Farmers Insurance Group

Farmers' future co-founders John C. Tyler and Thomas E. Leavey first met after Tyler moved to California.^[2] Tyler and Leavey had both grown up with rural backgrounds and believed that farmers and ranchers, who had better driving rates than urbanites, deserved lower insurance premiums.^[2][3][4] During the 1920s, farmers across the United States were establishing their own mutual insurance firms and cooperatives in order to have less expensive policies. Tyler, the son of South Dakotan insurance salesman, and Leavey, who had formerly worked for the Federal Farm Loan Bureau and the National Farm Loan Association, recognized that these farmers, ranchers, and other rural drivers were an overlooked market and wished to create their own auto insurance firm

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Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company

Colonial Life's history traces back to 1929 when company founder Edwin Averyt was working as a bond salesman in Birmingham, Alabama and met with a former University of Alabama classmate who was successful at selling individual accident insurance policies.^[5] Averyt later moved to South Carolina to become the regional manager of a firm that sold savings bonds, United Securities Company of Kansas City, Missouri.^[6] In 1937, he earned a $2,000 commission.^[5] He raised an additional $3,000 from investors and founded Mutual Accident Company the same year.^[6] Mutual Accident Company originally sold $1,000 accident policies for $3 annually; policies that were very similar to the policies sold by Averyt's former classmate.^[5]

Mutual Accident Company was converted to a stockholder company in 1939 and renamed Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company.^[6][7] Edwin Averyt served as company chief executive until 1970 when failing health forced his retirement.^[6] His son, Gayle, replaced Averyt as chief executive.^[5]

Colonial Life began offering accident and cancer insurance policies to employees using pre-tax dollars in 1985.^[5] These policies accounted for half of all new policies issued by the company by 1990.^[5] In 1989, Colonial Life created a holding company, Colonial Companies, Inc.^[8] Colonial Life became a wholly owned subsidiary of Colonial Companies.^[8]

In March 1991, Stephen G. Hall was named chief executive of Colonial Life.^[9] Hall had served as company president since 1986.^[9] Gayle Averyt retained chairmanship of the company.^[9] Hall resigned from Colonial Life in February 1992 and was replaced by Frank Smith.^[10]

Unum acquired Colonial Life in 1993 for $571 million.^[11] James Orr, Unum's chief executive, assumed the position of Colonial Life chief executive with the merger.^[11] In 2003, Colonial became the named sponsor of the University of South Carolina's basketball arena.^[12] The company agreed to pay $5.5 million over 12 years for the name rights toColonial Life Arena.^[12] Randall Horn became Colonial Life president and chief executive officer in 2004.^[13] He replaced Jean Duke.^[13] In July 2014, Timothy G. Arnold became the company's president. He assumed the role of chief executive in early 2015.^[14]

In 2014, Colonial Life completed a Habitat for Humanity building project during its 75th anniversary.

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Alleghany Corporation

Alleghany Corporation is an investment holding company originally created by the railroad entrepreneurs Oris and Mantis Van Sweringen as a holding company for their railroad interests. It was incorporated in 1929^[1] and reincorporated in Delaware in 1984.^[2]

After the company's bankruptcy in the Great Depression, control of the company fell into the hands of Robert Ralph Young and Allan Price Kirby. Young used the company as a vehicle for his vendetta against the J.P. Morgan banking interests, who had financed the Van Sweringens and managed to defeat them and the Vanderbilt interests in a 1954 proxy fight for the New York Central Railroad. The failing New York Central was in worse shape than Young had bargained for and he committed suicide shortly after being forced to suspend the dividend in January 1958. After Young's death, his role in NYC management was assumed by his protégé Alfred E. Perlman. Although much had been accomplished to streamline NYC operations, in those tough economic times, mergers with other railroads were seen as the only possible road to financial stability. The most likely suitor became the NYC's former arch-rivalPennsylvania Railroad. During the early 1960s, New York Central negotiated a merger with the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), which was led by Stuart T. Saunders after 1963. Saunders had most recently led the Norfolk and Western Railway through a successful expansion through acquisition and mergers including the Virginian Railway, Nickel Plate Road and Wabash Railway. There was great hope that success would result from the NYC-PRR combination. Penn Central Transportation Company was formed by the merger on February 1, 1968. However, the underlying financial weakness of both former railroads, combined with the fact that the ICCforced the chronically weak New Haven Railroad into the system, doomed the Penn Central and bankruptcy was declared shortly a little over 2 years later, on June 21, 1970. Many of the Penn Central railroad assets ended up in Conrail, formed in 1976. The bankruptcy of the Penn Central railroad mostly ended Alleghany's involvement in the railroad business.

