Allianz SE’s chief executive defended the German financial giant’s culture in the face of government investigations and civil lawsuits that stem from huge losses its investment funds took during the pandemic-related market panic in early 2020.
In his first public comments since the company disclosed an investigation by the U.S. Justice Department into the funds, Oliver Bäte said “the event does not have anything to do with the performance ability, culture or the ethics of Allianz Group . ”
He said the company understood investors’ anger that investments in its Structured Alpha funds didn’t lead to results they had expected. However, one could argue they were high-risk investments, Mr. Bäte said.
Several large investors, including the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System, are suing the insurer for sustaining large losses during the market downturn last year. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is also probing Allianz.
Mr. Bäte said the DOJ investigation led Allianz to reassess the situation around the funds, and in the past week, the company has realized that “not everything went perfectly well in the fund management.” He said that analysis was separate from whether the products were good or bad investments.