Category: Rhodesia

Pearl Assurance Company

London

Pearl Assurance Company was founded in 1857 as The Pearl Loan Company. It changed its name to The Pearl Assurance Company in 1914.

On 1 April 1960, Pearl Assurance Company took over most of the British Commonwealth Insurance Company’s activities in the Federation of Rhodesia & Nyasaland, including the business arising from the association with the Commonwealth and Commonwealth Permanent Building Societies in Southern and Northern Rhodesia.

The Pearl Assurance building was the first large building to be erected in Salibsury which had been designed by a female architect, and had a number of innovative features, but its sign, The Pearl, was significant, and still there, although the company is no more.

In 1990, the company was acquired by the Australian insurance group, AMP, and in 2003, Pearl, NPI and London Life were demerged from AMP to become part of Henderson Group.

In 2005, the Pearl Group was bought from Henderson Group by Sun Capital Partners and TDR Capital. It acquired Resolution Life in 2008 (including its Phoenix Assurance operations). In 2009, the business was acquired by the Liberty Acquisition Holdings (International) Company, which subsequently renamed itself Pearl Group.

In 2010, Pearl Group changed its name to Phoenix Group Holdings. In March 2014, the business sold Ignis Asset Management to Standard Life Investments, the asset management arm of Standard Life.

Stationery

• Accident Renewal Receipt

References

• Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland Newsletter, Issues 1-26, 1960

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