Kathleen Savio

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd is a Swiss insurance company, headquartered in Zürich, and the country's largest insurer.

The company was founded in 1872 as a reinsurance company under the name of "Versicherungs-Verein" and at the request of the "Schweiz" transport insurance company (which was founded in 1869 on the initiative of the "Schweizerischen Kreditanstalt"), a subsidiary of the Schweiz Marine Company.

It was founded by people who were also board members of the "Schweiz" transport insurance company.

The business activity began on 1 May 1873.

In 1875, accident insurance was added.

The company was renamed Transport- und Unfall-Versicherungs-Actiengesellschaft "Zurich".

In 1880 Zurich abandoned the marine business following a significant loss.

Through 1894, it acquired licenses to conduct business in Austria, Prussia, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the rest of Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Poland, Russia, Italy, Luxembourg, and Liechtenstein.

Due to the change in 1894 from transport insurance to accident and liability insurance, it was renamed "Zurich" "Allgemeine Unfall- und Haftpflicht-Versicherungs-Gesellschaft".

Due to legal settlements in the area of workers' compensation, it took a risk and entered the North American market in 1912, starting in the states of New York, Illinois, New Jersey, and Massachusetts in the US.

In 1915, Zurich acquired its first whole company, "Hispania Compañia General de Seguros" of Barcelona in Spain.

Ten years later, in 1922, Zurich founded "Vita Lebensversicherungs-Gesellschaft" as an independent subsidiary, which soon expanded into neighboring countries.

In addition, a branch was established in the United Kingdom (the first foreign insurance company to do so).

One year later, another branch was established in Canada.

In 1925, Zurich became the official insurer of all new Ford vehicles in Great Britain.

The "Zurich Fire Insurance Company of New York" was founded in 1929, the reinsurance company Turegum in 1938 and the "American Guarantee and Liability Company in New York" in 1939.

In 1950, it bought a share in "Companhia de Seguros Metrópole S.A."

of Lisbon.

Five years later, in 1955, «Zürich» Allgemeine Unfall- und Haftpflicht-Versicherungs-Gesellschaft was renamed «Zürich» Versicherungs-Gesellschaft, a name it still holds today.

Between 1955 and 1976 several companies were acquired, including the "Commonwealth General Assurance Corporation" of Sydney, "Iguazù Compañia de Seguros S.A."

from Buenos Aires, "Empire Fire and Marine Insurance Company" from Nebraska, "Fidelity and Deposit Company" from Maryland, "Universal Underwriters" from Kansas City, "Anglo Americana de Seguros Gerais" from São Paulo, "Minerva Group" from Italy, "Centre Reinsurance Holding" from Bermuda, "La Chilena Consolidada", and "Seguros de Vida" from Chile and "Seguros Chapultepec" from Mexico.

On the initiative of "Vita Lebensversicherungs-Gesellschaft", the first Vita Parcours (fitness trails) in Switzerland were created in 1968 and ZIM (Zurich Investment Management) was founded in 1990 as an investment management partner for redemption funds and institutional investors in Switzerland.

As part of a new brand strategy, "Vita" became "Zurich" Life Insurance Company in 1993, operating in the market under the name "Zürich Leben".

While the name "Vita" thus disappeared from the market, it lives on in the "Stiftung Vita Parcours", which was outsourced in 1994.

In 1994, "Zürich" took over the Zurich private bank "Rüd, Blass & Cie."

In 1996, Zurich acquired 80 percent of "Kemper Corporation" and 97 percent of "Kemper Financial Service" and in 1997 acquired a majority interest in New York-based "Scudder, Stevens & Clark".

Subsequently, Kemper was merged with Scudder to form "Scudder Kemper Investments", which was later renamed "Zurich Scudder Investments".

In September 1998, Zurich and the financial division of British American Tobacco merged to form "Zurich Financial Services".

This comprised the Swiss company "Zurich Allied AG", listed on the Swiss Market Index, and the British company "Allied Zurich plc", listed on the FTSE 100 (Dual-listed Company).

the group is the world's 112th largest public company according to Forbes' Global 2000s list, and in 2011, it ranked 94th in Interbrand's top 100 brands.

Zurich is a global insurance company which is organized into three core business segments: General Insurance, Global Life and Farmers.

Zurich employs 55,000 people, with customers in 215 countries and territories.

The company is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange.

it had a shareholders' equity of $34.494 billion.

In 2000, the structure was reorganized under a single holding company under Swiss company law.

All old shares were replaced by new shares in the newly formed "Zurich Financial Services" (ZFS) with a first listing on the SIX Swiss Exchange in Zurich and a second listing in London.

Following the September 11 attacks, on September 24, 2001, Zurich Financial announced it would sell Zurich Scudder, which then had US$370 billion in assets under management, to Deutsche Bank for US$2.5 billion (US$1.2 billion in cash and the rest in assets).

The transaction was closed on April 5, 2002.

In 2002, ZFS focused on insurance-related financial products and services.

Due to refocusing on the insurance business, the private bank was sold again in 2003.