Stefanie H.

From an internship to owning an external financial product

I started at Allianz SE with an internship limited to five months. Later the internship was extended and I was offered a full-time contract. During the first months I was still supporting my colleagues with several products before I became responsible for an internal financial report. As I started being more familiar with the topics and processes, I also took over larger products and I'm now responsible for the quarterly Analyst's presentation. When I joined, I held a Bachelor's degree from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) in Business Administration and after one year at Allianz, I began with my Master's studies. The program is an Executive Master of Insurance at LMU which is fully supported by Allianz and especially my department.

I'm in charge of the quarterly analyst's presentation for our CFO

Financial Reporting is the financial and non-financial publishing unit of the Allianz Group. We report timely and relevant financial information to executive management, the capital markets, investors, regulators and other stakeholders and are also responsible for the production of the Non-financial Report and the Sustainability Report. In addition, the team is the contact for requests regarding the creation and shaping of presentations for the management and ad-hoc financial deliveries. I'm responsible for the Analyst's presentation which is published on the Allianz website on a quarterly basis. This presentation is the document that the CFO presents to the journalists and analysts on the day of the publication.

Working with several departments on a common goal

Every quarterly closing the colleagues from various departments are focused on developing an insightful storyline about the Allianz Group's figures for the public. My task is to combine the different opinions and insights into one financial product. The Analyst's presentation is the product used by the CFO to explain the current financial position of Allianz to journalists and analysts, after that it is published on the global website. Many alignments and quality assurance loops are necessary to ensure a product of high quality and stability. The divisions involved include Accounting, Controlling and Actuarial, Risk, Corporate Finance, Investor Relations and the CFO Office. All these stakeholders are collaborating to achieve the common goal of an excellent financial reporting.

Stay focused and provide new ideas at the same time

For external disclosures, every character of the product has to be correct. It is crucial to find a balance between ensuring an outstanding quality and developing new ideas to enhance the existing processes. Because of the nature of my tasks, I learned to keep an eye on every detail and to check deliveries many times before finalizing them. As all of my team members are used to work with that mindset, I started to pick up that accuracy as well. Overall the dialogue with more experienced colleagues is of course always helpful. They can give you insights into the technicalities, systems and also the organizational structure.

Climbing mount Kilimanjaro