Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders. My name is Michael Diekmann, and as Chairman of the Supervisory Board, I'm opening today's Annual General Meeting of Allianz SE. On behalf of the entire Supervisory Board and the Management Board, I would like to welcome you to our meeting today. We all thank you for your interest in Allianz. Before I present my speech, I would like to give you some organizational information about today's AGM. I realize that the Annual General Meeting on 20th of March 2025 was convened in the Federal Gazette in due form and time. The venue of this year's meeting is once again the company's headquarters at Königsstraße 28 in 80802 Munich. All members of the Executive Board are present here on the stage. The members of the Supervisory Board are also on the stage in their entirety, right next to the Management Board.
Mr. Jens Kirchner, Notary Public, will notarize the Annual General Meeting. He is located here in our room. We will be broadcasting the entire Annual General Meeting live for our shareholders via our online service. In addition, my introductory remarks and reports, as well as the speech by the Chairman of the Management Board, can be followed freely on the internet. A recording of this public part will be made available on our website after the Annual General Meeting. If you are connected to today's Annual General Meeting via the online service, you can exercise all shareholders' participation rights at the meeting. During the general debate, you can speak on the items on the agenda via video communication. In addition, you have the right to request information, including the so-called extended information pursuant to Section 131, Paragraph 4 of the German Stock Corporation Act.
As Chairman of the Meeting, I hereby stipulate that the right to information can only be exercised by means of video communication. To register your speeches and questions, please use the Request to Speak button in the main menu of the online service. This is practically the virtual Request to Speak table. As soon as we enter the general debate, I will call the speakers by name in groups. I will then ask you to enter the virtual waiting room. In the online service, you will see a dialogue box with a corresponding button. Once you have entered the waiting room, you will be welcomed by our technical staff to check the image and sound quality. Please remain in the waiting room until the technical staff contact you. After successfully checking the functionality of the video and audio transmission, I will ask you individually to take the virtual stage.
Your speech will then be broadcast live to the Annual General Meeting. You can also submit motions or election proposals as part of your Request to Speak. If you would like to announce a motion or election proposal outside of a regular speech, you can use the Motion Election Proposal button. The procedure then continues, as just explained, for Requests to Speak. At this point, I would like to point out that counter-motions and election proposals submitted prior to the AGM, which were to be made available by the company, are deemed to have been submitted. It is therefore not necessary to present these again at today's meeting. In the run-up to the Annual General Meeting, shareholders had the opportunity to submit statements in text form on the items on the agenda. Registered shareholders can view the statements in the online service.
Voting rights can only be exercised at today's Annual General Meeting by postal vote or by authorizing the proxies appointed by the company. You can still change your postal votes or the instructions to the proxies until the end of the vote. As there may be delays in the livestream transmission, I would ask you now to make any changes in good time. I will explain the voting procedure subsequent to the general debate. As a connected shareholder, you can also use the online service to object to resolutions passed at today's Annual General Meeting or to submit a request for the minutes to be taken at Section 131, Paragraph 5 of the German Stock Corporation Act. You will find a button marked accordingly in the online service. Please note that this is only possible until the end of today's Annual General Meeting.
The objection or your request for minutes will then be sent directly to an electronic mailbox of the notary. All documents required by law for the Annual General Meeting are available on the Allianz SE website. These can be found in the Investor Relations Annual General Meeting section. This also applies to the presentation of the remuneration system for the members of the Management Board and the remuneration report. These are no longer included in the convening notice but are available there. If you have any questions about the online service, please contact the Allianz Investor Line at the number shown. The list of participants includes the shareholders who have joined or are represented at the meeting, as well as any proxies who have joined. The list of participants is updated at regular intervals until the end of the Annual General Meeting. It can be viewed via the online service.
As Chairman of the Meeting, I would also like to point out that recordings of the online broadcast of our Annual General Meeting are not permitted. So much for the organizational information. Ladies and gentlemen, before we move on to the agenda, I would like to inform you again about changes to the Board of Management Board and Supervisory Board of Allianz SE since the last Annual General Meeting. There have been no changes to the Management Board since May 2024. There has been one change to the Supervisory Board since our last Annual General Meeting in May 2024. Ms. Wiesenick resigned from her position as a union representative for personal reasons with effect from June 13, 2024. The Responsible SE Works Council has elected Professor Dr. Nadine Brandl as Ms. Wiesenick's successor as a trade union representative on the Supervisory Board. She is also representing the trade union Verdi.
I will go on into more detail in a moment on the Supervisory Board elections to be held today under Agenda Item eight. Dear shareholders, we will then move on to the agenda. I call Agenda Item one, the presentation of the financial statement documents for the financial year 2024 for Allianz SE and the Group, as well as the report of the Supervisory Board. Firstly, the submission of the financial statements. The annual financial statements of Allianz SE and the Group and the associated management reports have been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft. The auditors found both sets of financial statements to be in order and issued them with an unqualified audit opinion. The Management Board and the auditors have submitted the financial statement documents to both the Audit Committee and the Supervisory Board, also explained in detail to the full Supervisory Board.
