Sona Stadtelmeyer-Petru | Global Head of Sustainable Investing, Allianz Investment Management

I started my career in financing & investments but had a bit of an exotic background as I studied politics, economics & law, as well as digital technology management. Equipped with the eagerness to learn finance on the job, I always tried to bring a different perspective to the table and push the boundaries of what has been done so far. After taking over a role in the global team to integrate ESG (environmental, social & governance aspects) into investments at Allianz, together with a few colleagues, we started thinking about how could we scale positive real-world impact in the portfolio. This thinking led us to intentionality and impact measurement, which are the core pillars of impact investing. Around the same time, I had the opportunity to build up and strengthen my knowledge in this field by being seconded to the World Economic Forum and working with very inspiring colleagues and household names in the impact investing space. After that experience, I was hooked and returned to Allianz with the firm intention to establish impact investing as one of our investment strategies. I was lucky to find colleagues throughout our organization who shared the passion and helped to bring this “bold” idea to life  - and on the books, as we say.

IS THERE ONE THEME WITHIN THE SDGS THAT YOU SPECIFICALLY IDENTIFY OR SYMPATHIZE WITH? 

I see strong interdependencies between the goals, so it is not easy to pick one theme. But if I have to pick one it would be quality education. I was 11 years old when I moved from the Czech Republic to Germany with my family. I did not speak any German and joined a “transition” class for foreign students in a school nearby. After three months my teacher approached my parents and proposed to put me on the educational track for Abitur, the German A-levels. She offered to help in the process as due to my arrival in the second half of the school year, I have missed all the regular applications and tests for those schools. I am grateful to her as she went beyond her duties as my school teacher and helped to put me on a path that opened a lot of doors for me in a country, I was just settling in with limited knowledge of the language. This experience showed me that teachers can have a long-lasting impact on the life of their students and that education, in any form, provides you with the invincible power of choice.

WHAT DIFFERENTIATES IMPACT INVESTING FROM TRADITIONAL INVESTING, IN YOUR OWN WORDS?

Impact Investing combines a thorough process of commercial due diligence with an additional layer of impact measurement and management. In this sense the investments selected for impact investing are high-quality investments that convinced the investor in all aspects - risk, return and real-world impact. I personally see impact investing as best-in-class investing and hope that misconceptions around it can soon be cleared out to enable more flows into the space.

WHAT MOTIVATES YOU IN WHAT YOU ARE DOING ON A DAY-TO-DAY BASIS?

I strongly believe that investors can and should play a role in creating and enabling positive real-world impact through their investments.  If you, like I, believe that each of us can contribute by recycling, reducing meat consumption, or driving electric vehicles – just imagine how much impact you can generate with a multi-billion Euro Portfolio. I am motivated by working in accordance with my values, with great colleagues, and by enabling concrete sustainable outcomes.

At Allianz Investment Management SE (AIM) we build the bridge between insurance clients and financial markets. We invest the insurance premiums from Allianz’ clients worldwide (ca. 750bn EUR Assets Under Management), covering Property & Casualty as well as Life & Health Portfolios.