Ageas
Encyclopedia
Ageas N.V./S.A. is a multinational insurance
company headquartered in Brussels
, Belgium
and Utrecht
, Netherlands
. Ageas is Belgium's largest insurer and operates in 14 countries worldwide. The company was renamed from Fortis Holding in April 2010 and consists of those insurance activities remaining after the breakup and sale of the financial services
group Fortis
during the financial crisis of 2007-2010. It is listed on the Euronext Brussels
, Euronext Amsterdam
, and Luxembourg
stock exchange
s and forms part of the blue-chip BEL20
stock market index.
Assurances Générales (now AG Insurance). In 1990 AG merged with the Netherlands
-based bancassurer
AMEV/VSB to form Fortis. AMEV/VSB had itself been formed earlier that year by the combination of savings bank
VSB (Verenigde Spaarbank) and insurer AMEV, which took advantage of the recent relaxation of Dutch legislation preventing mergers between banks and insurers. AMEV had originally been founded in Utrecht
in 1920 as Algemeene Maatschappij tot Exploitatie van Verzekeringsmaatschappijen (General Society for Operation of Insurance).
After its creation in 1990, Fortis expanded its offerings to include private
and investment banking
and asset management, establishing subsidiaries around the world, and by 2007 it had become the 20th largest business in the world by revenue. That year Fortis agreed to jointly purchase ABN AMRO
with Banco Santander and Royal Bank of Scotland Group, but the onset of the major financial crisis exacerbated problems with financing its part of the large acquisition and prompted fears of impending insolvency
. Considered "too big to fail
", Fortis received an €11.2 billion bailout from the Benelux
governments and saw its retail banking
operations in Belgium
sold to BNP Paribas
and its insurance and banking subsidiaries in the Netherlands
nationalised.
The remaining assets of the company, consisting principally of insurance operations but also including some distressed assets, were rebranded Fortis Holding. In April 2010 its shareholders agreed a formal change of name to Ageas N.V./S.A., with ownership of the Fortis brand passing to BNP Paribas.
, owning 75% of AG Insurance (the remainder is held by Fortis Bank N.V./S.A.
, which was sold to BNP Paribas
in 2009). Products are sold through independent agents, brokers and financial planners, and through branches of BNP Paribas Fortis and its subsidiary Banque de La Poste/Bank van De Post.
Ageas also wholly owns the subsidiary
Ageas Insurance International (formerly Fortis Insurance International), through which it is the United Kingdom
's third-largest provider of private vehicle cover
and fourth-largest provider of travel insurance
through subsidiaries such as Kwik Fit Insurance
. Fortis Insurance International also operates in France, Germany, Turkey, Ukraine and Hong Kong and holds partnerships or joint venture
s in Luxembourg, Italy, Portugal, China, Malaysia, India and Thailand. In addition, Ageas holds 45% of Royal Park Investments, a special purpose vehicle
which manages a portfolio of "toxic
" structured credit
assets previously held by Fortis Bank.
Insurance
In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
company headquartered in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
and Utrecht
Utrecht (city)
Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...
, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. Ageas is Belgium's largest insurer and operates in 14 countries worldwide. The company was renamed from Fortis Holding in April 2010 and consists of those insurance activities remaining after the breakup and sale of the financial services
Financial services
Financial services refer to services provided by the finance industry. The finance industry encompasses a broad range of organizations that deal with the management of money. Among these organizations are credit unions, banks, credit card companies, insurance companies, consumer finance companies,...
group Fortis
Fortis (finance)
Fortis N.V./S.A. was a company active in insurance, banking and investment management. In 2007 it was the 20th largest business in the world by revenue but after encountering severe problems in the financial crisis of 2008, most of the company was sold in parts, with only insurance activities...
during the financial crisis of 2007-2010. It is listed on the Euronext Brussels
Euronext
Euronext N.V. is a pan-European stock exchange based in Amsterdam and with subsidiaries in Belgium, France, Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom. In addition to equities and derivatives markets, the Euronext group provides clearing and information services...
, Euronext Amsterdam
Euronext
Euronext N.V. is a pan-European stock exchange based in Amsterdam and with subsidiaries in Belgium, France, Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom. In addition to equities and derivatives markets, the Euronext group provides clearing and information services...
