By Ulrike Dauer

 

FRANKFURT--Europe's biggest insurer, Allianz SE (ALV.XE), plans to exit coal investments in the short and medium term, the group's chief investment officer, Andreas Gruber, told German public television ZDF, according to a news summary of an interview to be broadcast Tuesday evening.

"Within the next six months we will sell shares that we hold in mining and energy companies generating more than 30% of their revenues from coal," Mr. Gruber is quoted as saying. Allianz won't sell bond investments in coal but will gradually exit when the bonds mature, Mr. Gruber said.

An Allianz spokesman confirmed Mr. Gruber's remarks. Allianz has 4 billion euros ($4.25 billion) invested in coal, but more than 90% of that is in bonds, the Allianz spokesman said.

Allianz plans to support the climate talks in Paris in December with the move but also send a signal to its sector and capital markets that climate-harming investments won't pay off in the future, Mr. Gruber says.

Allianz plans to double investments in wind energy over the next several years from roughly EUR2 billion currently, where it expects annual returns of between 5% to 6%, Mr. Gruber said. Allianz is Europe's biggest primary insurer by market value and a big investor. It also owns Pacific Investment Management Company LLC, or Pimco, one of the biggest bond fund managers.

 

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

 

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 24, 2015 01:52 ET (06:52 GMT)

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