AG Insurance

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AG Insurance is a Belgian insurance company for life and non-life insurance (car, fire, accident, hospital, liability, etc.) as well as for supplementary pensions. It has been active in the Belgian insurance market since 1824. Customers are both private individuals and self-employed, SMEs and large companies. AG Insurance products are sold exclusively through its distribution partners (insurance brokers, Fintro agents and branches of BNP Paribas Fortis). Some large companies receive direct support in the area of group insurance .

At the end of 2014, the group managed financial assets worth more than EUR 60 billion. Its solvency margin was slightly more than double the capital required by the regulatory authorities.

The company has 3.5 million private customers and 200,000 business customers.

AG Insurance is part of the international insurance group Ageas .

history

1824: AG Leven

In September 1823, Wilhelm I approved the establishment of a Dutch life insurance company based in Amsterdam under the name De Nederlandsche Algemene Levens-Verzekering Compagnie.

The idea of ​​founding a life insurance company appealed to two members of the Brussels Chamber of Commerce: its deputy president François Rittweger and the banker Jacques Coghen.

The project was approved by the King on June 12 and was named Compagnie d'Assurances Générales sur la Vie, les Fonds Dotaux et les Survivances (AG Vie). Coghen himself took over the management as "agent général" ( general agent ). The capital was set at 600,000 guilders , divided into 300 shares. At the end of February 1825, AG Vie opened its offices after its five employees had sworn an oath of loyalty to the members of the board of directors.

1830: Incendie AG

In April 1830 the board of directors of AG Vie decided to found the Compagnie d'Assurances Générales contre les Risques d'Incendie (AG Incendie). In September 1830, the general agent Jacques Coghen was appointed general manager for finances of the transitional government. In July 1831 Léopold Ier transferred. the finance department when he formed his first government.

1909: IPO

After expanding the company's activities to related industries such as B. Accident insurance and mortgage business, AG Vie's turnover rose from 2.4 million Belgian francs at the end of 1889 to BFR 20 million in 1912. The number of employees rose from 12 in 1890 to 140 in 1924.

AG Vie has been listed on the stock exchange since 1909.

From 1919 onwards, a new line of business made a major contribution to the increase in sales, namely group insurance in the area of ​​old-age provision, which was specifically aimed at employees. AG Vie developed this activity into one of its specialties and set up a separate "Pension Provision" department for this purpose.

1969: Groupe AG founded

In 1969 the insurance company was transformed into a holding company that controlled several specialized companies, which allowed better use of the available financial and human resources.

In May 1971 the Dutch company Nationale-Nederlanden made a hostile public bid to buy shares in the Antwerp company Securitas. Under the management of Maurice Frère, Groupe AG successfully submitted a public counter bid for Securitas on May 21. At the time, Securitas had branches in the Netherlands, a portfolio of 400,000 policies and annual income of BFR 900 million and was specialized in IARD (fire, accident and various risk insurance); the company was thus an attractive acquisition for Groupe AG, which until then had only held insufficient shares of the Flemish market .

Within two years - from 1975 to 1977 - the number of companies active in Belgium fell from 540 to 348. Groupe AG played a major role in this rationalization movement and in 1973 took over the Belgian branch of the Swiss life insurance company Le Genevoise. In the following year, the group took over a majority stake in the insurance company Le Recours Belge and its branches Athéna et Démocratique Vie (80 employees and 3,500 representatives), which further strengthened its position in the field of fire, accident and various other risk insurances. In 1976 Groupe AG also bought back La Médicale, but in 1977 it closed a completely different deal with the repurchase of the PR-Phénix-1821 group, a holding company that at the time controlled seven insurance companies and a real estate company. This gave the company 750,000 new customers. As a result of these acquisitions, the number of employees at Groupe AG increased to 3,414.

1990: Groupe Fortis is founded

In 1990 Groupe AG merged with the Dutch company AMEV / VSB in 1990, which in turn emerged from the merger of Bank VSB with the insurer AMEV. This first cross-border merger in the financial world created Groupe Fortis. This dual nationality persisted until 2012.

In 1999 the AG 1824 celebrated its 175th anniversary and changed its name to Fortis AG.

2009: Creation of AG Insurance

In 2006, the merger of Fortis AG and FB Assurances, the insurance activities of Fortis Bank, resulted in Fortis Insurance Belgium.

After the collapse and dissolution of the group at the end of 2008, Fortis became an international insurance group with a focus on Europe and Asia. He has a substantial presence in Belgium through Fortis Insurance Belgium. The latter changed its name to AG Insurance in 2009.

Today Ageas is the majority shareholder of AG Insurance with 75% of the shares. The remaining 25% are held by BNP Paribas Fortis.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Solvency I ( Memento from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ G. Kurgan Notitie 'FL Rittweger', in G. Kurgan, p Jaumain, V. Montensus, Dictionnaire des saints de Belgique , Leuven, 1996, p.528.
  3. ^ D'AG à Fortis: 175 ans d'assurance en Belgique , Anvers, Mercatorfonds, 1999, p.15.
  4. ^ E. Cogen, Jacques André comte Coghen. Ses origines, sa vie, ses activités et sa descendance , Gent, 1998, p.152
  5. ↑ Répertoire des décisions du Comité des Assureurs Belges , 2nd edition, période du 3 octobre 1863 au 8 novembre 1910, Bruxelles, 1910
  6. ^ La Compagnie d'Assurances Générales sur la Vie, 1919-1919 , Paris, 1920
  7. ↑ Securitas: cent cinquantième anniversaire, 1819-1969 , Antwerp, 1969

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