, and Luxembourg
Luxembourg Stock Exchange
The Luxembourg Stock Exchange is a stock exchange based in Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg.The Exchange is located on avenue de la Porte-Neuve,...
stock exchange
Stock exchange
A stock exchange is an entity that provides services for stock brokers and traders to trade stocks, bonds, and other securities. Stock exchanges also provide facilities for issue and redemption of securities and other financial instruments, and capital events including the payment of income and...
s and forms part of the blue-chip BEL20
BEL20
The BEL20 is the benchmark stock market index of Euronext Brussels. In general, the index consists of a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 20 companies traded at the Brussels Stock Exchange. Since 20 June 2011, the BEL20 has contained 20 listings.-Rules:...
stock market index.
History
The company's roots reach back to the 1824 foundation of the Belgian life insurerLife insurance
Life insurance is a contract between an insurance policy holder and an insurer, where the insurer promises to pay a designated beneficiary a sum of money upon the death of the insured person. Depending on the contract, other events such as terminal illness or critical illness may also trigger...
Assurances Générales (now AG Insurance). In 1990 AG merged with the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
-based bancassurer
Bancassurance
The Bank Insurance Model , also sometimes known as 'Bancassurance', is the term used to describe the partnership or relationship between a bank and an insurance company whereby the insurance company uses the bank sales channel in order to sell insurance products.BIM allows the insurance company to...
AMEV/VSB to form Fortis. AMEV/VSB had itself been formed earlier that year by the combination of savings bank
Savings bank
A savings bank is a financial institution whose primary purpose is accepting savings deposits. It may also perform some other functions.In Europe, savings banks originated in the 19th or sometimes even the 18th century. Their original objective was to provide easily accessible savings products to...
VSB (Verenigde Spaarbank) and insurer AMEV, which took advantage of the recent relaxation of Dutch legislation preventing mergers between banks and insurers. AMEV had originally been founded in Utrecht
Utrecht (city)
Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...
in 1920 as Algemeene Maatschappij tot Exploitatie van Verzekeringsmaatschappijen (General Society for Operation of Insurance).
After its creation in 1990, Fortis expanded its offerings to include private
Private bank
Private banks are banks that are not incorporated. A private bank is owned by either an individual or a general partner with limited partner...
and investment banking
Investment banking
An investment bank is a financial institution that assists individuals, corporations and governments in raising capital by underwriting and/or acting as the client's agent in the issuance of securities...
and asset management, establishing subsidiaries around the world, and by 2007 it had become the 20th largest business in the world by revenue. That year Fortis agreed to jointly purchase ABN AMRO
ABN AMRO
ABN AMRO Bank N.V. is a Dutch state-owned bank with headquarters in Amsterdam. It was re-established, in its current form, in 2009 following the acquisition and break up of ABN AMRO Group by a banking consortium consisting of Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Santander and Fortis...
with Banco Santander and Royal Bank of Scotland Group, but the onset of the major financial crisis exacerbated problems with financing its part of the large acquisition and prompted fears of impending insolvency
Insolvency
Insolvency means the inability to pay one's debts as they fall due. Usually used to refer to a business, insolvency refers to the inability of a company to pay off its debts.Business insolvency is defined in two different ways:...
. Considered "too big to fail
Too Big to Fail
Too Big to Fail is a television drama film in the United States broadcast on HBO on May 23, 2011. It is based on the non-fiction book Too Big to Fail by Andrew Ross Sorkin. The TV film was directed by Curtis Hanson...
