International
The Assurantie Maatschappij tegen Brandschade (fire insurance company) from Zutphen gains an early foothold in the Dutch East Indies from 1857. This international move is soon followed with agents in European cities such as Hamburg, London and Paris. Free trade flourishes in the second half of the 19th century, and more markets open up. Eager to tap into this global economic expansion, the company casts its net even wider to Latin America, Africa and South-East Asia. In 1900, the company has more than 400 agencies and representatives all over the world.
With activities in the Netherlands and abroad, geographical diversification of risks is clearly bearing fruit. Losses in the domestic market are compensated with good results abroad, and vice versa. The results of foreign premiums vary each year. Many areas around the world are impacted by disasters and wars, which cause a lot of damage.
The first world war is a troubled time with many setbacks, and many agencies lost because De Nederlanden is often represented by German and Austrian agents. The crises of the 1930s do not impact heavily on the results, but the second world war is a time of major upheaval. The connectionswith the remaining agents are severed. During the war, De Nederlanden is active only in the Netherlands Antilles, Suriname and Indonesia.
After the war, a change of direction is necessary to revitalise the company: De Nederlanden follows the wave of Dutch emigrants to Canada, Australia and the United States and opens its own offices there to offer insurance to its compatriots in their new homeland. And in the 1970s, new activities start in Europe, often in cooperation with the local markets, first in Spain and Greece, followed by Japan.
This marks the start of a period of major international expansion that is continued by ING after the merger in 1991. In East European countries, greenfields are started. Teams of agents working in the regions sell life insurance and pensions. Countries now part of NN that begin in the 1990s are Hungary, Czechoslovakia (later Czech Republic and Slovakia), Luxembourg, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey.
Today NN is active in 18 countries with 18 million customers, with a strong presence in a number of European countries and Japan.
