Allianz X

As we wrap up the year and gather with our loved ones, we're forecasting a 2025 filled with success. 📈 May your portfolio grow like a Christmas wish list and your returns be as generous as Santa Claus. 🎅 While we take a brief hiatus from social media to recalibrate, rest assured, our commitment to value creation remains steadfast. 💪 Here's to a prosperous and exciting 2025! We can't wait to continue this journey with you. 💙 Season's Greetings from Allianz X! 🎄 

2024 was the year of venture debt for private companies, according to an article by Sifted. 📈 It refers to Atomico's latest State of European Tech report, which states that startups have raised a staggering $4.7bn in venture debt in the first three quarters of this year alone! 💰 Many startups have turned to this alternative to keep their growth trends on track and to benefit from its advantages: - David Bateman from Claret Capital Partners was quoted in the Sifted article as stating that venture debt is an "antidilution tool" making it especially attractive when valuations are under pressure.  - Companies like Quantilope and Zen Educate have leveraged venture debt for growth initiatives and strategic acquisitions for some versatility alongside equity financing.  - Despite a challenging equity market, venture debt accounted for 36% of European funding in 2024, underscoring its rising importance and market resilience. Read more about it in Sifted articles: https://lnkd.in/ejTAvzqU 

A couple of weeks ago Allianz X led Ualá’s USD 300 million Series E funding round. We asked our colleagues who worked on the deal to gain their insights.  🔎   Why did we invest in Ualá?    Johann: As the strategic investments arm of the Allianz Group, our focus is on identifying companies with significant growth potential that align with Allianz’s strategic objectives. Ualá is a standout among rapidly expanding digital banks worldwide, holding banking licenses in Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico. It offers a comprehensive range of financial products and services, appealing to diverse customer segments. As first movers like NU Bank have demonstrated, there is immense potential for digital disruption in Latin America, driven by trends such as the historical reliance on cash transactions. Ualá impressed us with its solid business model, strategic vision, and capable management team, positioning it well to address the challenges of banking accessibility and digitalization on a large scale. What makes the deal so special?    Saharat: Ualá’s Series E funding round is a landmark achievement, marking the largest growth equity raise in LatAm in the past three years and highlighting strong investor confidence in the company’s potential. The deal also signifies Allianz X’s first investment in the region, underscoring a strategic entry into the rapidly growing fintech sector there.     What does it mean for the digital banking sector in the LatAm region?    Nhi: The investment highlights Ualá’s remarkable growth and leadership in the LatAm digital banking sector. Ualá will use the proceeds to broaden its financial ecosystem and fuel faster growth. The rapid growth of its digital banking services is a testament to customers’ preference for digital access to financial services. Ualá is well positioned to seize the growth opportunities presented by the LatAm financial markets.      How does Allianz benefit from this deal?    Nhi: With this investment, Allianz will leverage Ualá’s existing customer base, which already has over 8 million customers, while also betting on the future growth potential of the company.    What’s Allianz X’s role in it?   Johann: Allianz X structured and executed the deal in a way where it made sense to the Group from both financial and strategic perspectives. Looking forward, we will continue our close dialogue with Ualá, supporting it in its growth ambitions via the governance positions we take up as the newest addition to the portfolio. 

Today, Allianz held its Capital Markets Day 2024, sharing insights on the strategy for the next three years.    Allianz has set ambitious financial targets for 2024-2027: 📈 Earnings per share CAGR of 7-9% 📈 Return on equity of at least 17% 📈 Solvency II operating capital generation of 24-25 percentage points in 2027 📈 Cumulative net cash remittance of more than 27 billion euros in the years 2025-2027 The overall strategy focuses on smart growth, enhanced productivity, and strengthened resilience, all supported by high customer satisfaction and strong employee engagement. Allianz is committed to expanding its customer base with innovative Protection and Retirement solutions, leveraging its trusted brand and market leadership. With solid business assumptions, Allianz expects significant growth across its Property-Casualty, Life & Health, and Asset Management segments.  As the growth investments arm of Allianz Group, we’re looking forward to continuing to support it in achieving its ambitious targets.  Read more about Allianz’ strategy in the press release: https://lnkd.in/eWQqzJDR 

