Allianz is selling its business with SMEs and the entertainment industry in the USA and intends to concentrate on major international customers there.

Significant parts of the traditional subsidiary Fireman's Fund were sold to the Bermuda insurer Arch Capital for 450 million dollars, Allianz announced on Friday. The Munich-based insurance giant is thus parting with around a third of the premium volume of the industrial insurance division Allianz Commercial in the USA. Smaller corporate customers and insurance for film productions and sporting events no longer fit into the portfolio there.

"This strategic move for our US business allows us to play to our strengths in those market segments where we have extensive experience with our customers' most complex risks," explained Tracy Ryan, who is responsible for North America on the Board of Management of the subsidiary AGCS. ACGS operates externally under the Allianz Commercial brand. In 2023, it generated a premium volume of 5.3 billion dollars in the USA, of which 1.7 billion is attributable to the business about to be sold. Allianz Commercial generates premium income of around 18 billion euros worldwide. The insurer had bought Fireman's Fund in 1991, but had already sold the private customer business to ACE (now Chubb) in 2015.

The sale affects around 500 employees who are transferring to Arch. According to Allianz, Arch Capital is taking over loss reserves of around two billion dollars, which the Munich-based company expects to gradually release around one billion dollars in capital.

Allianz is a relatively small insurer in the USA. There has therefore been repeated speculation about a major takeover there. It is still represented by the life insurer Allianz Life, the credit insurer Allianz Trade and Allianz Partners, which primarily sells travel insurance. In contrast, the Group is large in the USA in asset management with the bond specialist Pimco. The fund company Allianz Global Investors, on the other hand, had to largely withdraw from the USA following a scandal involving the sale of hedge funds.

(Report by Alexander Hübner, edited by Philipp Krach. If you have any queries, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and the economy) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets).)