The company's residual railroad investments led to president and CEO John J. Burns serving on the board of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation from 1995 to 2004.

Now Alleghany Corporation focuses on the insurance business (property, casualty, surety and fidelity insurance). Until his death in February 2011, Allan Kirby's son, Fred M. Kirby 2nd, was the chairman of the board and a sometime member of the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans.

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UAP Holdings

The Group's origins in Kenya date back to the 1920s when Provincial Insurance Company of East Africa was incorporated as a subsidiary of Provincial Insurance Company, an insurance group based in London, United Kingdom. The 1994 merger of Union des Assurances De Paris (UAP) of France and Provincial of the UK led to the formation of the UAP Insurance Company of Kenya. In 1996, the firm became part of AXA when AXA acquired UAP in France. AXA divested its shareholding in 2000 and the firm became a wholly owned Kenyan company.^[4]

UAP Holdings expanded to Uganda in 2005, to South Sudan in 2006, to Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2011, and to Tanzania in 2013. All entries other than Tanzania were greenfield investments. The group entered Tanzania through the acquisition of Century Insurance Company Limited and re-branded it to UAP Century Insurance Company Limited.^[5] In total, UAP has sixteen businesses operating in the region.^[6]

On 8 January 2015, Centum and Chris Kirubi announced that they had entered into an agreement with Old Mutual for the sale of their 13.75 percent and 9.58 percent stake in UAP Holdings, respectively, to the London Stock Exchange-listed financial giant in a deal valued at over KES 7 Billion.^[7] Once complete, Old Mutual will hold 23.33 percent of UAP Holdings-issued shares and will act as a strategic investor to the group.^[8] On 27 January 2015, Kenyan print media reported that Old Mutual had acquired the shares in UAP Holdings previously owned by Abraaj, Africinvest, and Swedfund, amounting to 37.33 percent of total shareholding, for US$155.5 million (KSh14.2 billion), thereby raising Old Mutual's ownership in UAP Holdings to 60.66 percent

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Jubilee Insurance Company Limited

Jubilee Insurance was incorporated as a Kenyan financial services provider with headquarters in the coastal city of Mombasa. The company prospered and over the years, opened offices in other East African cities and towns, including Nairobi, Dar-es-Salaam and Kampala. The company also opened branches in the Indian city of Bombay andKarachi, Pakistan. On the Indian Ocean islands of Mauritius and Zanzibar. The company's parent, Jubilee Holdings Limited, was listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) in 1973, where it trades under the symbol JUB. Its sister company in Pakistan is listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange under the symbol NJICL.^[3]

Following a period of political and financial instability in the 1970s and 1980s in Uganda, Jubilee Insurance Uganda re-established presence in 1992. The Ugandan subsidiary is co-owned with the DFCU Group and with the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED). In 2006, Jubilee Holdings Limited became crosslisted on the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE).

In 1998, the company re-established a subsidiary in Tanzania. Jubilee Insurance Tanzania is co-owned with local Tanzanian investors. It was the first privately owned insurance company to be licensed in the country, following the liberalisation of financial institutions ownership. Jubilee Holdings Limited became crosslisted on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE), also in 2006.

According to the Kenyan Insurance Regulatory Authority report released in September 2014, The Jubilee Insurance Company of Kenya was ranked first in market share with 11.9% of the Kenyan market ahead of Britam and CIC Insurance Group Limited, who controlled 11.2% and 9% respectively

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Liberty Kenya Holdings Limited

The group was founded in Kenya in 1964 as the Kenya American Insurance Company Limited as part of the AIG Group of companies. In 1987, the organization changed its name to American Life Insurance Company (Kenya) Limited – ALICO Kenya. CfC Bank holdings acquired ALICO Kenya in 2004 and changed its name to CfC Life Assurance Company Ltd. In 2008, CfC Bank holdings merged with Stanbic bank forming CFC Stanbic Bank Holding which was now a subsidiary of the Standard Bank Group. This Converged CfC Life into a new international & dynamic group with Heritage Insurance.