The Supervisory Board approved the annual financial statement after thorough examination. The annual financial statement of Allianz SE is thus adopted. This brings me to the report of the Supervisory Board. In the last financial year, the full Supervisory Board held a total of six regular meetings following the elections to the Supervisory Board, and an additional constituent meeting was held after the Annual General Meeting on 8 May 2024. The committees of the Supervisory Board held 29 regular meetings in the reporting year. A detailed presentation of the work of the Supervisory Board and of its committees can be found, as usual, in the Group Annual Report on pages 4 and following. Allow me to highlight a few key aspects of our work. The Supervisory Board was once again informed in detail by the Management Board about the course of business at all regular meetings.
In particular, the Management Board discussed the development of sales and earnings in the individual divisions and operating units. We also regularly discussed the appropriateness of capitalization and the solvency ratio for both Allianz SE and the Group with the Management Board. Other focal points last year were strategic issues such as the sales strategy and the strategy in the Asset Management Division. We discussed the management of natural catastrophe risks at several meetings of the full Supervisory Board and the respective committees. The Supervisory Board also dealt with the Management's proposed development of the dividend policy as part of the capital management strategy, the status of the digitalization of business processes, as well as cyber risks and IT security. We also discussed data protection issues in detail, particularly in connection with the legal framework for the use of artificial intelligence.
Last year, we also once again dealt intensively with the management personal matters and succession planning for the Management Board and Supervisory Board in the plenary session and the relevant committees. We also dealt with the restructuring of the Management Board remuneration system in plenary session, in particular in the Personnel and Sustainability Committee. I will discuss the approval of the new Management Board remuneration system, which is on the agenda today under Item seven in more detail in a moment. Dear shareholders, the tasks of the Supervisory Boards also include monitoring compliance with the standards of good corporate governance. As usual, detailed explanations on corporate governance in the Allianz Group can be found in the corporate governance statement. This can be found in the Group Annual Report from page 13 onwards.
The Management Board and the Supervisory Board also issued the Declaration of Compliance with the recommendations of the Corporate Governance Code in December 2024. The declaration is permanently available on the company's website. Allianz complies with all recommendations of the code in its current version and also follows all suggestions. Ladies and gentlemen, the year 2024 was once again characterized by increased geopolitical and economic uncertainty. High claims inflations and the continued accumulation of natural disasters posed a major challenge for the insurance industry. Against this backdrop, it is all the more pleasing that Allianz was once again able to significantly increase sales and achieve another record operating result in the past financial year. Also, you, dear shareholders, should also participate in this result with the proposed dividend of EUR 15.40.
On behalf of the entire Supervisory Board, I would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere thanks to the Management Board and, in particular, to all employees of the Allianz Group. Only thanks to your dedication and commitment, those results are possible. I now get to the remuneration of the Management Board and Supervisory Board in the past financial year. As usual, detailed explanations can be found in the remuneration report on page 24 and the following pages of the Group's Annual Report. The remuneration report for the financial year 2024, prepared in accordance with the statutory requirements, will be presented to the Annual General Meeting today for approval under Agenda Item six. The report first describes the remuneration system for the Management Board and the Supervisory Board. The application of the systems in the financial year 2024 is then explained.
As in previous years, the auditor was additionally commissioned with a content audit of the remuneration report commissioned. With its audit opinion, PricewaterhouseCoopers confirms that the remuneration report for the past financial year and the related disclosures comply in all material respects with the requirements of the German Stock Corporation Act. The report first explains in detail how the Group's financial targets are calculated for the Management Board's remuneration. The remuneration of the individual contribution factor for each Executive Board member is then discussed, and the total remuneration is shown. As in the previous year, the Supervisory Board's expectations of the Management Board's members in the current financial year are also presented. Our aim is and remains to report on the Management Board's remuneration with maximum transparency. The once again very good operating result had a positive impact on financial performance.
All business divisions contributed to the growth in earnings, with the Property and Casualty Insurance Division being the main driver. The second financial group target, namely net profit attributable to shareholders, was also increased significantly to EUR 9.93 billion. For this group target, the Supervisory Board again defined 100% target achievement in 2024 as a plateau with an upward or downward fluctuation range of EUR 500 million. This was appropriate due to the transition to the new IFRS 9 standard accounting standard and the resulting uncertainty regarding the impact on net profit. As the net profit for the year was above the range for which the plateau was defined, the methodology of the plateau ultimately had no effect.
After gaining experience with the new accounting standard over the past two years, the Supervisory Board has also decided to abandon the plateau solution from the financial year 2025 and return to a linear bonus curve. With regard to the performance of the Management Board, the numerous geopolitical developments in the last financial year are once again a key factor. Also the macroeconomic challenges, as well as the increasing regulatory requirements, they are also setting the course for the digital future. These tasks have placed great demands on the Executive Board as a team. Under the leadership of the Management Board, Allianz once again achieved a record result in a difficult environment. Particularly pleasing is the further increase in employee satisfaction, which has also reached an all-time high despite the negative industry trend.
