Surety is a people business: The human expertise behind our bonds and guarantees

At Allianz Trade Surety & Guarantee, our foundations include our financial stength, the combination of our global reach and local expertise, and the trust we build with customers to create lasting partnerships. Connecting these pillars is a fourth, equally important element: our people.

Behind every bond and guarantee we issue is more than our financial strength, data or technology. There are people who bring these capabilities together, from assessing risks and interpreting local regulations to building the relationships that help businesses like yours move forward.

In a digital-first world, our technology and data are essential tools helping us understand risks and make more informed decisions. But their value depends on how they’re used in practice.

We draw on trusted data covering 545 million companies worldwide, alongside our proprietary risk analytics, to help assess businesses and understand their financial health. But our data alone doesn’t capture every nuance of a company's circumstances or ambitions. That’s where our human expertise comes into play.

Our more than 360 surety experts across six continents combine our data and insights with their technical knowledge and practical experience. Working closely with customers and partners their role goes beyond simply issuing bonds and guarantees, developing bespoke solutions tailored to each customer’s unique needs. 

Like skilled jungle trackers who recognise the signs and signals others might miss, our surety specialists go further to truly understand our customers and their circumstances. Our data and technology help us work more efficiently, but it’s the people behind it who turn the insights we gather into meaningful support. 

Growing your business across borders brings opportunities but also complexity and risk. Bond wordings, regulations, local practices and guarantee requirements can all vary between markets, and understanding those differences is essential to finding the right surety solution.

At Allianz Trade Surety & Guarantee, we combine a global network spanning more than 120 countries with dedicated local surety teams who understand the intricacies of the markets they serve. This combination enables us to support global ambitions and large-scale projects while responding to specific local requirements.

For our customers, that means access to people who can offer valuable, practical guidance and help answering the most important questions. It also means building relationships with specialists who take the time to truly understand your business.  

Our responsiveness and flexibility are central to this approach. Working closely with our customers and partners means we’re collaborative. We develop solutions together, offering support at every stage of the surety relationship. 

The importance of the relationships we build is reflected in the experiences of our customers and partners. With the dependable financial backing of the Allianz Group and the collaborative approach of our expert teams, we can bring confidence to every customer and partner relationship.

“Our decision to partner with Allianz Trade was driven by the flexibility and responsiveness of their teams, as well as their financial stability and reliability, particularly their AA rating,” says Jean-Marc Oswald, CFO at SAS Développement. 

The same principle applies when working with companies expanding internationally, where navigating unfamiliar markets calls for both our global capabilities and local understanding.

“As a global company expanding into the United States, we appreciate partners who truly understand the complexities of operating across borders,” says Alexander Dam, Head of Surety at Howden US.  

“Allianz Trade Surety & Guarantee stands out because of their unique combination of global reach and deep local expertise.”

Together, these perspectives highlight what matters most in our surety relationships. Our global strength and local expertise are essential, but their value is realised through the people clients work with day-to-day.

Behind every relationship with customers and partners is a wider network of specialists working together. Allianz Trade Surety & Guarantee brings together commercial underwriters, risk experts, sector analysts, legal specialists, bonds wording experts, and dedicated service teams.

Each adds a different perspective, from assessing financial strength and managing risk to understanding contractual requirements and supporting customers through the bond issuing process. We share knowledge and collaborate across our specialist teams, allowing us to make the most of that collective expertise and use it to address the specific needs of a broader range of customers. 

This collaborative approach also extends across the wider organisation. For example, our Surety teams collaborate frequently with Energy and Construction teams at Allianz Commercial, sharing intelligence to support better-informed underwriting decisions.

With more than 100 years of combined surety experience, our expertise is built on the strength of our relationships and knowledge we’ve gathered across markets and sectors. And it continues to develop as our specialist teams learn from one another and respond to the evolving needs of our customers. “This approach is what makes Allianz Trade a trusted and distinctive partner in the market,” says Paolo Cartisano, MMEA Surety Regional Head of Risk Underwriting at Allianz Trade in Italy.  

“By combining strong local expertise, sound risk assessment, and a solution-oriented mindset, we are able to support our clients’ growth while maintaining the highest standards of risk management.” 

Ultimately, surety is a relationship business. Understanding our customers’ ambitions, recognising the challenges they face and working alongside them to find the best way forward are as important as the bond or guarantee itself. “In surety, the best decisions are built on listening, experience and deep market knowledge,” adds Cartisano. 

"Our job is not always to say yes or no. Our job is to understand risk better than anyone else and find the right way to support our clients safely."

At Allianz Trade Surety & Guarantees, our financial strength provides the foundation, our global reach connects businesses with expertise across markets, and our trusted data and insights build confidence in our relationships with customers and partners.

But it’s our people who bring these strengths together, combining specialist knowledge and sound human judgement with a collaborative, personal approach. As our technology evolves, we’ll continue to strengthen our digital capabilities. Ultimately, though, it’s our people and their expertise that make the greatest difference to our customers and partners.