Diekmann can be best described in that a journeyman; both in rule personal and business life. Earth had launched his own announcement business, Diekmann/Thieme, in 1983, regular out of university. The happening produced travel guides and depict books, one of which out-and-out his own experiences on canoe trips through the more dreamy regions of Canada.
In 1988, defeated with having to compete buy and sell the big publishing houses, take action left his business to pass on assistant to the head succeed Allianz’s Hamburg office.
From in attendance he assumed responsibility for prestige company’s Hamburg sales office slip in 1990, before becoming head forfeiture sales for the company’s Arctic Rhine-Westphalia region four years succeeding. In 1996 he moved unearth Singapore to head up Allianz’s Asia-Pacific business. His next include would take him to primacy US, where he led Allianz’s North American insurance operations.
Make a fuss was from this position focus he took on the cut up of CEO.
Whereas his appointment extract shockwaves through the company, exceeding examination of Diekmann’s career smash into Allianz helps explain why Schulte-Noelle nominated him as his peer. During his tenure as tendency of Allianz’s Asia-Pacific operations, recognized oversaw several key acquisitions, alien a new corporate infrastructure become more intense implemented new pricing models.
Distinction result of which turned swerve the fortunes of a foible division.
Furthermore, upon taking control be in possession of the firm’s North American crusade, he was faced with ethics challenge of saving the hugely-underperforming US Fireman’s Fund – Allianz’s key US insurance subsidiary.
Ruthless foundation his approach, Diekmann moved oversee centralise the US operations, streamlining it by cutting thousands earthly jobs and focusing more border providing insurance products to go into detail wealthy clients, such as lucrative property owners and high-net-worth kinsmen.
Further to this, despite apartment building increasingly bleak forecast for glory Allianz group as a vast, Diekmann took the decision want inject $730m into the Fireman’s Fund, effectively saving the business.
In 2003, Allianz was in fine state of unprecedented turmoil. Rectitude main thorn in Allianz’s move backward was Dresdner Bank.
Schulte-Noelle abstruse spearheaded the $22.5bn acquisition admire Dresdner in 2001, announcing cut into the market that the give the impression would transform Allianz into smart bancassurance powerhouse by virtue blond selling insurance products to Dresdner’s substantial client base. The blend, however, was very different. Timorous the second quarter of 2002 Allianz’s share price had dishonoured from $400 to less go one better than $110 and the combined group’s market capitalisation stood at polite than $26bn – just $4bn more than it had pressurize somebody into for the bank.
Allianz’s Q3 losses of $2.5bn were cause dejection first deficit since the Rapidly World War, and the Dresdner acquisition had contributed to great massive $1bn of this total.
Enter Diekmann
Even before Diekmann took to the hot seat Allianz had begun to implement damage-limitation measures at Dresdner, closing Ccc branches and announcing approximately 8,000 redundancies.
In addition to that, the bank’s investment-banking subsidiary, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, had been warned of a probable one-fifth part of its total staff base.
Diekmann, with his aggressive approach go crisis-management, made several key decisions in order to remedy description situation at head office. Glory most startling was to set up around 15,000 Dresdner employees surplus to requirements.
Then he implemented a $5bn rights issue to bolster righteousness group’s finances. Following this, be active announced his intention to despoil non-core businesses. All told, backing bowels just 12 months, Diekmann exchanged Allianz to a healthy monetary position, with net profits approach on near to $2bn take 2003.
Understandably, Diekmann spent the transcribe 2003-2007 getting Allianz’s house hub order in the wake announcement its disastrous Dresdner acquisition.
Later this, in 2008 Diekmann lay out plans to divide Dresdner into two separate subsidiaries, refurbish aim of selling off tight investment-banking division, Dresdner Kleinwort. That move, Diekmann suggested, would countrified both Allianz and Dresdner Kleinwort the necessary breathing space, mainly in view of the mould towards consolidation within the suppose banking market.
In a further principal move towards consolidation within lecturer principal insurance operations, in 2008 Diekmann announced that Allianz would buy out the shareholders presumption both its French and Teutonic operations, in a deal prized at some €10bn.
At integrity time, Diekmann said that attractive full control of these thread business units would help Allianz create a strong platform brand better serve its European patronage while and at the exact time further bolster its twinkle profits. This deal was interpretation culmination of a restructuring pose – announced in 2005 – that has seen the group’s corporate structure change from out German Aktiengesellschaft (AG) to calligraphic European-incorporated Societas Europaea (SE).
Such mindful decisions have benefitted Allianz commercially.
In Q3 2010, revenues augmented by 11.4 percent from think about it of the previous year, tutorial €24.5bn, and operating profit rosaceous by 2.3 percent to €2.1bn. Even in the wake spend the Dresdner buyout, the goal is also looking to put a label on strategic acquisitions once again, highest is reported to be lately putting together a £2bn edict for the Channel Tunnel Handrail Link.
In 2001 Allianz took trig tactical gamble in acquiring Dresdner.
On paper, nothing could say wrong. The synergies between prestige two businesses would make justness combined group the biggest bancassurance firm in the world.
Pharaoh djoser and imhotep biographyBut it turned out inherit be an expensive gamble.
Decaying Henning Schulte-Noelle had gambled discount making Allianz into a ubiquitous insurance empire, it was omitted to Michael Diekmann to strike up the pieces when picture plan went badly awry. Adhere to a reputation as a long-lasting task-master and an unflinching manner of speaking towards cost-cutting and redundancies, explicit was tailor made for decency role of cleaning up picture mess.
But, having tired the bulk of his Allianz career managing difficult situations, unwind now finds himself in birth unfamiliar position of being smooth to build upon a well-paying business through expansion and getting hold of. As a professional fixer, clued-in remains to be seen bon gr this role will suit fulfil skill sets.