This brings me to the adjustments to the remuneration system for the Management Board, which will be voted on today's agenda, Item seven. After the Annual General Meeting last approved the remuneration system for the management year in 2021, a new resolution is required today in accordance with the statutory four-year cycle. Against this background, the Supervisory Board has revised the previous remuneration system to appropriateness. I myself discussed our considerations on behalf of the Supervisory Board in 11 meetings with institutional investors and proxy advisors. Naturally, not all of the various suggestions could be incorporated into our proposal. As the previous remuneration system has also proven itself in the opinion of institutional investors, only a few adjustments were made. These are limited to improved transparency with regard to sustainability targets when determining variable remuneration and an adjustment to the target and maximum remuneration.
The new remuneration system will apply from January 1st, 2025. To determine the target achievement for the variable remuneration, the financial group targets, namely the operating results and net profit for the year attributable to shareholders, were previously multiplied by the individual contribution factor of the board members, the Management Board members. Sustainability targets were previously only taken into account in the individual contribution factor of the Management Board members. In order to make the proportion and weighting of the sustainability targets more transparent for shareholders, key sustainability targets are now being transferred to the group targets. The group targets, therefore, consist of the operating result and the group's net income attributable to shareholders, each with a weighting of 40%. In addition, three sustainability targets with a total weighting of 20% are now in the assessment.
There is an addition to the CO2 reduction, but also the customer and employee satisfaction is included in a new sustainability target basket. These sustainability targets are mapped using quantitative indicators and reviewed by the auditor. In this way, full transparency will be created in future regarding the weighting and achievement of the sustainability targets set. With regard to the amount of the Management Board remuneration, the Supervisory Board identified a need of adjustment as part of the review and increased the annual target remuneration for both the ordinary members of the Management Board and the Chairman of the Management Board by 5%. The decision was initially based on a horizontal and vertical comparison, that is, a comparison with DAX companies and competitors on the one hand and the development of employee remuneration on the other side.
This was supplemented by a careful analysis of the constantly worsening market environment in the insurance and asset management sectors, which increases the demands on the Management Board to make the company successful and resilient in the long term. It was also taken into account that despite the difficult external conditions, the Executive Board has significantly strengthened the market position in the DAX in terms of market capitalization in recent years and also achieved sustainable increases in sales and profits. As a result of the increase in the target remuneration, the maximum remuneration was also raised to twice the amount of the respective annual target remuneration.
This decision is also based on a horizontal comparison with the regulation of other DAX companies and on the fact that the maximum remuneration for ordinary members of the Management Board has not been adjusted at all since its introduction in 2019 and for the Chairman of the Management Board only once in 2021. In view of the fact that this maximum remuneration will apply for the first time in 2030, the Supervisory Board considers the adjustment of the maximum remuneration to be appropriate and in line with the market. Unfortunately, the proxy advisor Institutional Shareholder Services Group, briefly ISS, has recommended that the new remuneration system should be rejected. ISS acknowledges that the system put to the vote by Allianz is largely in line with the market and transparent, but supports its rejection and bases its rejection on two aspects.
Firstly, ISS considers the pension contribution of 50% of the fixed remuneration to be inappropriately high. Secondly, ISS bases its rejection recommendation on the possibility of a partial payout of the long-term variable remuneration component up to a shortfall of the benchmark index Stoxx Europe 600 of up to 50%. The Supervisory Board does not share these arguments, and I would like to refer to the detailed statement published on the Allianz website on the 16th of April, in which we set out our arguments. Maybe just briefly for those who have not had the opportunity to view our statement. The Supervisory Board pursues with the board remuneration system the goal that the board is invested as much as possible in Allianz shares.
In addition to the obligation to make a personal investment, this is achieved through the very high weighting of 45% of the share-based long-term remuneration, remuneration whose payment is based solely on the relative share performance. Secondly, the Board, the Management Board, should also be invested to the maximum in precisely those pension products that Allianz offers to its customers. This is the reason for the high pension contributions from ISS's point of view. There can be no greater identification with the interest of Allianz shareholders. The Supervisory Board considers the remuneration of the Board of Management of Allianz to be balanced from a holistic perspective, together with the existence of all relevant design aspects such as mandatory share invest and malus and clawback rules. It is an effective and up-to-date remuneration system with a demanding and fair risk and opportunity profile.
On behalf of the entire Supervisory Board, I would like to ask you, dear shareholders, to consider these arguments set out in our statement on the 16th of April when voting on Item seven on the agenda. This brings me to the remuneration of the Supervisory Board. The remuneration of the Supervisory Board was determined by the Annual General Meeting in 2023. It consists of purely fixed remuneration whereby memberships of committees are remunerated separately. A detailed presentation of the remuneration of the Supervisory Board and the individualized remuneration of its members can be found in the remuneration report. There are no special features to report for the financial year 2024. Dear shareholders, I would now like to turn to the new election of the Supervisory Board scheduled for today under agenda item eight. Dr. Eichiner's term of office ends at the end of today's Annual General Meeting.
