Allianz on Monday acknowledged that its profit targets for this year were out of reach, underlining how the turmoil in global equity markets is likely to weigh further on the portfolios of insurance companies.

If stock market levels do not recover from levels at the end of October - a traumatic month for investors - it would imply about €1bn ($1.3bn) of writedowns this quarter on Allianz's equity holdings, according to Helmut Perlet, chief financial officer.