While Allianz is bringing Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company’s commercial lines business into its own operations, the short-term plan with its personal lines arm appears to be a focus on maintaining the status quo.
“Our strategy is to grow the [personal lines] portfolio under the Fireman’s Fund brand,” Fireman’s Fund spokesperson/media relations manager Janet Ruiz told Carrier Management.
Ruiz would not comment as to whether that meant that a rumored sale of the line in the future would still be on the table or had been ruled out. Fireman’s Fund also isn’t offering any long-term specifics regarding the future of its personal lines business. Various media outlets reported in recent days that Fireman’s Fund’s German owner Allianz planned to sell the personal lines division, in part because of repeated operating losses and other struggles.
The key phrase in response to that question right now continues to be that Allianz is considering various “strategic options” to achieve scale for that business.
Fireman’s Fund elaborated in a detailed statement issued to Carrier Management. Here it is in full:
“Allianz is considering various strategic options to achieve scale for the well-respected Fireman’s Fund’s personal lines business, which focuses on high-net-worth customers and has a strong reputation for tailored customer service and expertise. This business is attractive and successful with good loss ratios and a strong reputation in the high-net-worth marketplace where it is already a leader. While we consider our options, the current strategy of growing this portfolio remains unchanged. We must also continue to provide excellent service levels to our agents/brokers and policyholders.”
Allianz CFO Dieter Wemmer called Fireman’s Fund “a true disappointment” during his company’s 2014 second-quarter earnings call. That statement suggests that what remains of Fireman’s Fund has plenty of work to do in the days and weeks ahead.