We have already paid tribute to Dr. Eichiner's contribution to the Supervisory Board. However, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Eichiner once again for his valuable work on our board and his commitment to Allianz. Mr. Eichiner has been a member of our board since 2016. Due to reaching the age limit, he will not be available for a further term of office. I say unfortunately. As Chairman of the Audit Committee and member of the Risk Committee, Mr. Eichiner's financial expertise, experience, and critical eye have significantly supported the Supervisory Board's monitoring of accounting, the audit of the financial statement, and in particular, the internal control and risk management system. As a member of the Nomination Committee, he also played a key role in the long-term succession planning for the Supervisory Board. We wish you, dear Mr. Eichiner, all the best for the future.
Above all, continued good health, and we thank you for your constructive cooperation. The Supervisory Board was able to find a competent successor candidate in Professor Dr. Ralf Thomas and is proposing him for election at today's Annual General Meeting. Professor Dr. Thomas has worked for Siemens AG for 30 years, including the last 12 years as the company's Chief Financial Officer. He is a proven financial expert with in-depth knowledge in the areas of accounting, auditing, and internal control systems, among others. As a member of the Supervisory Board of Allianz Versicherungs AG, the property insurance subsidiary of Allianz in Germany, he was also able to deepen his knowledge of the insurance sector and familiarize himself with the workings of Allianz in the past year. Mr. Thomas is here today and would like to introduce himself to you personally. Mr. Thomas, you have the floor.
Yes, thank you very much, Mr. Diekmann. Dear shareholders, I'm very delighted to be here today to have the opportunity to present myself personally. My name is Ralf Thomas. As it has already been said, I am active for Siemens AG for 30 years now. Since 2013, I'm the CFO and member of the board. In this responsibility, I'm responsible for controlling and finance, and I'm also responsible for investor relations. It is an honor to be part of different scientific committees, amongst others, the Deutschen Börse-Sachverständigen-Kommission. I'm the head of this commission, of this committee, for six years. I'm also working in the Financial Ministry in Berlin. I'm working in the German Acts Institute. I'm also working as honorary professor for economics at the Friedrich Alexander University. I'm an alumni of them for many years now.
I'm a member of, I gained experience in different supervisory boards. At the moment, I'm the head of the Supervisory Board of Siemens Healthineers AG. As Mr. Diekmann has said, I also had the opportunity to be part of the Allianz Versicherungs AG between January 2024 and March 2025. I gained experience in the Supervisory Board. I gained experience in this industry, and I gained first insights in Allianz SE. As one of the leading insurers worldwide and as one of the leading global asset managers, the Allianz Group Connect has global strength. It has deep roots in Germany. For 135 years, Allianz protects the investments of its clients in a very successful way. It is a company which follows a long-term approach, a company which has strong values and has one of the best corporate cultures.
Allianz SE, for me, is a company which is reliable, a group which is reliable and which is looking towards the future. Allianz uses its strength to act in an innovative way, and Allianz SE is globally present and has a leading and pioneering innovative position in the financial world and in the insurance world. This strong foundation needs to be safeguarded, needs to be protected. This needs to continue, and it would be an honor and a great pleasure for me if I had the opportunity to be part of the Supervisory Board of Allianz SE. Thank you for your attention. Thank you very much, Mr. Thomas. The Supervisory Board proposes that Professor Dr. Thomas should be elected for the regular term of office of four years until the AGM in 2029.
This will ensure that the staggered boards introduced in 2022, that is, the staggering of mandate periods, is maintained. With the candidate proposed today, the Allianz Supervisory Board will continue to be very well staffed in terms of the expertise expected by the supervisory authority and investors. There are no personal or business relationships within the meaning of the German corporate governance codes between Mr. Thomas and the Allianz Group, the executive bodies of Allianz SE or a shareholder with a material interest that would preclude his election to the Supervisory Board. The Supervisory Board has also assured Mr. Thomas that he will be able to devote the expected amount of time required. It is intended that Mr. Thomas will take over the chairmanship of the Audit Committee from Mr. Schneider at a later date, who will initially succeed Mr. Eichiner as chairman of the Audit Committee.
You will find a detailed CV of Professor Dr. Thomas in the invitation to the Annual General Meeting. I would like to ask you to support the candidate proposed by the Supervisory Board with your vote. This brings me to the end of my report, and I would now like to ask Mr. Bäte for his report of the Management Board of Allianz SE to the Annual General Meeting.
Thank you very much, Mr. Diekmann. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, and above all, dear employees who follow our AGM today. Also from my side, my name is Oliver Bäte. I'm the CEO of Allianz SE, and I would like to welcome you accordingly to this year's Annual General Meeting. This year, we're once again meeting virtually. Next year, however, we would like to welcome you again in person.