In 2011, Liberty Holdings Limited became the strategic investor in CfC Life and Heritage with the listing of CfC Insurance Holdings on the Nairobi Securities Exchange through introduction.^[3] This was a form of Demerger from CFC Stanbic Holdings which separated the banking and insurance business of the group.^[4] Existing CFC Stanbic Holdings Shareholders were allocated shares in the newly listed company.^[5] This was the first time a company was span off using the NSE

In 2012, The company changed its name from CFC Insurance Holdings to Liberty Kenya Holdings Limited ^[6] as a step of aligning the group to the Liberty Group corporate brand.

In 2014, Liberty Kenya Holdings made history again by being the first listed firm in Kenya to have a scrip issue.^[7] This was a cash-retention strategy by the firm. The group announced that its life insurance subsidiary, CfC Life Assurance Company was re-branding to Liberty Life Assurance Kenya Limited with effect from October 28, 2014.

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Economy of Kenya

Kenya's economy is market-based with a few state-owned infrastructure enterprises and maintains a liberalised external trade system. The country is generally perceived as Eastern and central Africa's hub for Financial, Communication and Transportation services. Major industries include: agriculture, forestry and fishing, mining and minerals, industrial manufacturing, energy, tourism and financial services. As of 2015 estimates, Kenya had a GDP of $69.977 making it the 72nd largest economy in the world. Per capita GDP was estimated at $1,587.

The government of Kenya is generally investment friendly and has enacted several regulatory reforms to simplify both foreign and local investment, including the creation of an export processing zone. The export processing zone is expected to grow rapidly through input of foreign direct investment. An increasingly significant portion of Kenya's foreign inflows are remittances by non-resident Kenyans who work in the US, Middle East, Europe and Asia.^[7] Compared to its neighbours, Kenya has well-developed social and physical infrastructure.

As of March 2014, economic prospects were positive with above 5% GDP growth expected,^[8] largely because of expansions in telecommunications, transport, construction and a recovery in agriculture. These improvements are supported by a large pool of English-speaking professional workers. There is a high level of computer literacy, especially among the youth.

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Nairobi Securities Exchange

In Kenya, dealing in shares and stocks started in the 1920s when the country was still a British colony.

A stock exchange was first floated in 1922 at the Exchange Bar in the Stanley Hotel in Nairobi.^[2] However, the market was not formal as there did not exist any rules and regulations to govern stock broking activities. Trading took place on a ‘gentleman's agreement.’ Standard commissions were charged with clients being obligated to honour their contractual commitments of making good delivery and settling relevant costs. At that time, stock broking was a sideline business conducted by accountants, auctioneers, estate agents and lawyers who met to exchange prices over a cup of coffee. Because these firms were engaged in other areas of specialisation, the need for association did not arise.^[3]

In 1951, an estate agent named of Francis Drummond established the first professional stock broking firm. He also approached the finance minister of Kenya, Sir Ernest Vasey, and impressed upon him the idea of setting up a stock exchange in East Africa. The two approached London Stock Exchange officials in July 1953 and the London officials accepted to recognise the setting up of the Nairobi Stock Exchange as an overseas stock exchange

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American International Group

American International Group, Inc. – also known as AIG – is an American multinational insurance corporation with more than 88 million customers in 130 countries. AIG companies employ over 64,000 people in 90 countries. The company operates through three businesses: AIG Property Casualty, AIG Life and Retirement and United Guaranty Corporation (UGC). AIG Property Casualty provides insurance products for commercial, institutional and individual customers. AIG Life and Retirement provides life insurance and retirement services in the United States. UGC focuses on mortgage guaranty insurance and mortgage insurance. AIG also focuses on global capital markets operations, direct investment and retained interests.

AIG was a central player in the financial crisis of 2008. It was bailed out by the federal government for $180 billion, and the government took control. The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) of the US government concluded AIG failed primarily because it sold massive amounts of insurance without hedging its investment. Its enormous sales of credit default swaps were made without putting up initial collateral, setting aside capital reserves, or hedging its exposure — a profound failure in corporate governance, particularly its risk-management practices."^[4]

AIG’s corporate headquarters are in New York City, its Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) headquarters are in London, and its Asian headquarters are in Hong Kong. The company serves 98% of the Fortune 500 companies, 96% of Fortune 1000, and 90% of Fortune Global 500, and insures 40% of Forbes 400 Richest Americans. AIG was ranked 40th largest company in the 2014 Fortune 500 list.^[5] According to the 2014 Forbes Global 2000 list, AIG is the 42nd-largest public company in the world.^[6] On March 31, 2015 AIG had a market capitalization of $75.04 billion.^[7]

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