Allianz Brasil history

In 1918 he established the motor insurance company Kraft-Versicherungs-AG (Motor Insurance AG), the first large company in Germany to specialize in motor vehicle risks.

During the hyperinflation of 1922-23, numerous mergers speeded the firm on its way to the top.

1927: Allianz merges with Stuttgarter Verein Versicherungs-AG.

When in the summer of 1929 the Frankfurter Allgemeine Versicherungs-AG, the second largest insurance group in Germany, collapsed as the result of illegal, loss-making noninsurance deals, Allianz decided within 24 hours to meet all of the Frankfurter's obligations to its clients.

In 1932 Allianz set up its first materials- and equipment-testing installation, which swiftly became a highly reputed center for loss research.

It was in an attempt to protect the industry from this sort of encroachment that in 1933, after much hesitation, Kurt Schmitt agreed to become trade minister in Hitler's second cabinet.

The firm completed its activities in this area in 1938 with the introduction of a fire damage prevention service.

He was succeeded by Hans Goudefroy, who made it his business to preserve the assets of the Allianz group and its internal stability even after the currency reform of 1948.

In 1950 in Switzerland, when people started traveling more, a team of pioneers created ELVIA Travel Insurance.

In February 1962, following the premature death of Goudefroy at the end of the preceding year, the chairmanship of the board of management was taken over by Alfred Haase, previously organization manager of the Allianz group.

Into this very difficult situation stepped Wolfgang Schieren, who in 1971 came to the group as managing director.

Twenty-four years later, in 1974, SACNAS-Mondial Assistance, a key company in the development of this history, was founded in France.

The Allianz International Insurance Company Ltd. began trading in London in 1975, and similar companies were established in Spain and the Netherlands.

By June 1981 the German group had acquired almost 30 percent of Eagle Star's shares.

In 1985 Allianz reorganized as Allianz Aktiengesell-schaft Holding, to reflect its size and diversity.

Another sensational acquisition, this time in Budapest at the end of 1989, was that of a 49 percent interest in Hungary's former state insurance company Hungária Biztositó, which had come into being three years earlier when the state monopoly company was split into two parts.

By this one move--which took place in Allianz's centennial year, 1990--the Allianz group almost quadrupled its premium income in the United States.

Thanks in large part to the difficulty of integrating the East German offices into the Allianz network, Allianz suffered its first underwriting loss in two decades, posting a DM 1.78 billion ($1.17 billion) loss in 1992.

In 1995 Fireman's Fund increased its reserve for environmental claims by $800 million as a provision against liability damages it might incur as a result of Superfund lawsuits.

After the Asian economic crisis of 1997, many countries in the region were more receptive to foreign investment than ever before.

In 1998, Allianz established asset management as a core business activity through the creation of a new Munich-based division, Alliance Asset Management.

In 1999, the company took over the country's fourth largest life insurer and renamed it Allianz First Life.

To counter these trends, Allianz boss Schulte-Noelle announced that 2002 would be a "year of consolidation," in which the company would cut costs, integrate Dresdner Bank, streamline operations in its insurance business, and boost performance in asset management.

Schulte-Noelle stepped down and was succeeded in 2003 by Michael Diekmann, a 15-year Allianz veteran who had headed its insurance business in North and South America.