We have continuously developed the virtual format over the past few years, as the lively general debates have clearly shown. For many shareholders, the virtual format has made it possible to participate in the first place without having to travel long distances. That includes the 75% of employees of Allianz who are shareholders of Allianz these days. We also know, ladies and gentlemen, that some of you view an in-person Annual General Meeting as a sign of personal appreciation. We do not want to ignore this and are therefore pleased to be able, as announced in the invitation, to be able to hold an in-person Annual General Meeting next year. On this day, an important question will have to be decided: who will be Mr. Diekmann's successor? That is why we'll meet personally next year.
Over the next minutes, I would first of all like to review the past year. I will take the current economic and political environment into account and set out our business results in context. Towards the end of my speech, I will then talk about our priorities for the next three years. We also presented these already at our capital markets day at the end of last year. Let me first talk about the economic and social developments. 2024, it's been a while, but it was an eventful year once again, and a financial year that your Allianz once again closed as the best in its history, with revenues of around EUR 180 billion and an operating profit of EUR 16 billion. Above all, it was also a year of geopolitical and social upheavals.
Certainties once again became uncertain, and our customers were once again looking for a strong and reliable partner. At the beginning of last year, the ongoing inflation was still the dominant topic, not just in the companies, but also in our everyday lives. Over the course of the year, the central bank's monetary policy measures then had their long-awaited effect. Inflation went down, at least in part. Unfortunately, this was to the detriment of economic growth, particularly in Europe and especially in Germany. In the same year, ladies and gentlemen, elections were held in over 70 countries. Almost half of the world's population went to the polls, and almost all governing parties suffered a loss of votes, sometimes significantly. The reasons for this were multiple.
There were record levels of debt and low growth, which had an increasing effect and an increasingly restricted effect on the government's room for maneuver. Basic government tasks, such as the provision of functioning infrastructure, future-oriented school education, or adequate pension and healthcare provisions, can no longer be fulfilled everywhere. As a result, the prosperity that we have built over decades is gradually eroding. At the same time, the labor market became increasingly difficult last year. This was not just due to demographic change, which could be overcome by consistent digitalization and also by all of us working more. Far too often, however, work no longer pays in our country. The lower and middle-income brackets, especially, are overburdened by taxes and social security contributions. This is precisely where we need to start.
We have to create incentives for more and productive work in order to secure our prosperity. In the past year, unfortunately, we have witnessed how the difficult environment has created fertile ground for increasing polarization and further encouraged the rise of extremist forces. Positions in society are hardening. Mistrust is growing towards politicians, towards the media, and sometimes even towards our neighbors. Our cohesion is crumbling, and it seems increasingly difficult to resolve large conflicts constructively. Maybe one look back. Today, on the 8th of May 2025, we commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War here in Europe. This day is a painful reminder of the darkest chapters in human history. It reminds us of the fact that mutual understanding and cooperation, but also credible defense, are the keys to preventing disaster and to maintaining peace.
Unfortunately, ladies and gentlemen, we are experiencing quite the opposite in the here and now. As a supposedly simple response to the challenges at home, governments are increasingly isolating themselves and their economies. Where global trade brought prosperity for decades, especially here in Germany, we're now faced with rising tariffs, and not just in the U.S., but also in Europe. International cooperation that also takes account of economically weaker regions appears overnight to have become a relic of the past. These rapid upheavals, ladies and gentlemen, have recently fueled the ups and downs on the capital markets. Let's talk about something different about Allianz: 135 years of future. In this environment that I've just described and that will remain to be important, the resilience of your Allianz has been tested because we aim to keep a promise that our name has stood for for 130 years, since 1890.
In our corporate language, we say, "We secure your future." We protect what is most important to our customers. We offer our employees attractive jobs, and we invest into their training. We offer you, dear shareholders, an attractive and sustainable return on your invested capital. This is what we stand for and what we have stood for and have done for 135 years. To keep this promise, we have reinvented Allianz time and again over many decades, and we had to reinvent it. For example, more than 100 years ago, in 1918, when we founded an independent car insurance company, you might not understand it, but back then, many believed that the car was just a passing fad. Our policies were still written by hand at the time, by the way.
Today, at peak times in Germany, we process up to 300,000 policies per day, digitally and for the most part fully automatically. We laid the foundations for this back in the 1920s already because we started with punch card machines. In 1956, ladies and gentlemen, we put our first so-called mainframe computer into operation, an IBM 650, a world first that cost as much as around 140 Volkswagen Beetles at the time, which was what you compared figures to at the time. Today, we invest more than EUR 5 billion in our digital infrastructure every year. We want to and will become a pioneer in the use of artificial intelligence in our industry. For example, we have developed the ability to settle some car insurance claims in just around 60 seconds, and that is from receipt of the photos to the payment of the claims.
