Jürgen A. Junker, CEO of W&W AG

What does the W&W Group stand for?

The W&W Group is one of the most efficient and experienced providers of financial planning solutions in Germany: protection against risks, home ownership and asset accumulation are our core business. At the same time, we focus all our activities on the needs of our customers. On a broad basis, we can offer every customer the solution that really suits them. 6 million customers place their trust in the W&W Group. This is a huge responsibility that we gladly take on day after day. Our daily goal is to give our best for our customers every day in an increasingly complex financial market – and to do so with the highest-quality products, advice and service.

What does the W&W Group offer its customers?

In a nutshell: we develop comprehensive and, above all, tailor-made solutions for our customers' individual financial planning needs. To this end, we combine the Housing, Insurance and Brandpool divisions as equally strong pillars. In the Housing division, this primarily includes home loans and savings and construction financing, supplemented by the activities of our real estate brokers and our house and urban construction activities. In the Insurance division, we offer a wide range of personal and property/casualty insurance products for private and corporate customers. Our digital customer and service offerings are consolidated within the W&W Customer Portal. But above all, we stand by our customers. As a financial planning group, we are needed for particularly important events in our customers lives, for example: when they build a house, when they retire, if they have an accident, or if disaster strikes. Then they must be able to rely on us. That is our job and our mission.

Who owns the W&W Group?

Wüstenrot & Württembergische AG is a listed company with a strong non-profit background. The majority of shares are in the hands of our non-profit anchor shareholder, who is very important to us. The Wüstenrot Foundation holds its indirect 67-per-cent stake in W&W AG through two holding companies of its own. We thus have a stable anchor investor who is interested in long-term performance and who supports our long-term goals and our work. The free float of the W&W shares listed on the S-DAX is around 23 per cent. With a stable dividend yield of three to four per cent, the W&W share has been an attractive investment for our shareholders for years.

What is the W&W Group's position on sustainability?

Sustainability is not a standalone project for us, but an integral part of our responsibility as the W&W Group. Responsible conduct and social commitment have a long tradition in the W&W Group and are an integral part of our corporate culture. Even our non-profit majority shareholder, the Wüstenrot Foundation, stands for this. Sustainability considerations are embedded in the W&W Group’s strategy and are an integral part of our long-term sustainable business model. Our approach is guided by ESG criteria. Within the Environmental dimension, we place particular emphasis on climate protection and resource conservation. To achieve this, we focus on renewable energy, electricity from renewable sources, the transition to sustainable mobility, and further initiatives relating to the construction and fit-out of our buildings. We also pursue the reduction of financed emissions within our investment portfolios, primarily in the areas of equities and corporate bonds. Since its introduction in 2022, the relative carbon footprint (CO₂e) of these asset classes has already been reduced by more than 50%. With our financing and insurance offers, we also enable our customers to take concrete ecological action, for example by upgrading the energy efficiency of a property or insuring a solar system. By becoming a signatory to the Principles for Sustainable Insurance (PSI) and the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) in 2020, the W&W Group underscored its commitment to considering sustainability aspects in both its insurance and investment activities. In the Social dimension, we promote flexible working arrangements and, as a signatory to the Diversity Charter, are committed to promoting diversity and an inclusive workplace culture. In addition, the W&W Group aims to remain a strong supporter of the region and to continue its engagement in social and cultural initiatives. In the area of Governance, sustainability is embedded in our organisational structure and risk management framework. We also take sustainability considerations into account when selecting suppliers as part of our human rights due diligence processes.

How is the W&W Group prepared for the digital transformation?

We see digitalisation as an opportunity for our industry and took up this major challenge at a very early stage. In doing so, we are guided by what digitalisation can contribute to making our work even better for our customers. On the one hand, we are making major, long-term investments in this area and are developing our own digital initiatives, which are bundled in the new W&W brandpool division and are already generating significant business today. On the other hand, the digital transformation is accelerating the further development of existing brands and business models. A good example is the Wüstenrot brand, which, beyond the traditional home loan and savings business, addresses all questions relating to the topic of "housing" with the online residential platform "Wüstenrot Wohnwelt". We are also using digitalisation to increase efficiency and productivity. Automation and standardisation – where processes can be simplified and accelerated for customers. Another investment focus is the consistent qualification of our employees in preparation for the digital age.