Worldwide GWP for 1998 (£000s):
Worldwide GWP for 1998 (£000s):
£11,062,000 (1997: £10,676,660)
Chief executive:
Bob Mendelsohn
Biography:
Bob Mendelsohn was appointed group chief executive and director of Royal & SunAlliance Insurance Group plc on December 3 1997 and serves as chairman of Royal and SunAlliance USA Inc, the US holding company, and as chairman or director of many of the Group's worldwide insurance companies. He joined the company in January 1994 as chief executive officer and president of Royal Insurance in the US.
The mid-1996 merger of Royal Insurance and SunAlliance created one of the largest international insurers in the world. Based in London, it has assets of £60bn (US$100bn). Currently, over 40,000 staff in more than 55 countries provide an impressive range of services to business and individual customers in over 130 countries.
Mr Mendelsohn came to the company after a 20 year career with W, R. Berkley Corporation, a property and casualty insurance group operating throughout the United States, where he was president and chief operating officer. Before joining W R Berkley, he was an attorney with Willkie Farr & Gallagher in New York City.
Active in a variety of industry and civic organisations, Mr Mendolsohn is currently chairman of the board of the American Insurance Association and chairman of the Council of Insurance Company Executives.
Mr Mendelsohn is an honours graduate of Georgetown University where he majored in English Literature and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, the US Academic honours society. He read law at Harvard University and served as an officer in the US Army Reserve for eight years. He is married and has two children, a daughter and a son.
Year company established:
1996
Address, telephone and fax number of European head office:
Leadenhall Court
1 Leadenhall Street
EC3V 1PP
United Kingdom
Tel: + +44 20 7588 2345
Fax: + +44 20 7220 3825
Brief Company history:
Royal and SunAlliance was formed in 1996 but in practice the group dates back to 1710. In effect, it comprises three companies:
The Sun (founded in 1710), which is now the world's oldest insurance company still transacting business in its own name;
The Alliance (founded in 1824)
The Royal (founded in 1845).
Yet the Group is also the product of a continuous process of amalgamation which has included the Westminster Fire Office (founded in 1717); the London (founded in 1720); the Phoenix (founded in 1782), the County, Sea, Beacon, Liverpool Fire & Life, Globe, Law Fire, Lancashire, Household and General and many others.
More recently, in 1959, the Sun and the Alliance (founded in 1824) were merged, forming the Sun Alliance Group, while in 1961, the Royal merged with the London and Lancashire Fire. Alliance went on to merge with the London in 1965 and the Phoenix in 1984. The final link in this complicated chain was forged in July 1996, when Royal & SunAlliance was born from the merger of Royal Insurance with Sun Alliance.
1999 brought a number of structural changes intended to refocus the group on its core strengths. Sell-offs took place in the company's direct writing operations in Germany and France, its general insurance businesses in Cyprus, Barbados and Zimbabwe, and its life business in the USA. At the same time the company disposed of its stake in Codan Bank. On the other hand, the company made strategic acquisitions in Orion Capital (US speciality insurance), Trygg-Hansa (mainly Swedish) and Tyndall (Australia).
Worldwide net written premium for 1998 (£000s):
£9,723,000
Worldwide net written premium for 1997 (£000s):
£9,225,570
