Allianz Global Investors U.S., LLC
Allianz Global Investors U.S. is an investment advisory firm headquartered in New York City. It caters to mostly institutional clients, though it also serves some high-net-worth individuals. The firm has billions in assets under management (AUM) and a large staff of financial advisors.
In addition to its main New York office, Allianz operates branches across the U.S. in San Diego and San Francisco. The firm also has locations throughout Europe and Asia, including in China, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Japan and more.
Allianz Global Investors U.S. Background
Allianz Global Investors can trace its history all the way back to 1890 when it was founded under the name Allianz Insurance. The firm is a wholly owned subsidiary of Allianz Global Investors U.S. Holdings, LLC, a holding company. Allianz Global Investors U.S. Holdings is, in turn, wholly owned by Allianz SE, a global financial institution.
The firm’s leadership team is headlined by CEO Tobias C. Pross, who has been with the firm for over 20 years. Allianz employs many advisors, around 50 of whom have earned the chartered financial analyst (CFA) certification.
Allianz Global Investors U.S. Client Types and Minimum Account Sizes
Allianz Global works almost entirely with institutions like wrap-fee programs, separately managed accounts (SMAs), investment companies, businesses, insurance companies, pooled investment vehicles, government entities, charitable organizations and pension plans. The firm has a handful of high-net-worth individual clients as well.
Allianz Global Investors offers access to a wide range of investment strategies. These strategies have varying minimum investment amounts that range as low as $20 million and as high as $500 million. The firm maintains its right to accept clients with lower account values at its discretion.
Services Offered by Allianz Global Investors U.S.
Allianz Global Investors primarily provides discretionary and non-discretionary investment management to its clients. The firm advises some private funds and registered investment companies, and for its separate account clients, it has a whole host of different investment strategies available to clients.
- Discretionary investment management services
- Separate account strategies
- Large-cap equities
- Mid-cap equities
- Small-cap equities
- Micro-cap equities
- Commodities
- U.S. balanced
- Various Asian and European market strategies
- Emerging markets
- Global sustainability
- International growth equities
- Multi-asset strategies
- U.S. convertibles
- U.S. high-yield bonds
- U.S. short duration high income
- International growth
- Global fixed-income
- Infrastructure debt/equity
- Global real estate
- U.S. equity hedged
- Private funds
- Registered investment funds
- Managed accounts and wrap fee programs
- Separate account strategies
- Non-discretionary investment management advice
Allianz Global Investors U.S. Investment Philosophy
As we’ve mentioned, Allianz Global maintains many different investment strategies, and each of these strategies naturally involves different methods of analysis and asset allocation. Generally speaking, though, the firm generally applies fundamental analysis to find securities with potential for growth or those that are currently being undervalued.
The firm’s advisors use investment research from external sources, as well as from an in-house research team, in order to make well-informed investment decisions for its client base. With each strategy, advisors seek to cultivate portfolios that diversify effectively. This can be done either within one asset class or across multiple classes.
Fees Under Allianz Global Investors U.S.
Investment management fees at Allianz Global Investors are generally calculated as a percentage of your AUM. Each fee schedule will differ depending on the investment strategy that's selected and the overall value of your assets invested within that strategy. Under certain circumstances, fee schedules can also be negotiable.
Fees are normally charged to client accounts on a quarterly basis, in arrears. Your rate will be based on the average ending market value as of the last business day of each month throughout the previous quarter. You can choose to either receive a bill for these fees or have them deducted directly from your account’s balance.
Every investment strategy that’s available through Allianz comes with a separate fee schedule. Therefore, annual rates can range from 0.12% to 1.50% depending on your strategy and average ending market value for the quarter. Check out the firm’s Form ADV for a more in-depth review of its various fees.
What to Watch Out For
Allianz Global Investors, U.S. has three disclosures listed on its Form ADV. Two of these are related to the firm and one to an affiliate.
According to the firm’s Form ADV, it "may receive additional compensation in connection with management and other services performed for portfolio companies of the private funds." The firm goes on to state that this "may present a conflict of interest and may give the firm’s supervised persons and [Allianz Global Investors U.S.] an incentive to recommend investments based on the compensation received rather than the private funds’ needs."
While clients should know about the potential conflict of interest above, the fee-based firm is still bound by fiduciary duty. As a result, the firm and its advisors are required by law to always act in the best interests of clients.
Opening an Account With Allianz Global Investors U.S.
There are a number of different ways to become a client of Allianz Global Investors U.S. You can fill out the inquiry form on the firm’s website with your name, email address, phone number and brief message. You can find phone numbers for each of the firm's branches online.
All information is accurate as of the writing of this article.
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