Chicago, April 9, 2003 -- Despite exhaustive analysis and debate about corporate governance practices and even federal legislation to prevent more corporate misdeeds since the Enron scandal, professional risk managers strongly disagree about what constitutes effective corporate governance, according to a survey by Allianz Global Risks.

In fact, 39 percent of 115 respondents, who are attending the annual Risk and Insurance Management Society Inc. conference in Chicago this week, believe Sarbanes Oxley will significantly reduce corporate malfeasance. But another 33 percent don't think it will. And 28 percent don't know if the legislation will be effective.

"We don't think legislation is a substitute for good risk management programs. We are looking at a company's overall corporate governance program, and more importantly, that it is ingrained in daily corporate behavior," says Brian Gauen, vice-president of underwriting for directors' and officers' liability insurance for Allianz Insurance Company, the U.S. unit of Allianz Global Risks. "Corporate governance practices have a direct impact on the availability and pricing of D&O insurance."

Moreover, there is significant divergence in corporate governance programs beyond Sarbanes Oxley. For example, nearly one in three (27 percent) respondents say their companies do not have a formal whistle-blower process. An additional 3 percent don't know if their companies have such a procedure.

"These findings show the size of the task facing risk managers, who coordinate activities to identify and mitigate an organization's exposure, when they don't even have a formal process for whistle blowing," notes Jack Hampton, executive director of RIMS.

"Given that whistle blowers proved instrumental in uncovering fraud in recent high-profile cases and that such a policy is one of the easiest elements of a corporate governance program to put in place, it's surprising more companies haven't done so," says Gauen. "It raises questions about whether companies have tackled tougher challenges that would focus on prevention rather than uncovering wrongdoing after the fact."

About the survey
The respondents are 115 risk managers from a broad cross-section of industries. Eighty-seven percent are from North America, and 65 percent work at companies with more than $500 million in annual revenues.

About Allianz Global Risks
Allianz Insurance Company is the U.S. unit of Allianz Global Risks. Allianz Global Risks is the international industrial insurance carrier of the Allianz Group. As one of the largest providers of international corporate insurance, Allianz Global Risks provides coverage for the majority of Fortune 500 companies. In cooperation with other Allianz Group companies, such as Allianz Risk Transfer and Allianz Risk Consultants, Allianz Global Risk offers products and services for corporate risk management.

Allianz Group, one of the leading global financial service providers, offers a broad range of products and services to its 60 million clients in over 70 countries. With assets under management amounting to one trillion euros, Allianz is also one of the largest investors in the world. The Allianz Group has a Standard & Poor's rating of AA- and an A.M. Best rating of A+.

Contact:	Lois Padovani Padovani Communications 773-267-8850 lpadovani@ameritech.net
	Sabia Schwarzer Allianz Group 301-942-0825 sschwarz@ffic.com
	Ashraf Sharkawy Allianz Global Risks 49.89.3800-17247 ashraf.sharkawy@allianz.de

04/09/2003