Allianz SE said operating profit for the first nine months of 2026 rose 7.8% to a record 14.1 billion euros, and the German insurer raised the top of its full-year target range to about 18.6 billion euros after a record quarter at its asset management arm, which includes PIMCO and Allianz Global Investors.

Third-quarter operating profit rose 6.2% to 4.709 billion euros, the Munich-based company said in its earnings release on Thursday, Nov. 12. That was ahead of the 4.31 billion euros forecast by analysts at Metzler, who had expected a decline of about 3% from a year earlier, according to a preview published by Finimize the week before. Allianz had already flagged the nine-month figure and the higher target in an ad hoc announcement late on Wednesday.

For investors in Asia, the result matters on two fronts. Allianz is one of the world's largest fund managers, with 2.152 trillion euros of third-party assets at the end of September, and its fund flows are a gauge of where global institutional money is moving. It is also a bellwether for global insurers such as AIA, Ping An and Manulife, whose shares trade partly on how investment income and fee businesses offset tougher underwriting.

Asset management carries the quarter

The asset management segment did most of the work. Operating profit rose 35.1% to 1.119 billion euros in the third quarter, a quarterly record, from 828 million euros a year earlier. Operating revenue grew 21.6% on an internal basis to 2.6 billion euros, helped by a 19% rise in revenue tied to assets under management (adjusted for currency) and by higher performance fees.

Clients added a net 47 billion euros to third-party funds in the quarter and 132 billion euros over nine months. The cost-income ratio fell to 56.3% from 60.3%, well inside the company's full-year aim of less than 61%.

Third-party assets still slipped slightly from 2.161 trillion euros at the end of June. Allianz said the inflows and favorable currency moves were more than offset by market losses tied to interest-rate movements. Average third-party assets were 14% higher than in the third quarter of 2025.

Chief Financial Officer Claire-Marie Coste-Lepoutre said the quarter was delivered "despite high capital market volatility and elevated natural catastrophe losses."

Catastrophes dent property-casualty

The property-casualty business went the other way. Third-quarter operating profit fell 7.9% to 2.204 billion euros as the combined ratio, which measures claims and costs as a share of premiums, rose to 93.8% from 91.9%. Natural catastrophes added 5.1 percentage points to the loss ratio, against 0.3 points a year earlier, partly offset by better results from prior-year claims.

Business volume in the segment still grew 4.5% on an internal basis to 20.9 billion euros, with retail up 5% and commercial lines up 3%. Allianz said it continues to manage the commercial market carefully. The expense ratio improved to 23.2% from 23.6%. Over nine months the combined ratio was 92.2%, within the 92% to 93% range Allianz targets for the year.

Life and health operating profit rose 4.4% to 1.469 billion euros in the quarter. The present value of new business premiums rose 4.2% to 18.7 billion euros, while the new business margin eased to 5.6% from 5.9%, still above the company's floor of 5%. The contractual service margin, a store of future profit under IFRS 17 accounting, fell to 56.4 billion euros from 57.3 billion euros at the end of June.

India sale weighs on net income growth

Shareholders' core net income rose just 1.2% to 2.889 billion euros in the quarter. Allianz said underlying growth was 3% after adjusting for measures that offset the loss of earnings from its Indian joint ventures, whose stake it sold in the first quarter of 2026. For nine months, core net income rose 10.6% to 9.273 billion euros and core earnings per share rose 12.7% to 24.15 euros. Stripping out the India sale and a 2025 gain on its UniCredit joint venture, underlying earnings-per-share growth was 8%, in line with the 7% to 9% annual target set for 2025 to 2027.

The annualized core return on equity was 20.1%, and the Solvency II capital ratio stood at 219%, up 1 percentage point from the end of 2025 but below the 225% reported at the end of June, according to Insurance Business Asia's coverage of the first-half results.

Higher target, buyback complete

Allianz began the year guiding to operating profit of 17.4 billion euros, plus or minus 1 billion euros. It now expects the top of that range to be about 18.6 billion euros, barring large natural catastrophes or capital market shocks. Nine-month profit already equals 81% of the original midpoint. The share buyback of up to 2.5 billion euros announced in February was fully executed by Sept. 22, the company said.

Chief Executive Oliver Bäte said in the release that many customers are finding protection and retirement products harder to afford, and that Allianz wants to use its scale to make them more accessible.

The raised target leaves room for fourth-quarter operating profit of about 4.5 billion euros at the new top of the range. Catastrophe claims and interest-rate moves, which together trimmed property-casualty profit and third-party assets in the third quarter, will decide how much of it Allianz reaches.