Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty Selects DataFlux Technology for Solvency II Data Governance Initiative

Release date: 3/20/2012

Business insurer sees 15% improvement of measured dataset data quality following implementation.

London, U.K. (March 20, 2012) – DataFlux, a leading provider of data management solutions, today announced that Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS), a global leader in large corporate and specialty insurance, has selected the DataFlux Data Management Platform to underpin compliance with the European Union’s Solvency II Directive. The company is seeking to govern 110 separate data feeds, many of which are relevant for Solvency II risk modeling. Through a data management methodology combined with Six Sigma business process improvement strategies, AGCS is focused on identifying and correcting poor-quality or non-compliant data at the source.

DataFlux and its parent company SAS offer an end-to-end solution that helps insurance companies across Europe tackle Pillars 1, 2 and 3 of Solvency II compliance. To date, 37 of Europe’s leading insurers have selected DataFlux and SAS technology to address the requirements of the Solvency II Directive.

As part of its Solvency II initiative, AGCS formed a data governance team comprised of data management and IT experts that makes recommendations to a steering committee of senior management. The project recommendations are focused on establishing and maintaining data quality business rules to improve the quality of corporate data. This data governance approach is underpinned by DataFlux technology that provides rigorous monitoring of data quality metrics using a dashboard.

Using Six Sigma’s defects per million opportunities (DPMO) metric, the data governance team can now drill down to measure the impact of data quality business rules, which are designed and executed within the DataFlux Data Management Platform. These business rules are applied to each of AGCS’ 32 Solvency II data flows before the data enters the company’s risk capital model. This allows a high degree of accuracy, appropriateness and completeness of the company’s credit and market risk data, business risk data and insurance risk data.

Rolf Neuerburg, Data Governance Manager, AGCS commented: “We now have a process and organizational structure which means we can ask ‘how reliable is the data upon which we base our decisions?’ The answers we receive are granular which allows us to demonstrate the impact data improvement projects will have, making it easier to gain sign off from senior management. We’ve made great progress so far with a 15% overall improvement in data quality. High-quality data and the ability to report on data quality overtime underpins compliance with Solvency II, but we also believe it gives us greater operational efficiency and competitiveness. That’s why our data governance program extends to all our data, not just that deemed applicable to Solvency II.”  

Tony Fisher, president and CEO of DataFlux added: “A trusted view of risk data is essential to managing complex capital adequacy requirements. Throughout our engagements with insurers we stress the need not just for the deployment of technology but also strategic revisions of business processes and a shift towards a culture of data governance. AGCS’ structured approach should be viewed as an example of industry best practice.”

To learn more about how DataFlux and SAS are helping insurers across Europe prepare for Solvency II, visit marketing.dataflux.com/content/solvencyII or www.sas.com/industry/ins/solvency-ii.html.

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About Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty
Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) is Allianz SE's dedicated division for corporate and specialty insurance customers. AGCS provides insurance and risk management consultancy across the whole spectrum of marine, aviation and corporate business, including energy, engineering, financial lines (incl. D&O), liability and property insurance, including international insurance programs.

Worldwide, Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty operates in over 150 countries through the Allianz Group network and through network partners. It employs more than 3,200 people and provides insurance solutions to more than half of the Fortune Global 500 companies, writing a total of €4.8 billion gross premium worldwide annually (2011). Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty AG has a Financial Strength Rating of AA ('Very Strong') from Standard & Poor’s and of A+ ('Superior') from A.M. Best.

About the Solvency II Directive
Solvency II is a fundamental review of the capital adequacy regime for the European insurance industry. It aims to establish a revised set of EU-wide capital requirements and risk management standards that will replace the current solvency requirements. The Solvency II Directive will apply to all insurance and reinsurance firms with gross premium income exceeding €5 million or gross technical provisions in excess of €25 million. The Directive states that the new regime will go live on 01 January 2014 when it replaces existing Solvency regulation.

About DataFlux
DataFlux enables business agility and IT efficiency by providing innovative data management technology and services that transform data into a strategic asset. A wholly owned subsidiary of SAS (www.sas.com), DataFlux helps organisations manage critical aspects of data through unified technologies and expertise that provide the benefits of data quality, data integration and master data management (MDM). To learn more visit www.dataflux.com.

About SAS
SAS is the leader in business analytics software and services, and the largest independent vendor in the business intelligence market. Through innovative solutions, SAS helps customers at more than 50,000 sites improve performance and deliver value by making better decisions faster. Since 1976 SAS has been giving customers around the world THE POWER TO KNOW®.