The foundation for a successful Allianz had therefore been laid at the time, but we had to lay it a second time and time and again. In 1945, at the end of the Second World War, our head office in Berlin's Taubenstraße was in ruins. Under the Soviet occupying power, banks and insurance companies were nationalized immediately. Our Allianz no longer had a future as a private company in this location. With quite some effort, we created a new Allianz in Munich in the early 1950s, exactly here at Königstraße 28, that we're located in and broadcasting from today. In the years that followed, we then experienced the division, and thank God afterwards, the reunification of Germany. It was always a matter of course for us to take on social responsibility.
We took over thousands of employees of the former state insurance company of the German Democratic Republic and most of its contracts. In the midst of the greatest upheaval, we wanted to offer protection and give confidence. I'm convinced that this commitment always pays off. That, ladies and gentlemen, is what I'm convinced of truly. That is why Allianz, why one in four private pension plans in Germany is with Allianz. I would like to give you a third example that you might easily take for granted today. Our Allianz was internationally oriented from the very beginning. As early as 1909, we had agencies in China and Egypt and Sri Lanka. Italy and Turkey followed closely after that. Our founding fathers and mothers created world-class products.
Thanks to their foresight, we benefit today from the advantages of a globally positioned and broadly diversified company. That, by the way, is a strength that we can build on, especially in these times, because our Allianz is kind of like a pillar of strength for our more than 120 million customers in 70 countries around the world. These are just three examples from 135 years, three examples that testify to our courage to try new things, that show how we take responsibility, not just for our customers and shareholders, but for the society in which we operate and for our employees. They show where our resilience results from. That is why our customers trust us. Our advertising slogan, hopefully insured with Allianz, dates back to the year 1957, and it could hardly be more relevant today.
We would like to talk more about what links us, what unites us, than about what separates society. Our Allianz is stronger than ever today, and we want to share this strength because only together can we create a better future for everyone. That is why last year we launched the initiative Power of Unity. Together, we want to work harder for what unites us all. This is why we promote social engagement with the aim of counteracting polarization in our society. We see how this can be achieved every day in sports, in sports associations. In Germany, for example, there are 24,000 sports clubs. They're a key pillar of our society that we tend to forget from time to time because sport overcomes cultural and social barriers and shows what we can achieve when we stick together.
Children learn values for life on the sports field and in the clubhouse and for a better future for everyone. Promoting this is important to us as Allianz. Let me now look at the results of the company in 2024, ladies and gentlemen. I would like to take this opportunity to give you an account of the past financial year, and I do so with pride, with pride for all Allianz employees worldwide, because once again, we have achieved record results. Our total business volume increased by 11% to around EUR 180 billion last year. We generated an operating profit of EUR 16 billion. At the same time, we were more profitable than ever before, with a return on equity of 16.9%. Our financial strength, ladies and gentlemen, was once again confirmed by the leading rating agencies in the top group.
Let us now take a closer look at our business fields. The total business volume of our property-casualty insurance rose by 8% to around EUR 83 billion. Unfortunately, significantly higher repair costs in car insurance also contributed to this increase, and we're working hard to limit these cost increases for our customers. Despite the impact from natural disasters in Germany and throughout Europe, we were able to slightly improve our combined ratio, that is, our profitability in this business segment, by 0.4 percentage points. We achieved this thanks to ever-improving risk models and further automation in parts of our company. The operating profit in property-casualty insurance, therefore, rose by 14% to around EUR 8 billion, making a significant contribution to the Allianz Group's new record result. Also, in life and health insurance, we once again achieved excellent new business growth.
The present value of our new business premiums rose by around 22% to EUR 81.8 billion. Moreover, we were able to increase our operating profit to a record value of EUR 5.5 billion. We achieved these results despite ongoing uncertainties in the capital markets and despite stagnating economies in more and more countries around the world. I'm personally particularly pleased that we now generate 11% of the group's operating profit with our health and protection offerings. There is no substitute, ladies and gentlemen, for good health. Our products and services make a real difference to our customers' lives. Our products in this segment are also capital efficient, which means that we have to invest comparatively little risk capital in order to continue to grow strongly. Our asset management segment recorded the highest net inflow since 2021, by the way, to the tune of EUR 85 billion.
Our assets under management for third parties rose by 12% to EUR 1.9 trillion. This once again demonstrates the attractiveness of our products. In particular, the products offered by PIMCO, one of the world's leading bond investors, are in even greater demand in the current interest rate environment. We're also seeing very good developments at Allianz Global Investors, which is supported by excellent customer satisfaction. This is also confirmed by the Greenwich Investor Survey. This is one of the leading benchmarks for customer satisfaction. Our clients once again voted Allianz Global Investors the top asset manager in Europe and Asia. This is one of the factors that enabled us to increase our operating profit in this segment to EUR 3.2 billion. Ladies and gentlemen, our results show the importance of PIMCO for our asset management business. Around one fifth of our operating profit results from this segment.
