By Ulrike Dauer

FRANKFURT--Germany's Allianz SE (ALV.XE) on Tuesday announced three-year targets aimed at accelerating earnings growth and profitability, strengthen resilience and creating scale in important markets.

"The world around us is changing rapidly and financial services along with it," said Chief Executive Oliver Bäte, in his first broader investor presentation since he succeeded Michael Diekmann in May at the helm of Europe's biggest insurer by market value. Mr. Bäte and other group executives were presenting at Allianz's Capital Markets Day.

Mr. Bäte said Allianz will target an average 5% earnings-per-share growth annually in the three years 2016 through 2018. By 2018, the group wants to have a return on equity of 13%. That figure is adjusted to exclude unrealized capital gains and losses on bonds and other items.

To reach its growth target, Allianz has set a number of individual targets. It is seeking 1 billion euros ($1.06 billion) in recurring, annual productivity gains by 2018, in part by implementing digital processes globally. Those gains will be reinvested in technology, human resources and growth.

It also plans to free up capital by reducing the group's sensitivity to interest rate swings, by creating more sizable units, shedding non-performers and making more efficient use of capital available.

Allianz is Europe's biggest primary insurer with property/casualty and life/health insurance businesses and asset management. It also owns Pacific Investment Management Company LLC, or Pimco, one of the biggest bond fund managers.

Pimco is confident of returning to growth in 2016, the asset manager's CEO Douglas Hodge told investors. Pimco swung back to net asset inflows of EUR400 million in October, after 28 months of outflows. Pimco had suffered from substantial asset outflows and a management reshuffle following the departure of co-founder Bill Gross.

Allianz confirmed its dividend policy of a 50% payout of net profit.

Earlier this month, the company said it was on track to reach the upper end of the EUR10 billion to EUR10.8 billion target range for operating profit.

-Write to Ulrike Dauer at ulrike.dauer@wsj.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 24, 2015 11:31 ET (16:31 GMT)