Allianz extends F1 Sponsorship

Sydney, 26 March 2009

Allianz remains a committed partner of Formula One™ in the coming two Grand Prix years with the next season to start on the 29th March 2009 on the street circuit of Melbourne, Australia.

According to Nicholas Scofield, General Manager Corporate Affairs at Allianz Australia, “Allianz has prolonged its global engagement for another two years until the end of 2010. Allianz’s sponsorship consists of a contract for trackside branding, an Official Global Partnership with Formula One™ and a team partnership with AT&T Williams.”

Steven Althaus, Allianz Senior Vice President Global Market Management added “extending our partnership clearly underlines our long-term commitment to Formula One™. It is a perfect platform to reach millions of people worldwide every race weekend.”

In 2000, Allianz was one of the first financial service providers to sponsor Formula One™. Heading into the company’s tenth sponsorship year, the affiliation between Allianz and Formula One™ has proven its worth.

Mr Althaus continued, "Our key competence as a leading financial service provider is to help our customers to manage risks and opportunities. Allianz knows the principles of managing risks – in financial services as well as in Formula One™. The safety and risk management standards in Formula One™ provide us with insights that we can use for the benefit of our 50 million motor insurance customers worldwide.”

Mr Scofield said, “in 2000 Allianz entered the Formula One™ arena through a team partnership with Williams. We strengthened our engagement in 2002 through on-track advertising and in 2006 through pit lane branding at key races throughout the Grand Prix season. Allianz was the first sponsor to use pit lane branding.”

As the Official Global Partner of Formula One™ since 2007, Allianz demonstrates its core competencies particularly in relation to risk management and road safety – the partnership with Safety Car driver Bernd Mayländer is an excellent example of this.

“In 2009, Allianz has deepened its AT&T Williams partnership through a road safety campaign with Nico Rosberg, AT&T Williams driver, to highlight the importance of wearing a seatbelt, the impact of speeding and the effects of drinking and driving,” Mr Scofield added.

During the 2009 season, the Asia Pacific will host five Grand Prix Races in Australia, Malaysia, China, Singapore and Japan. The addition of Singapore last year to the Grand Prix calendar clearly reinforces that the Asia Pacific is in the limelight of the sport’s future development.

For Allianz, Asia Pacific is a key growth market with over 21 million customers. To emphasize the importance of risk management and road safety in Asia, a region with high fatality rates resulting from road traffic accidents, the company has conducted Formula One Road Shows together with local and international experts from road safety and Formula One™ in Malaysia, China, Singapore, Indonesia and India last year. This successful format will be repeated in 2009, with several roadshows, driver days and related events in markets across Asia Pacific.

Bruce Bowers, CEO of Allianz Asia Pacific, said “road safety is an important concern of Allianz in Asia. Our ongoing engagement with Formula One™ is a
reflection of this.”

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Allianz Australia

Best General Insurance Company 2006*
Best General Insurance Company 2007*

The Allianz Australia Group operates in Australia and New Zealand. It is one of Australia’s largest general insurers, a leading private workers’ compensation insurer, and also provides life insurance.

Allianz Australia delivers a wide range of personal, commercial and corporate insurance products and services. AAL is proud to be of service to more than 2 million policy holders and over 50% of Australia’s top 200 BRW listed companies have some form of insurance cover with the group.

Allianz Australia offers a wide range of insurance products and services including car insurance, home insurance and Life insurance.

Allianz Australia has approximately 3300 staff. In 2007, the company achieved a gross written premium exceeding AU$2.4 billion and investment assets of approximately AU$5.5 billion. Allianz Australia Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of the worldwide Allianz SE Group, one of the world’s largest financial services companies.

Allianz’s commitment to social, environmental and economic sustainability has been acknowledged internationally by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, which recognised Allianz as the most sustainable general insurer in the world in 2007. In Australia, Allianz is a member of the Greenhouse Challenge Plus program, which is a cooperative partnership between industry and the Australian Government that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

*Australian Banking and Finance Insurance Awards

About Allianz SE

In Asia Pacific, Allianz is present in 15 markets offering its core businesses of property and casualty insurance, life and health insurance, asset management. Globally, Allianz SE is one of the world's leading insurers and financial services providers and one of the first Societas Europeae. Founded in 1890, Allianz SE is now present in more than 70 countries with over 150,000 employees. Allianz provides about 75 million customers worldwide with a comprehensive range of services in the areas of property and casualty insurance, life and health insurance, and asset management.

Allianz SE is the leading primary insurer in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. We support the principles of the Global Compact of the United Nations as well as the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.