We acquired PIMCO 25 years ago almost to the date, and our business models have complemented each other seamlessly ever since. Today, PIMCO manages EUR 1.5 trillion for third-party clients and EUR 350 billion for Allianz policyholders worldwide. In the last 10 years alone, our PIMCO colleagues have generated an excess return of over EUR 5 billion, especially for the benefit of our policyholders. These results motivate us to continue growing together, and we are linking our life insurance business even more closely with PIMCO. We have therefore announced the establishment of a new reinsurance company in the U.S. It will take over business with a volume of around $10 billion from our local life insurer.
PIMCO is responsible for the majority of capital investments, which reduces the capital intensity of our life insurance products on the one hand side and helps us to tap into new sources of income in the asset management. I would like to take this opportunity to especially thank our colleagues in PIMCO for the great partnership over the past 25 years. I'm looking forward to our common success over the next years. Let me briefly talk about the share price and our payout ratio. A very good business performance was also rewarded by the capital market in the year 2024. At the end of the year, our share price stood at EUR 295.90, corresponding to an annual return of 29%. As you could see, the good trend has continued over the course of this year.
Our share thus outperformed the return of the German share index DAX, which increased in value by 19% over the same period. The value of our share, by the way, ladies and gentlemen, has more than tripled over the last 10 years. In view of this excellent result, the Board of Management and Supervisory Board are today proposing a dividend of EUR 15.40 per share for the past financial year. This is around 12% higher than in the previous year. Once again, this is already the ninth dividend increase in 10 years for shareholders. In addition to this, we have already announced share buybacks of EUR 2 billion for the current year. As a sign of our confidence in the sustainable performance of our Allianz, we have also further specified our dividend policy.
We are already aiming to distribute 60% of our annual net profit to you as a dividend. In the past, we have already increased our dividend payments through share buybacks and thus achieved a payout ratio on average of 75%. We want to stick to this ratio also for the future. In the coming years, on average, we want to pay out at least 75% of our surplus in the form of dividends and share buybacks. Our Allianz is resilient, and it is well positioned to continue growing in a challenging environment as we have right now. For the current financial year, we're planning to achieve an operating profit of EUR 16 billion with a range of plus or minus EUR 1 billion. This is an increase of more than 8% compared to a previous year's target. These successes, ladies and gentlemen, would be unthinkable without satisfied customers.
That is why we invest year after year in ever better customer service, in ever better products, and into our brand. These investments are paying off. Despite some significant inflation-related premium adjustments, especially in property and casualty insurance, the loyalty of our customers remains at a high level. This is also confirmed by our Net Promoter Score. 57% of our companies were so-called loyalty leaders in 2024. That is to say, they have the most loyal customers in their markets. The value of our brand has also increased again to $23.5 billion as the best global brands ranking by Interbrand shows. This makes us the number one insurance company in the world for the sixth time in a row. For the first time, we are one of the 30 most valuable brands in the world, not just in the financial institutions world.
Ladies and gentlemen, none of this would have been possible without our dedicated and highly motivated employees. Because their passion is the key to first-class customer experiences. This is why we set out to become one of the best employers in the world. Our successes over a long period of time speak for themselves. Employee feedback on our leadership and performance culture is among the best in the world. That is not only in the insurance industry, but across all sectors. For the first time, Allianz has made it into the top 25 of the world's best workplaces. Sorry for using all these English terms here in German, but this is an international environment that we are in. It is a great success, we think. Record results, a strong brand, customer satisfaction at a top level, one of the best employers worldwide. These are results that speak for themselves.
To achieve them, we need a strong team. I would therefore like to take this opportunity also on behalf of the entire Allianz Board of Management to thank you, our more than 155,000 Allianz colleagues. You made these results possible in the first place. I would also like to express my sincere thanks to my Board of Management team. My colleagues are working tirelessly to make your Allianz even stronger. Ladies and gentlemen, let me now give you an outlook into what will be happening in this environment with your Allianz, what we are planning on. At the beginning of my speech, I described the environment in which we are operating. It is an environment which is characterized by uncertainty and ever faster and more radical upheavals. In this environment, ladies and gentlemen, our customers are looking for security.
They want to protect what is most valuable to them. They are looking for a reliable partner with whom they can plan their future. We are and want to be that partner. We play to our strengths with the powers of the individual unlimited, and state provision has to be increasingly scaled back. Above all, this includes affordable protection for customers' belongings and health, even in times of increasing climate change. We also ensure our customers against new digital risks and help them to take precautions themselves where there is no insurance. In the event of illness, we help to quickly find the right diagnosis, for example, and the best doctor for the treatment needed. However, the question of protection in the here and now is only one side of the coin. We are also seeing massive changes in the way our customers provide for their futures.
We've talked about this for generations, but demographic change is presenting especially enormous challenges for the state pension systems. All the more reason for people to look for private solutions for their retirement and healthcare provision. As Allianz, we're therefore making high-yield alternative asset classes such as real estate, infrastructure projects, and renewable energy accessible to our customers. These are asset classes that were previously the preserve of large pension and sovereign wealth funds, and that promise attractive long-term returns even in times of great uncertainty. Moreover, ladies and gentlemen, we are complementing our insurance products increasingly with tailor-made services. For example, for loss prevention, from storm warnings to preventive medical checkups, through our claims management, from repair shop selection to the provision of a replacement vehicle, and through access to so-called concierge services, for example, when traveling or for repairs at home.
