GERMANY – Metall-Rente, the new Berlin based pension fund company set up by the metal and electronics employers’ association and its industry’s trade union has selected Allianz to run its new occupational pension system, according to reports in German daily newspaper Handelsblatt.

However, a spokesperson for IG Metall, the trade union concerned, refused to confirm Allianz’s appointment. “We are aware of reports that have appeared stating that we have chosen a company to manage the new pensions company we’ve set up with Gesamtmetall, but no final decision has yet been taken. In fact, no official announcements will be made before a press conference scheduled for December 18 is held at our offices in Frankfurt,” she stresses.

According to Handelsblatt, the terms of the deal will be negotiated this week with a view to being finalised by December 14. Allianz in conjunction with its subsidiary, Dresdner Bank, will act as a consortium leader in the management of the new system, which Metall-Rente hopes to have up and running early next year when the Riester pensions reforms in Germany are implemented.

Allianz is said to have been chosen over nine other financial institutions that had bid for the tender, and considers the decision as “more than adequate compensation” for having recently lost its bid to run the chemical workers new pension system to HypoVereinsbank.

Handelsblatt claims that Metall-Rente will be the single largest business unit that will emerge as a direct result of the Riester reforms, to such an extent that Allianz will set up two new pensions companies, Allianz Pensionsfunds AG and Allianz Pensionskasse AG. Both will be able to form ventures with other companies as a result of their joint stock status, whilst workers will be able to choose to take out pensions contracts with either company.