A warm welcome to our new colleague Nicola Tesser. 🙌    Nicola has joined Allianz X as Growth Equity Intern. In his role, Nicola is supporting the team with commercial due diligence and valuation of investment opportunities, shareholder-related topics, assisting in drafting and preparing investment proposals, and more.    Before Allianz X, Nicola gained valuable experience at Allianz as an intern in the growth initiative sector. Prior to that, he worked as a Project Work Analyst at the corporate and investment banking department of Banca Finint as well as at BDO Italy on financial due diligence topics.     Nicola did his bachelor's in business administration at Università Ca' Foscari Venezia. During his studies, he did an exchange semester abroad at Mays Business School - Texas A&M University where he received a teaching assistant offer for an investment analysis class. Nicola is currently doing his master’s in accounting and finance. As a next step, he will do another exchange semester at University of St.Gallen.   We’re happy to have you onboard, Nicola! 👍

The private credit market has grown by 50% in the past four years to USD 1.7 trillion. In today's shifting financial landscape, private credit is emerging as a compelling investment opportunity for ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) investors with the potential to deliver equity-like returns while mitigating risk. With the newly established joint venture between Allianz X and AlTi Tiedemann Global, along with the strategic partnership with Allianz Global Investors, we aim to offer unprecedented access to private credit markets. Read more about the asset class’ potential and where to find the best opportunities in AlTi’s article: https://lnkd.in/g5mbczSP

Two weeks ago, we welcomed the Argentina-headquartered neobank Ualá to our portfolio. 🥳    To celebrate the announcement of Ualá’s USD 300 million Series E financing round and congratulate Pierpaolo Barbieri and his team, Argentinian president Javier Milei visited Ualá’s office in Buenos Aires.     Here’s a short video of his visit and the announcement.  

A warm welcome to our new colleague PAUL MECHERY. 🙌    Paul joined Allianz X as a working student in the Finance and Operations team earlier this year. He supports the team in various finance and controlling functions, as well as procurement topics.    Prior to Allianz X, Paul gained experience as a Finance Associate at Walkaroo International Private Limited and via internships at Hedge Equities Ltd and Canara Bank in the financial services sector.     Paul is currently doing his master’s degree in international business at Hochschule Landshut.     We’re happy to have you onboard, Paul! 🎉 

According to Atomico’s “State of European Tech 2024” report, Europe is catching up to the U.S. in start-up growth and innovation. Here are some snapshots of the current landscape.    Hits: 🚀 Europe now hosts more early-stage tech start-ups than any other region globally with 35,000. This number quadrupled since 2015. Also, growth-stage companies have seen an eight-fold increase to over 3,400 and there are more billion-dollar companies in Europe than ever before. 📈 Europe's average annual growth rate in start-up financing was 13%, outpacing the USA's 8% and China's 2%. 🌍 London has climbed to second place globally as a start-up hub, with Berlin and Paris also breaking into the top 10, highlighting Europe's rising influence in the tech world.    Misses: 💲 Half of the funding in European start-ups comes from the U.S. This means that the dependence of the European ecosystem on foreign investors is significantly higher than in the U.S. or China where around 80% of start-up funding comes from local investors. 🔎 The European IPO market continues to see a shortage of new entrants. So far this year, only the French tech company Planisware has successfully launched an IPO on a European exchange. Examples abound of European companies listing on U.S. exchanges.    Find out more here: https://lnkd.in/dQK__DQq

Come by our booth at Web Summit 2024 at the German Market in Pavilion 2.    We’re here to: 💬 Discuss  🔎 Discover  🙌 Share  🌍 Network  👍 And more    We’re looking forward to meeting you!