Corporate History 1901 - 1910
| previous 1891-1900 |
| 1901 |
The motor car begins its triumphant progress around the world. Swiss Re also takes up Motor Third Party Liability reinsurance business. |
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The number of Swiss Re staff passes the hundred mark. |
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Nobel prizes are awarded for the first time in 1901. The recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize are the Swiss humanitarian, Henri Dunant, who founded the Red Cross in 1863 and the French pacifist, Frédéric Passy. |
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1904 |
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Attractive prizes are awarded to encourage technical progress. The American newspaper magnate, James Gordon Bennett, the son of the founder of the 'New York Herald', donates the Gordon Bennett Cup for motor racing, balloon racing and aerial sports |
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In the wake of feverish industrialisation, the company extends its activities to embrace Engineering reinsurance. |
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1906 |
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Ill tidings circle the globe. From 18 to 21 April 1906, the city of San Francisco in California, US, is devastated by earthquake and fire. 25 000 houses are destroyed within an area of 7 square kilometres; some 500 lives are lost and about a quarter of a million people are rendered homeless. |
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The rebuilding of the city gets under way without delay but the claims settlement proves to be tedious. Insufficiently specified clauses in fire insurance policies trigger an international debate within the insurance industry as to whether fire losses caused by an earthquake are covered or not. As a result, Swiss Re teams up with other reinsurers to initiate the development of uniform and clear treaty wordings in order to avoid lengthy court cases in future. Swiss Re incurs a net loss of CHF 4.3 million, which is considerable compared to the company’s equity of CHF 9.9 million in 1906. However, exellent business results during the previous and subsequent years enable Swiss Re to cope with this loss. |
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| 1908 |
The company's employees feel the need to protect common interests and to foster activities on a professional, cultural, social, and sporting level. An employees' association is set up. |
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| 1910 |
International business soon calls for enhanced presence in major insurance markets. |
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| For insurance supervision or fiscal policy reasons, branches and subsidiary companies are established throughout the world. The first is the Swiss Re's United States Branch set up in 1910. The first overseas base, which is initially only able to write Fire business, marks the beginning of business in one of the world's leading markets. | |||||||||||||
| previous 1891-1900 |
