PRESS RELEASE
MAPFRE, FROM MUTUAL FARMERS INSURANCE COMPANY TO
GLOBAL INTERNATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY
Founded on May 16, 1933, it celebrates 80 years
MAPFRE, an insurance company that celebrates 80 years in business this week, has
gone from being a mutual insurance company created by a group of farm owners to a
global multinational company. Present in 46 countries, with more than 35,000 employees
and 100,000 direct collaborators, it has a turnover of over 25,000 million Euros a year,
more than 4 billion pesetas, the currency with which it signed its first policy in May 1933.
The anniversary of its creation comes in a context of economic crisis with many parallels
to the period in which it began, since when it started, in May of 1933, the Great
Depression hit the markets and the royal economy.
This setting, like the present, influenced but did not prevent the development of
MAPFRE, which currently serves more than 23 million customers and in the last 20 years
has increased 10-fold in size.
Beginnings
In 1933 the Mutual Insurance of the Association of Owners of Rural Properties in Spain
was created in order to provide insurance for farm workers. This association had formed
two years earlier to bring together farmers, owners of properties of all sizes, who wanted
to improve the productivity of the countryside and defend their interests. MAPFRE was
founded with these intentions, in addition to mandatory insurance coverage of labor
accidents just created.
In those years the volume of premiums issued in the insurance market in Spain was
around 400 million pesetas. The agricultural sector accounted for one third of the GDP
and employed more than 40 percent of the workforce. However, the agricultural
insurance was underdeveloped, therefore having proper management was vital to its
initial development. In just one year of existence, MAPFRE became the second largest
mutual insurance company in the of Work Accidents sector, surpassed only by General
Mutual Insurance.
PRESS RELEASE
After the Civil War, the Compulsory Insurance Act caused MAPFRE to enter into the
Medical Insurance sector in 1944 and, upon expanding its activities, owning
a country estate ceased to be a requirement to be an associate. That is how the mutual
insurance company was opened to any person or entity.
The creation of today's MAPFRE
Starting in 1955, when it was a small company with 169 employees, the foundation of the
organization as we know it today were laid, extending its activity in initially to other
insurance sectors such as Life, Accident or Transport.
In the second half of the 50s, car insurance was the flagship and MAPFRE invested in an
insurance policy that would become mandatory in 1965.
During the 70's, it began its international strategy in Latin America with Assistance and
Reinsurance activities spearheading the Insurance business.
In 1975 MAPFRE FOUNDATION began operations and in the 80s MAPFRE, which
already was the top insurance company in Spain, strengthened its commitment to invest
heavily in Latin America, culminating in the 90's with the creation of its own distribution
insurance network that catered to local needs and was similar to the successful Spanish
model.
Starting in 2000, the accelerating growth of MAPFRE companies was seen in Latin
America, an effect which was combined with the diversification of marketing channels in
Spain.
In 2006 MAPFRE underwent a reorganization and demutualization process that provided
a new corporate structure and greater financial capacity. These changes allowed it to
continue to widen its activities and its international expansion. Within this restructuring
the new shares of MAPFRE SA, a company that represents the sum of all activities of the
Group, were listed on the stock exchange in 2007.
Since then a commitment to geographical diversification and markets with high growth
potential, such as the United States and Turkey, has driven the expansion of the Group.
In 2012, under the presidency of Antonio Huertas, MAPFRE has entered a new stage in
which it is redefining itself as a global insurer. At this time, the international business
already contributes more than 60 percent of the premiums and profits of the Group.
Madrid, May 16, 2013. For more information contact the Directorate-General for Communication. Phone 91 581 44 28 y 91 581 87 14,
fax 91 581 83 82, e-mail adulanto@mapfre.com and joaquinhernand[email protected].
