Allianz Global Investors (AGI), the asset manager of Europe's biggest insurer, Allianz, would consider only small take-overs as it seeks to build the business, AGI's chief executive said on Monday. "We are not looking at larger acquisitions," Joachim Faber told Reuters Insider TV.
-- Allianz Global Investors shuns larger acquisitions
-- Would eye small buys in emerging markets, or distribution
Acquisition size certainly to be below 100 million euro
"We are a reasonably large, well-diversified organisation. We will only, in very exceptional circumstances, look at distribution or single market opportunities."
Last month Allianz's chief executive Michael Diekmann said the insurer was setting aside 1 billion euros ($1.4 billion) of annual revenue for acquisitions and could target general insurers.
But Faber said Allianz had no intention of spending any significant part of the group war chest on asset management acquisitions.
AGI, one of the world's top asset managers with 1.44 trillion euros in assets under management, could look at smaller distribution alliances or pockets of excellence in emerging markets, he said, adding that target prices would certainly be below 100 million euros.
Asked by Insider whether a renewed bout of sovereign debt worries over Greece and Ireland could trigger a break-up of the euro zone, Faber replied: "No, not at all. Why should it?"
Even in an extreme event of an unsuccessful restructuring where sovereign debt holders would be asked to contribute, such as has occurred in Latin America, for example, it would not cause a total pullout of sovereign debt investors, he said.
"It is quite exaggerated at this point in time and the markets are overreacting as usual but it might reprice some sovereign bonds in the euros zone for the longer term," Faber said.
Faber repeated his house's concerns that a renewed round of quantitative easing measures in the United States would add to a wave of liquidity that could spill over into emerging markets or Europe.
"That is a difficult decision and it is on top of an indebtedness that is already reaching quite critical levels."
Allianz last week posted stronger than expected third-quarter earnings, with asset management contributing more than a quarter of the operating profit.
Allianz shares closed up 0.1 percent at 90.10 euros on Monday, lagging a 0.7 percent rise in the Stoxx 600 European insurance sector index.
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