This is where we, ladies and gentlemen, can fully exploit the economies of scale of Allianz and not only retain our customers through unique customer experience, but also reduce costs in the long term. In many of our health insurance tariffs, we cover the costs of regular preventive checkups. In the event of illness, we help to quickly find the best doctor for further treatment, for example, with our partner BetterDoc. This saves our customers running from doctor to doctor and improves the success of their treatment. By the way, we also save unnecessary costs, so it's a win-win situation for everyone. In this way, we want to help ensure that insurance remains affordable in the long term, and this investment will then pay off twice because satisfied customers buy more and cancel less often.
Ladies and gentlemen, we've created a strong foundation, and we have the right products for all aspects of protection and retirement. We complement these products with excellent services, and we are a reliable partner at our customer's side. Looking ahead to the next years, especially to the next three years, we want to build on this foundation and leverage the potential of your and our Allianz even more. Above all, we want to develop our company from a first-class product provider into a truly customer-oriented organization. To achieve this, we want to primarily use three levers. The first one we call smart growth. What is meant by this? In recent years, we have often achieved our growth through premium increases because we had to pass on increased claims to our customers.
We've been able to implement these price adjustments because our brand and our service quality, our high service quality, have secured our customer base. Over the next three years, we want to focus on our organic customer growth and ideally double it. This is a very ambitious goal, but we're convinced that we can achieve it. To achieve this, we will consistently invest in acquiring new customers and provide our existing customers with even better and more comprehensive support. We also plan to reduce the number of customers who cancel on their own initiative. From this lever alone, we want to generate up to 30% additional customer growth over time. The second lever, that might not be surprising, will be further productivity increases, sustainable ones. In recent years, we've made very good progress in harmonizing our products and simplifying our digital infrastructure.
This has always been done with the aim of further reducing our expense ratio, especially in property and casualty insurance. We have done this since 2017 by 0.3 percentage points year on year. Few other insurers have implemented this as consistently and sustainably as we have. Now, after seven years, you might think that we are nearing the end of the journey, but quite the opposite is the truth. We can and we need to continue on our path with all our strength. That does not mean that we will cut back on our employees or the quality of our services. Rather, we want to set new standards in the simplification of processes, including, by the way, through the use of artificial intelligence along our entire value chain. However, further reducing administrative costs is only one lever.
The much bigger one, because it has hardly been used by us to date, lies in acquisition costs. For quite some time, we've said digital and personal is the key to success. Thanks to our strong brand, demand for our products and services is constantly increasing. The demand that we receive directly as Allianz. This reduces the costs for acquiring new customers, especially on direct digital channels, but also through physical channels, step by step. We continue to digitize the interfaces with our agencies and sale partners, which leaves more time for customer service and for further growth. The third lever that we continue to use is called strengthened or even stronger resilience. Ladies and gentlemen, I've spoken a lot about trust in my speech. It's the foundation of the 135-year success story of our Allianz, and it remains the foundation of our corporate strategy.
After all, we can only achieve customer growth and productivity increases if our customers place their full trust in us. We have to earn this trust every day anew. In the insurance business, we have to prepare ourselves for an increasingly fast change in the future, be it from cyber risks or natural disasters or from artificial intelligence. On the investment side, we must ensure that we remain resistant to shocks. In sum, we have navigated well through the crises of the past, but the current global situation is particularly characterized by ups and downs in the capital markets and strong currency fluctuations. That shows us that we cannot rest on our laurels. Let me sum up. With this new strategic agenda, ladies and gentlemen, we're once again significantly increasing our ambitions. We want to improve our earnings per share by 7-9% annually by 2027.
We will not compromise on our financial strength in that. We want to increase our return on capital employed to over 17%. We will continue to maintain our dividend payout ratio at a high level. On a three-year average, at least 75% of the net profit for the year attributable to shareholders are to flow back exactly to you. It is a demanding program. These are ambitious goals. We have once again set ourselves ambitious goals for the next three years. I am confident that we will continue to build on our success. We are with a strong team behind us, and we have you at our side. Thank you very much for your kind attention and your support.
Thank you very much, Mr. Bäte, for your management report. Ladies and gentlemen, at this point, I would like to announce the presence today.
We currently have 43.89% of the share capital present here at the AGM. This is 164,277,675 votes or shares that we have connected. This amounts to a presence of 42.54% of the share capital. In addition, we have absentee votes for another 5,217,133 shares of stock, which amounts to 1.40% of the share capital. Ladies and gentlemen, that brings us to the end of the public part of the live broadcast of our annual general meeting today. I would like to take this opportunity to say goodbye to all non-shareholders. From now on, only shareholders of Allianz SE who are registered in the online service will be able to follow the rest of the meeting.