Interesting facts
Short observations about insurance and its history — the things that never grow into an article but are worth knowing.
Reinsurance
On May 10-11, 1861, the Swiss town of Glarus was hit by a huge fire, which destroyed almost 2/3 of the buildings and caused huge damage to local insurers. For most of them this fire became fatal, as the amount of damage exceeded the insurance reserves of insurance companies five times.
History of insurance
The formation of the insurance business in Russia is usually attributed to the mid-19th century, when Russian insurance companies began to be established to insure real estate against fire. Until that time, the need for insurance was met by foreign insurers, which entailed a large outflow of…
Lines of business
A great contribution to the development of the social insurance system in the world was made by German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, who in the 1880s introduced a social protection program in the country. Within a few years, the country adopted a law on sickness insurance, a law on industrial…
Reinsurance
The first evidence of reinsurance contracts dates back to the end of XIV century, when the world's first insurance policy was issued in Genoa. Insurers (individual persons) of that time, in order to protect themselves from great risks, began to transfer part of their risks to other insurers. And…
Market and technology
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…
History of insurance
Benjamin Franklin, one of the most influential figures of the 18th century, was an American politician, diplomat, inventor, scientist, writer and philosopher. He was the only founding father to sign all three of the most important historical documents underlying the formation of the United…
History of insurance
On April 06, 1942 English cruiser "Edinburgh" at the head of a convoy of ships left Murmansk for Reykjavik. On board the cruiser were 93 wooden crates, which stored 465 gold bars with a total weight of 5.5 tons. The total amount of gold bars was about 90 million dollars (in today’s money) and…
Lines of business
With the growing number of bankruptcies in the world, increased shareholder activity in foreign markets and toughening of requirements by various stakeholders to comply with ESG policies, Directors & Officers liability insurance (D&O insurance) is becoming an essential tool. Such insurance…
History of insurance
Barings Bank was founded in 1762 in London by brothers Francis and John Baring, which was initially involved in financing trade deals with the Netherlands. By the beginning of the 19th century, it had become one of the major banks, primarily for financing transactions related to the United…
History of insurance
Lloyd's of London or simply known as Lloyd's is the world’s leading insurance marketplace, where every day more than 50 leading insurance companies, over 380 registered Lloyd’s brokers and a global network of over 4 000 local coverholders operate in and bring business to the Lloyd’s market. Its…