Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A. or simply Generali Group is an Italian insurance company, the largest in Italy and third in the world. It has its headquarters in Trieste. In 2010, Assicurazioni Generali Group was the second largest insurance group in the world by revenue after AXA. Under the name of Imperial Regia Privilegiata Compagnia di Assicurazioni Generali Austro-Italiche, the company was founded on December 26, 1831. At the time, Trieste was the most important sea port of the Austrian Empire. The company grew in importance, becoming one of the largest insurance operators both in Italy and in Central Europe., the company ranks 57th on the Fortune Global 500list of companies and 43rd on MITs worldwide "Smartest Companies" ranking in 2015. Generali’s major competitors at international level are AXA, Allianz and Zurich. Besides them, there are companies competing at local and regional level in various countries and markets.
Operations
Today Generali operates primarily in Europe, Middle East and East Asia, with large market shares in Italy, Poland, Hungary, Germany, France, Austria, Slovenia, The Netherlands, Croatia, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, Romania, Israel, Japan, China and Bosnia and Herzegovina, with secondary operations in Latin America. Generali's United States operations are concentrated in financial products management, a result of the group's acquisition of Business Men's Assurance Company of America in 1990 and travel insurance products as part of the Europ Assistance Group. In 2002, Generali sold BMA's life insurance arm to the Royal Bank of Canada. In 2013, Generali sold its US reinsurance arm to Scor. On Jerusalem's Jaffa Road, the Generali Building, built by the company in 1935, is still known by that name although the company operated its Jerusalem branch in the building only from 1935 to 1946. The Generali Building is still owned by the Italian insurance firm through its local representative, the Migdal Insurance Company. The building currently houses various government offices, including the Jerusalem District Administration, the Ministry of Interior, the Department of Immigration and Population Registry, and the Internal Auditing Office. It is a famous Jerusalem landmark, due to the large and well-preserved stone statue of a winged lion on its roof; this is the Lion of Saint Mark, patron saint of Venice, and the symbol of the Generali insurance company which appears on all of its branches worldwide since 1848. In India the company is represented by Future Generali, a joint venture of Future group and Assicurazioni Generali. It provides both life and property/casualty insurance. The Non-Life business is known as Future Generali India Insurance Company Limited.. The Life business is known as Future Generali India Life Insurance Company Limited. Main Subsidiaries of the group includes, in Italy: Genertellife, Alleanza Assicurazioni, Generali Italia and Banca Generali. In France: Europ Assistance
Eastern Europe subsidiaries
In 2006, Generali bought the controlling stake of Delta Osiguranje, a Serbian insurer, from Delta Holding. In 2014, the group bought the remaining stake from the minority shareholders. The subsidiary was renamed to Generali Osiguranje Srbija. Generali Group also had subsidiaries in Croatia and Montenegro, also known as Generali Osiguranje.
Bank ownership
Assicurazioni Generali was an active owner of Italian banks, such as Banca Intesa and Banca Nazionale del Lavoro as minority owner. Both banks are no longer held by Generali Group. Banca Generali is the subsidiary of Assicurazioni Generali.
Shareholder structure
As of June 2016, Assicurazioni Generali's largest shareholders were:
Franz Kafka worked for nearly nine months at the Assicurazioni Generali office in Prague.
Sponsor
Generali is the sponsor of France National Volleyball Team. Generali sponsor of the French Federation of Volleyball for 19 years, launched the Responsible Sports Charter in 2010, coherently with the Group guidelines, to actively promote the culture of sustainability in the sporting arena.
Controversy
After nearly 10 years of struggling to get a big Italian insurance company to pay claims on life insurance policies sold to victims of the Holocaust, the lawyers for most of the victims are giving up the fight. Sidney Zabludoff, a Holocaust insurance expert, estimates that Generali had coverage on about 110,000 Jews at the time, and he estimates this be worth $4.5 billion today. In court papers, Generali says it has paid $135 million on about 5,200 claims.
In popular media
Blood Money - Law & Order Episode is based on Generali subsidiaries selling life insurance to poor Jews in WW2 Europe and then not paying out in case of death. The motive in the murder of a retired insurance salesman appears to be a series of policies he sold to Jews in Poland during the Holocaust.
