History
The story of Sampo began in 1909. This brief history of Sampo encapsulates all of the relevant milestones of Sampo Group - from the early years prior to Finland’s independence right through to the present day.
With motor vehicles becoming more popular, Sampo was among the first companies to offer car insurance. The standard of living was also improving promisingly until the 1929 stock market crash in New York, which triggered a worldwide depression.
Insurance advertisements were often linked to current events.
62
The number of Sampo employees in 1923.
The new innovation in the insurance sector in 1920 was car insurance. Sampo was one of the pioneers to offer this new type of insurance. And just five years later a new traffic law was introduced in Finland that obliged car owners to insure their vehicles against possible accidents.
The idea for car insurance served to complement Sampo's wide range of insurances, which included a livestock insurance. Sampo's pioneering approach was rewarded as the new law came into effect. Car insurance became one of the main business areas of Sampo throughout the following decade.
The standard of living in Finland rose in the 1920s and consumer behavior changed. City dwellers became accustomed to factory-made clothing and enjoyed more free time. Meanwhile, the country's economy was propelled by the growing export of paper and timber goods, as well as construction projects. However, despite these developments, the main source of livelihood in Finland continued to be small-scale agriculture.
A worldwide depression was set in motion as the New York Stock Exchange crashed in 1929, which resonated in Finland with the decline of the construction and forestry sectors. With the food shortage of the previous decade still fresh in the memory at Sampo, the company continued to take care of its employees. The headquarters offered porridge every morning and employees received a paycheck for an additional month in December.
Sampo secured its position in the Finnish insurance market and started to make international contacts. In 1928, Sampo began a reinsurance collaboration with the the Danish enterprise Kjøbenhavnske Re. It proved to be a collaboration that would last for decades.