COMPANY·HISTORIES
SIC 6311

Life Insurance

How the companies in this industry began, and the forces that shaped them.

35companies1831–1990founding years35still active0no longer operating
§ 01

The industry over time

Companies foundedEconomyTechnologyEnvironmentHistory
FoundedAssicurazioni Generali SpA
1831
FoundedGrupo Financiero Serfin, S.A.
1864
FoundedDeere & Company
1868
FoundedCatholic Order of Foresters
1883
FoundedB.A.T. Industries PLC
1902
1903
TechnologyThe Wright brothers achieve powered flight.
FoundedLincoln National Corporation
1905
1914
EconomyWorld War I begins; global trade reorders.
FoundedOhio Casualty Corp.
1919
FoundedLegal & General Group plc
1920
FoundedHousehold International, Inc.
1925
FoundedTransamerica Corporation
1928
1929
EconomyThe stock market crashes; the Great Depression spreads worldwide.
FoundedWaddell & Reed, Inc.
1937
1939
EconomyWorld War II begins; wartime production surges.
FoundedHorace Mann Educators Corporation
1945
EconomyThe war ends; a long global expansion begins.
1947
TechnologyThe transistor is invented.
1958
TechnologyThe integrated circuit is demonstrated.
FoundedJackson National Life Insurance Company
1961
1962
EnvironmentSilent Spring launches the modern environmental movement.
FoundedFourth Financial Corporation
1968
FoundedHillenbrand Industries, Inc.
1969
1971
EconomyThe dollar leaves the gold standard; currencies float.
1973
EconomyThe OPEC oil embargo triggers a global shock.
1975
TechnologyThe personal-computer era begins.
1979
EconomyA second oil crisis drives inflation higher worldwide.
FoundedMaxicare Health Plans, Inc.
1980
1981
TechnologyThe IBM PC launches and sets a standard.
FoundedJardine Matheson Holdings Limited
1984
TechnologyApple ships the Macintosh; the GUI era begins.
FoundedThe Loewen Group, Inc.
1985
1987
EconomyBlack Monday: markets fall sharply around the world.
1989
HistoryThe Berlin Wall falls; global markets open up.
1991
TechnologyThe World Wide Web is released to the public.
1993
TechnologyThe Mosaic browser brings the web to everyone.
1995
TechnologyWindows 95 launches; the internet goes mainstream.
1997
EconomyThe Asian financial crisis rattles global markets.
EnvironmentThe Kyoto Protocol sets the first climate targets.
2000
EconomyThe dot-com bubble bursts.
2004
TechnologySocial media and Web 2.0 take hold.
2007
TechnologyThe iPhone launches the smartphone era.
2008
EconomyThe global financial crisis freezes credit worldwide.
2010
TechnologyCloud computing goes mainstream for business.
2015
EnvironmentThe Paris Agreement sets global climate targets.
2020
EconomyThe COVID-19 pandemic upends the global economy.
2022
EconomyInflation spikes; central banks raise rates sharply.
2023
TechnologyGenerative AI reaches mainstream business use.
§ 02

