ASR Nederland NV (a.s.r.) history, profile and corporate video
ASR Nederland NV (a.s.r.) is a Dutch insurance company headquartered in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
HISTORY
a.s.r.’s history begins in 1720 with the founding of the N.V. Maatschappij van Assurantie, Discontering en Beleening der Stad Rotterdam, which is the oldest insurance company in Europe.
Hoewer, the current a.s.r. was founded in 2000 as Fortis ASR, as the result of a merger between Fortis AMEV, Fortis’s Dutch insurance operations, and ASR Group (consisting of De Amersfoortse, Stad Rotterdam Verzekeringen and Woudsend Verzekeringen).
Fortis AMEV
Fortis AMEV was founded in 1990, as the result of a merger between a Dutch insurer AMEV and VSB (Verenigde Spaarbank) Group, a Dutch banking group; these were joined that same year by AG Insurance, a Belgian insurance company founded in 1824.
AMEV
AMEV was founded in 1833 as Levensverzekering Maatschappij Utrecht (De Utrecht) by Let op Uw Einde, a funeral expenses fund established in 1847 by D. Stolwerk and W.P. Ingenegeren.
In 1894, Let op Uw Einde was dissolved and its insurance portfolio was transferred to De Utrecht.
In 1982, AMEV acquired Ardanta, which was established in 1965 under the name Algemene Nederlandse Begrafenisverzekering en Verzorgingsmaatschappij (ANBV
ASR Group
The original ASR insurance company was formed in 1997, as the result of a merger between Stad Rotterdam Verzekeringen and ETI Amersfoortse insurance companies. The new name ASR came from the combination of initials of Amerstoortse and Stad Rotterdam.
Stad Rotterdam Verzekeringen
Stad Rotterdam Verzekeringen was established in 1720 as N.V. Maatschappij van Assurantie, Discontering en Beleening der Stad Rotterdam. Traditionally, Stad Rotterdam specialized in insuring ocean-going vessels.
Woudsend Verzekeringen
Woudsend Insurance was established in 1816.
De Amerstoortse
De Amerstoortse was established in 1964 when Het Wit-Blauwe Kruis, a foundation established in 1938 with the aim to promote the construction of Protestant hospitals in the Netherlands, was converted into a public company by the name of N.V. Amersfoortse Algemene Verzekeringsmaatschappij (De Amerstoortse for short).
In 2005, the insurance operations of Stad Rotterdam, AMEV and Woudsend Verzekeringen were integrated into Fortis ASR.
In 2008, the State of the Netherlands became the only shareholder of a.s.r., which until then was a division of Fortis that operated under the name Fortis Verzekeringen Nederland (Fortis Insurance Nederland NV). The State’s participation in a.s.r. is the direct result of the nationalization of the Dutch divisions of Fortis, which collapsed in 2008.
The Belgium corporate insurance business of Fortis was not part of this process and that business was split by the Belgium government to create the insurance company Ageas.
In 2016, ASR Nederland N.V. was listed on Euronext Amsterdam.
OPERATIONS
Through its brands, a.s.r. offers financial products covering non-life, life and income protection insurance, group and individual pensions, occupational disability insurance, health insurance, and travel and leisure, funeral insurance and mortgages. In addition, a.s.r. also invests in developing and operating real estate.
a.s.r.’ BRANDS
- a.s.r. – offers products for P&C (all customer segments), pensions (DB products for the commercial market), individual life (term life and annuity) and banking products (mortgages, savings and investments for retail clients);
- Ditzo – is a provider of life and health insurance;
- Europeesche (Europeesche Verzekeringen) – is a travel insurer;
- Ardanta – is a.s.r.’s funeral insurance brand, which also has the additional funeral brands AXENT and NIVO;
- a.s.r. asset management – is a Dutch asset manager that invests money (for example, for pension funds, insurers and educational institutions);
- Loyalis – sells disability insurance and supplementary pension cover;
- ZZP Pensioen – is an investment account with tax benefits (annuity) for freelancers.
With more than 4,500 employees, ASR Nederland NV (a.s.r.) is considered one of the largest Dutch insurance groups. According to Forbes, it is considered one of the Largest Public Companies in the World.
*Information from Forbes.com, Wikipedia.org, and www.asrnl.com.
**Video published on YouTube by “a.s.r. verzekeringen“.