Commercial property insurer FM Global says uniting its businesses under a new FM brand and logo will help strengthen its market position, including in Australia where it now writes more than $500 million in premium.

Established almost 200 years ago as Factory Mutual Insurance Company, FM is a mutual insurer specialising in innovative commercial property insurance solutions.  

“By uniting our businesses under the FM brand, we will streamline and strengthen our market position, which will allow us to provide an even better experience for our current clients and reach more organisations that share our belief that the majority of property loss is preventable,” Chairman and CEO Malcolm Roberts said.  

FM will serve as the parent brand for the mutual insurance company, commercial property insurer now known as FM Affiliated, and cargo insurance and boiler and machinery reinsurance businesses.

A renewable energy unit was also launched at the start of this month. It is the first time FM has created a new market product in 25 years, FM operations senior VP Australia & NZ Andrew Stafford tells insuranceNEWS.com.au. 

“There has been big investment in our renewables division. This is a new renewables group based in Dallas, we're looking to provide a bespoke risk transfer solution for renewables as that continues to evolve,” he said.  

FM will also examine how to build more resilient solar panels to withstand hail, for example. “When we talk to our clients, climate change and renewables is top of mind,” Mr Stafford said. 

FM customers include Australia’s largest companies, spanning mining, power generation, food production, chemical, data centres, and infrastructure. The insurer traces its roots to 1835, when Rhode Island textile mill owner Zachariah Allen banded together with like-minded manufacturers to create the Manufacturers Mutual Fire Insurance Company.  

The company expanded globally and has “innovated relentlessly,” and under the mutual model eligible policyholders have received the equivalent of 80% of its underwriting profit earned since the beginning of 2022, and more than $US5 billion ($7.51 billion) in credits since 2001. 

Mr Stafford says FM has global annual premium of about $US10 billion ($14.85 billion) and after setting up in Australia in 1973 to service US clients with operations here, the branch in Australia today has grown to contribute $500 million.  

"We were predominantly a US company .... but now we've got much better brand awareness in Australia and Europe and the UK, and so the need to have 'global' is not there anymore.”