Allianz to buy with €1bn a year

Allianz chief executive Michael Diekmann says the German insurer puts aside €1bn ($1.4bn) a year for acquisitions and will buy general insurers when new regulations are brought in, the FT reports.

Diekmann said that out of annual earnings of more than €5bn, a net €1bn would be available for buying property and casualty (P&C) insurers, probably in Aisa. Purchases won’t happen for 12 months until the impact of Solvency II has been measured.

“What I would like to do is find cash-producing entities from the P&C side to fund growth on the life side,” Diekmann said. “Life needs a lot of capital to fund growth and you need to have a balancing mechanism within the portfolio.”