The regional distribution of revenues remained largely similar to that of 2015 and reinforced the international presence of the Group, with Europe and the Middle East representing 62% of the total revenues, the Asia-Pacific region accounting for 24% of all activity and the Americas representing 14%.

“The Americas region grew by nearly 7 percent (6.9%) in 2016, to reach annual revenue of more than 1 billion euros (1.065 billion euros/US$1.213 billion), driven largely by the US travel insurance business growth of over 10%,” according to Mike Nelson, Chief Executive Officer of Global Travel Insurance and the Americas Region at Allianz Worldwide Partners. “We’re very proud of this achievement.”

Dynamic growth across all fields, driven by Assistance services and Travel insurance on the one hand and Automotive on the other.

Continuing the momentum of 2015, all of Allianz Worldwide Partners’ activities showed strong growth in 2016.

The assistance and travel insurance business accounted for 44% of the Group’s revenues and grew by 10% compared to 2015 to reach 3.473 billion euros. Operating profit experienced an impressive increase of +22.6% compared to 2015, at 141 million euros.

The automotive business represented 39% of the Group’s revenues and reported a growth of 8.6% compared to 2015, which took this line of business for the first time above the 3 billion euro threshold to 3.061 billion euros. Operating profit more than doubled to 242 million euros.

The international health business, which reported revenues of 1.359 billion euros, up 3.9% from 2015, comprised 17% of the Group’s total revenues. Operating profit decreased by 32.5% to 43.7 million euros due to cancellations in the Dublin based portfolio which were not entirely compensated by new business in 2016. Despite increasing competition, revenues remained on target for the Paris portfolio.

2016 was a cornerstone year for direct channels which represented 264 million euros, up 17%. The foundations for the globalization and acceleration of mobile channels were firmly established with the launch of approximately 20 new apps in areas such as Travel, Roadside Assistance and Health across 9 countries and 3 lines of business.

A year distinguished by the successful launch of 5 strategic initiatives

Allianz Worldwide Partners leveraged its 5 strategic initiatives to increase leadership in client-centered B2B2C:

1. Connected Traveler - capturing growing potential of the Direct channels, offering seamless offers across countries and creating best-in-class travel protection experience: the Group established in 2016 new partnerships with additional airline companies and further developed its offers for ticket protection, signing a major contract with an Online Travel Agency in the United States. Online claims and digital payments solutions are planned for 2017.

1. Connected Life - bringing a unique global approach for digital Assistance services and insurance products for the digital age (including e-reputation and data loss) for all market segments: the acquisition of Allianz Handwerker Services strengthened the assistance business in 2016 by enhancing the connected home services in Germany. Moreover, the signing of important deals with a renowned mobile OEM and an online retailer firmly established Allianz Worldwide Partners in the Mobile Devices and Digital Risk market.  

1. Health in a Box - providing full service in the area of ambulatory care, from digital and remote services (symptom checker, urgency assessment) to tele-advice for patients in need: many health customer-centric apps were launched in 2016. For example, Primary Care Support allows customers to contact medical experts via their mobile app in order to receive medical advice 24/7, providing peace of mind. The symptom checker, a new feature within the MyHealth app, guides patients through an assessment to detect potential medical conditions and indicates the urgency of the subsequent treatment.

1. Connected Car - catering for the needs of mobility service providers and new digital challenges in order to provide holistic motor insurance solutions: the entry into innovative markets was achieved by partnering with new mobility partners, such as car2go car sharing, and EasyMile autonomous vehicles. Advancements were made in digitalization and automation due to the integration of the vehicles’ telematics with Allianz Worldwide Partners systems and services.

1. Allianz for Life - providing B2C offerings as well as B2B2C, to respond to the “on demand” needs of the customers and to offer innovative digital services: with a rate of 10,000 downloads per month, one of the most successful application developments was TravelSmart in the USA, the first iOS version having been launched in May 2016. Pechhulp on demand, a successful app in our digital Roadside Assistance program, was launched in the Dutch market in September 2016 and has achieved an average rating of 4.4 stars out of 5 stars.

“We are confident that we will deliver on our 2017 targets and we are on track to meet our 2020 ambition (10 billion euros revenues and 500 million euros operating profit). Our solid organization, clear understanding of our clients’ strategic objectives and challenges, and our wide-ranging digital solutions, not to mention the dedication of our employees, are all assets that will continue to make a difference in our market,” concludes Rémi Grenier.

About Allianz Worldwide Partners

Dedicated to bringing worldwide protection and care, Allianz Worldwide Partners is a leader in assistance and insurance solutions in the following areas of expertise: assistance, international health & life, global automotive and travel insurance. Known for embracing innovation and change, the Group offers a unique combination of insurance, service and technology. These solutions are available to business partners or via direct and digital channels under three trusted commercial brands: Allianz Global Assistance, Allianz Worldwide Care and Allianz Global Automotive.

This global family of over 17,500 employees is present in over 76 countries, speaks over 70 languages and handles 44 million cases per year, protecting customers and employees on all continents.  

For more information, please visit www.allianz-worldwide-partners.com

Press contact

Wellcom: + 33(0)1 46 34 60 60 - awp@wellcom.fr

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