The companies

Assicurazioni Generali SpA →
Active · founded 1831 · Italy
Founded in Trieste in 1831, Assicurazioni Generali SpA is the largest insurance company in Italy and the fifth-largest…
Grupo Financiero Serfin, S.A. →
Active · founded 1864 · Mexico
Grupo Financiero Serfin, S.A.
HSBC Holdings plc →
Active · founded 1865 · United Kingdom
A significant force in international banking, HSBC Holdings plc (also referred to as the HSBC Group) operates in some…
Deere & Company →
Active · founded 1868
One of the five oldest companies in the United States, Deere & Company is the world's largest manufacturer of…
The Royal Bank of Canada →
Active · founded 1869 · Canada
The Royal Bank of Canada is Canada's largest financial institution.
Catholic Order of Foresters →
Active · founded 1883
Catholic Order of Foresters (COF), headquartered in Naperville, Illinois, was founded in 1883 as a fraternal benefit…
SunAmerica Inc. →
Active · founded 1890
SunAmerica Inc., among the nation's largest life insurers, is also a financial services company, offering retirement…
B.A.T. Industries PLC →
Active · founded 1902 · England
B.A.T.
American National Insurance Company →
Active · founded 1905
American National Insurance Company is one of the 100 largest life insurance companies in the United States in terms of…
Lincoln National Corporation →
Active · founded 1905
With origins in life insurance, Lincoln National Corporation has evolved into a financial services company whose…
The Liberty Corporation →
Active · founded 1905
The Liberty Corporation provides several types of insurance services and owns Cosmos Broadcasting, which operates…
Ohio Casualty Corp. →
Active · founded 1919
Ohio Casualty Corp., which celebrated its 75th anniversary in 1994, ranks as one of the United States's top 35 stock…
Business Men's Assurance Company of America →
Active · founded 1920
Insurance and financial services company Business Men's Assurance Company of America (BMA) is a member of the Generali…
Legal & General Group plc →
Active · founded 1920 · United Kingdom
Legal & General Group plc is one of Great Britain's largest insurance concerns.
Washington National Corporation →
Active · founded 1923
Through its two primary operating companies, Washington National Insurance Company and United Presidential Life…
Household International, Inc. →
Active · founded 1925
Household International, Inc.
Farmers Insurance Group of Companies →
Active · founded 1927
Farmers Insurance Group of Companies was a wholly owned subsidiary of B.A.T.
Transamerica Corporation →
Active · founded 1928
Transamerica Corporation is involved, largely through semi-independent subsidiaries, in life insurance, financial…
The Allstate Corporation →
Active · founded 1931
The Allstate Corporation is the holding company for Allstate Insurance Company, the second largest property and…
Waddell & Reed, Inc. →
Active · founded 1937
Waddell & Reed, Inc.
El Corte Inglés Group →
Active · founded 1940 · Spain
El Corte Inglés, S.A.
Horace Mann Educators Corporation →
Active · founded 1945
An insurance holding company, Horace Mann Educators Corporation is a leading insurer serving educators in the United…
Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. →
Active · founded 1959
Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.
Jackson National Life Insurance Company →
Active · founded 1961
Jackson National Life Insurance Company is one of the top life insurance companies in the United States, with 17…
Kemper Corporation →
Active · founded 1967
Kemper Corporation is a holding company consisting of life insurance and real estate investment operations.
Fourth Financial Corporation →
Active · founded 1968
Fourth Financial Corporation is the largest bank holding company in Kansas.
International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation →
Active · founded 1968
Once known primarily as a telecommunications company, the International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation (ITT) has…
Hillenbrand Industries, Inc. →
Active · founded 1969
Hillenbrand Industries, Inc., is the largest manufacturer of caskets and hospital beds in the world, and also supplies…
PaineWebber Group Inc. →
Active · founded 1970
PaineWebber Group Inc.
Maxicare Health Plans, Inc. →
Active · founded 1980
Maxicare Health Plans, Inc.
Pulsar Internacional S.A. →
Active · founded 1981 · Mexico 66265
Pulsar Internacional S.A.
Jardine Matheson Holdings Limited →
Active · founded 1984 · Bermuda
Jardine Matheson is one of the oldest names in East Asia, and Jardine Matheson Holdings Limited is an international…
Sierra Health Services, Inc. →
Active · founded 1984
Overseeing the largest and oldest health maintenance organization (HMO) in Nevada, Sierra Health Services, Inc.
The Loewen Group, Inc. →
Active · founded 1985 · Canada
The Loewen Group, Inc.
Unitrin Inc. →
Active · founded 1990
Although Chicago-based Unitrin has only existed as a stand-alone company since 1990, when it was spun off from…
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