The provider of occupational pensions for the German insurance group Allianz, Allianz Pensionskasse, will stop taking on new clients from 2022.
Life insurance firm Allianz Lebenversicherung, a subsidiary of Allianz and parent company of Allianz Pensionskasse, will focus instead on direct insurance (Direktversicherung) and Pensionsfonds products that are “considerably more attractive” than the Pensionskasse, it said.
Last month Versorgungswerk der Presse, the provider of pension provisions for employees in the German communications and media industry, decided not to accept new business for company pensions run by Allianz-Pensionskasse.
Allianz Lebenversicherung has also decided to drop the guarantees on pension benefits paid at retirement age.
It will guarantee 60, 80 or 90% of the amount of pension contributions paid instead of the full 100% on new contracts for investment products including KomfortDynamik, InvestFlex and IndexSelect, from 2021.
A guarantee of 100% of the contributions paid is still offered for Riester-Rente contracts and pure defined contributions, or Beitragzusage, with minimum benefit in company pension schemes.
Allianz Lebenversicherung plans to improve its “long-term attractive returns” by adjusting guarantees and through flexible capital investments in a zero and negative interest rate environment, it said.
This can be achieved through a combination of “security assets” with investments in equities, alternatives, corporate or emerging market bonds, even in times of low interest rates, it said.
Riester-Rente
In a statement, Allianz Lebenversicherung said to be in favour of “quickly deciding on, and introducing specific measures” that are being discussed to reform the Riester-Rente in order to improve the situation for company pension schemes.
A spokesperson for the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs told IPE last week that the governing coalition will soon discuss options to further develop the Riester-Rente,
According to Allianz, the changes to the Riester-Rente should include streamlining the process to request bonuses and adjusting the level of guarantee in order to increase potential returns.
Moreover, Allianz has suggested to level out funding for company pension schemes and private provisions to spread the distribution of subsidized old-age provisions.
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