", Fortis received an €11.2 billion bailout from the Benelux
Benelux
The Benelux is an economic union in Western Europe comprising three neighbouring countries, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. These countries are located in northwestern Europe between France and Germany...
governments and saw its retail banking
Retail banking
Retail banking is banking in which banking institutions execute transactions directly with consumers, rather than corporations or other banks. Services offered include: savings and transactional accounts, mortgages, personal loans, debit cards, credit cards, and so forth.-Types of...
operations in Belgium
BNP Paribas Fortis
BNP Paribas Fortis is the commercial name of Fortis Bank S.A./N.V., an international bank with its focus in Belgium since the purchase of 75% of the shares of the bank by BNP Paribas. It was formerly, together with Fortis Bank Nederland, the banking arm of Fortis...
sold to BNP Paribas
BNP Paribas
BNP Paribas S.A. is a global banking group, headquartered in Paris, with its second global headquarters in London. In October 2010 BNP Paribas was ranked by Bloomberg and Forbes as the largest bank and largest company in the world by assets with over $3.1 trillion. It was formed through the merger...
and its insurance and banking subsidiaries in the Netherlands
Fortis Bank Nederland
Fortis Bank Nederland was a bank in the Netherlands until 2010.The holding came into being within Fortis Bank, as a holding for those Dutch banks taken over by Fortis...
nationalised.
The remaining assets of the company, consisting principally of insurance operations but also including some distressed assets, were rebranded Fortis Holding. In April 2010 its shareholders agreed a formal change of name to Ageas N.V./S.A., with ownership of the Fortis brand passing to BNP Paribas.
Operations
The company is the largest provider of insurance in BelgiumBelgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, owning 75% of AG Insurance (the remainder is held by Fortis Bank N.V./S.A.
BNP Paribas Fortis
BNP Paribas Fortis is the commercial name of Fortis Bank S.A./N.V., an international bank with its focus in Belgium since the purchase of 75% of the shares of the bank by BNP Paribas. It was formerly, together with Fortis Bank Nederland, the banking arm of Fortis...
, which was sold to BNP Paribas
BNP Paribas
BNP Paribas S.A. is a global banking group, headquartered in Paris, with its second global headquarters in London. In October 2010 BNP Paribas was ranked by Bloomberg and Forbes as the largest bank and largest company in the world by assets with over $3.1 trillion. It was formed through the merger...
in 2009). Products are sold through independent agents, brokers and financial planners, and through branches of BNP Paribas Fortis and its subsidiary Banque de La Poste/Bank van De Post.
Ageas also wholly owns the subsidiary
Subsidiary
A subsidiary company, subsidiary, or daughter company is a company that is completely or partly owned and wholly controlled by another company that owns more than half of the subsidiary's stock. The subsidiary can be a company, corporation, or limited liability company. In some cases it is a...
Ageas Insurance International (formerly Fortis Insurance International), through which it is the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
's third-largest provider of private vehicle cover
Vehicle insurance
Vehicle insurance is insurance purchased for cars, trucks, motorcycles, and other road vehicles. Its primary use is to provide financial protection against physical damage and/or bodily injury resulting from traffic collisions and against liability that could also arise therefrom...
and fourth-largest provider of travel insurance
Travel insurance
Travel insurance is insurance that is intended to cover medical expenses, financial default of travel suppliers, and other losses incurred while traveling, either within one's own country, or internationally...
through subsidiaries such as Kwik Fit Insurance
Kwik Fit Insurance
Kwik Fit, the British car servicing and repair company, opened in 1971. In response to customer demand, Kwik Fit Insurance, part of Kwik Fit Financial Services, was formed in 1995 and has grown to become one of the UK’s leading car insurance distributors....
. Fortis Insurance International also operates in France, Germany, Turkey, Ukraine and Hong Kong and holds partnerships or joint venture
Joint venture
A joint venture is a business agreement in which parties agree to develop, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity. They exercise control over the enterprise and consequently share revenues, expenses and assets...
s in Luxembourg, Italy, Portugal, China, Malaysia, India and Thailand. In addition, Ageas holds 45% of Royal Park Investments, a special purpose vehicle
Special purpose entity
A special purpose entity is a legal entity created to fulfill narrow, specific or temporary objectives...
which manages a portfolio of "toxic
Toxic asset
Toxic asset is a popular term for certain financial assets whose value has fallen significantly and for which there is no longer a functioning market, so that such assets cannot be sold at a price satisfactory to the holder...
" structured credit
Structured product
In finance, a structured product, also known as a market linked investment, is generally a pre-packaged investment strategy based on derivatives, such as a single security, a basket of securities, options, indices, commodities, debt issuance and/or foreign currencies, and to a lesser extent, swaps...
assets previously held by Fortis Bank.