August 18, 2023

The history of joint-stock companies began in Europe during the Age of Exploration and the Age of Colonization. The reason for their emergence was the need to invest in the development of colonies with the help of private capital and to tie these colonies more strongly to trade with the metropolis. On March 20, 1602 the Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie - VOC) was formed, which is considered to be the first joint-stock company in the world. All VOC members received special documents (shares) certifying their rights to a share in the profits from trade. The company was managed by a board of directors, initially including all the founders of the company (16 merchants in total). When its shares became not just freely tradable, but traded on the stock exchange, VOC became the first public joint-stock company.

For insurance companies, owning stock was an ideal way to raise money, allowing them to separate working capital from risk capital and providing the means to expand into new lines of business and beyond the home market. In the late XVIII century, the first truly modern and global insurance company – Phoenix – was founded by an association of sugar refinery owners in London. Soon after its founding, it began insuring risks in distant lands and became the first insurer to open offices abroad. By the end of XIX century, the company began to move into other forms of insurance and for that reason it acquired many other specialized insurance companies. However, Phoenix itself was later absorbed by another company and became a subsidiary of Sun Alliance in Y1984.