KALEIDOSCOPE OF INSURANCE HISTORY

Category
Timeline
Alphabet
Random
Search
About
Category
Timeline
Alphabet
Random
Search
About

Global spread of risk

Categories

Markets



One of the premises of insurability is that risks can be spread as widely as possible. The broader risks are shared, the more cost effective it becomes to cover them.

The first insurer to open international agencies was the British company Phoenix Assurance (founded in 1782). Insurers from all over the world have since built a global presence. Up until World War I, cross-border trade and business was relatively easy as there were hardly any restrictions hindering the transfer of capital and goods. The war put an end to this way of doing business.

Still, especially for reinsurance, it was essential to keep the business on a global scale. Also many insurers managed to keep representative offices in world markets. Many of them would target their fellow countrymen in distant markets, but some achieved significant market shares with the respective local population.

Share this item
Categories

Markets



Related items
Going abroad | 1782
African insurance | 1945
Gold standard | 1900
Insurance in the Ottoman Empire | 1854
Marine insurance | 1601
Nationalized reinsurance | 1928
Early US business | 1864