Skandia is a financial services corporation in
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
.
History
Skandia started out as a
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
insurance
Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...
company in 1855. Today the brand operates in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
,
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
, and
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
. Skandia also operates an internet bank called
Skandiabanken
Skandiabanken (founded on October 3, 1994) is a Swedish Online banking, online bank owned by Skandia. It has its headquarters in Stockholm, and conducts most of its business over the internet and via telephone.
The Norwegian branch of Skandiabank ...
in the Nordic region.
In 1979, the company formed a UK subsidiary, Skandia Life.
In 2003 the operations in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
, American Skandia, were acquired by
Prudential Financial
Prudential Financial, Inc. is an American Fortune Global 500 and Fortune 500 company whose subsidiaries provide insurance, retirement planning, investment management, and other products and services to both retail and institutional customers t ...
. The CEO of American Skandia,
Wade Dokken partnered with
Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...
and sold the division to Prudential Financial for $1.2 billion.
In 2005 South African financial services group
Old Mutual
Old Mutual Limited is a pan-African investment, savings, insurance, and banking group. It is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, the Namibian Stock Exchange and the Botswana Stock Exchange. It was founded in S ...
launched a $6.5bn (£3.6bn) bid to acquire majority control of Skandia, which was met with resistance from some of Skandia's shareholders and directors. On 3 February 2006 Old Mutual completed its acquisition of Skandia, which was subsequently delisted from the Stockholm and London stock exchanges.
Skandia's largest operation, in terms of new business and profit, is the United Kingdom which launched in 1979. Their UK
headquarters
Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...
is
Skandia House
Skandia is a financial services corporation in Sweden.
History
Skandia started out as a Swedish insurance company in 1855. Today the brand operates in Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Skandia also operates an internet bank called Skandiaban ...
in
Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
. Skandia in the UK, along with Old Mutual Global Investors, forms Old Mutual Wealth. As well as in the UK, Old Mutual Wealth has operations in Europe and various international markets, overseeing £78.5 billion in customer investments (as at December 2013). Paul Feeney is the Chief Executive Officer of Old Mutual Wealth.
In March 2012 Old Mutual sold the Nordic businesses (Sweden, Denmark, Norway) to the Swedish-based Skandia Liv, a partly mutual assurer, in an all-cash deal for £2.1bn.
[Completion of sale of Old Mutual's Nordic business](_blank)
/ref> Skandia UK, Skandia International and the Skandia European businesses outside the Nordic region were rebranded as 'Old Mutual Wealth' in September 2014.
Operations
Following the sale of Skandia in Sweden, Denmark and Norway, the Skandia brand operates independently of Old Mutual
Old Mutual Limited is a pan-African investment, savings, insurance, and banking group. It is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, the Namibian Stock Exchange and the Botswana Stock Exchange. It was founded in S ...
.
Sponsorships
Skandia UK was the title sponsor of the world’s largest sailing regatta, Cowes Week, held on the Isle of Wight, UK for 14 years, ending its association in 2008. From April 2006 to March 2013, Skandia UK was the title sponsor of the British sailing team, Skandia Team GBR. The team competed in the Olympic and Paralympic classes and included multiple Olympic gold medal winners such as Ben Ainslie and Iain Percy.[Old Mutual Group Sponsorships](_blank)
/ref>
Skandia Poland sponsors the Skandia Marathon, a cycling event organised by Langteam in which over 1000 competitors, aged from 4 to 80 years old, take part.
Skandia International, which specialises in offshore investment, sponsors the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club and partners the United Arab Emirates Professional Golf Association in Singapore.
Rebranding
Following Old Mutual's takeover, Skandia announced it would be "going green" and underwent a rebranding from January 2008. The company announced that it would take 18 months for the rebranding to complete, with the UK and offshore division being first. The old logo was replaced with a new one to be more in-line with Old Mutual's colours.
Following Old Mutual’s sale the Nordic businesses (Sweden, Denmark, Norway) in March 2012 to the Swedish-based Skandia Liv, a partly mutual assurer, Skandia UK, Skandia International and the Skandia European businesses outside the Nordic region were rebranded as 'Old Mutual Wealth' in September 2014.
Criticisms
Controversy surrounded Skandia in the mid-nineties, mostly due to illegal internal affairs with the Swedish Skandia Life, and for having provided executives with subsidized apartments in Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
. The involved executives are among others Lars-Eric Petersson and Ulf Spång. The Skandia trademark and reputation were tainted in Sweden during this time. It was alleged in late 2003 that executives at Skandia had embezzled 13 billion Swedish kronor
The krona (; plural: ''kronor''; sign: kr; code: SEK) is the official currency of the Kingdom of Sweden. Both the ISO code "SEK" and currency sign "kr" are in common use; the former precedes or follows the value, the latter usually follows it b ...
. Subsequently, the board had to resign and, in 2006, Lars-Eric Petersson was sentenced to two years in prison. However, the case was later appealed to a higher court.
On 19 December 2007, the Court of Appeal dismissed all charges against Lars-Eric Petersson.
The charges by the prosecutor proceeded from the prerequisite that the payments from Skandia’s bonus program, called Wealthbuilder, to the beneficiaries were limited to an amount of SEK 300 million during the time period 1 January 1998 – 31 December 1999. According to the prosecutor, Lars-Eric Petersson had, without the consent of the Board, removed the cap on the bonus programme by signing a document named Appendix 3, and thus causing payments of additionally approx. SEK 156 million to the beneficiaries. According to the Court of Appeal, the prosecutor was not able to prove that the limitation for Wealthbuilder was still in force when Lars-Eric Petersson signed Appendix 3 in December 2000. The charges were therefore dismissed. (Translation of the press release from the Svea Court of Appeal)
On 26 March 2010, the former legal head of Skandia Germany, Michael Wolski, was prosecuted for tax fraud of the Cezanowski family (about EUR 50 million which Michael Wolski cashed in) for 2 years and 6 months jail in Darmstadt, Germany. His wife Karin Wolski, who is a high court judge, resigned on the same day. His wife is driving among others a Bugatti Veyron
The Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4 is a mid-engine sports car, designed and developed in Germany by the Volkswagen Group and Bugatti and manufactured in Molsheim, France, by French automobile manufacturer Bugatti. It was named after the racing driver Pie ...
, which was bought from the "stolen" money.
List of chief executive officers
* 1855–1858 – Carl Gustaf von Koch
* 1858–1861 – C D Jederholm
* 1861–1869 – A W Dufva
* 1869–1886 – Elis Fischer
Gustaf ''Elis'' Fischer RVO RNO (13 January 1834 – 19 August 1889) was a Swedish lawyer, chief executive of Skandia (1870–1886) and politician who was Member of Parliament.
He is in particular known for the Fischer-trial, in which he was acc ...
* 1887–1897 – Gustaf Lagerbring
Gustav, Gustaf or Gustave may refer to:
*Gustav (name), a male given name of Old Swedish origin
Art, entertainment, and media
* ''Primeval'' (film), a 2007 American horror film
* ''Gustav'' (film series), a Hungarian series of animated short cart ...
* 1897–1920 – Karl Herlitz
* 1920–1930 – Oscar Kinnander
* 1930–1944 – Pär Ulmgren
* 1944–1955 – Iwar Sjögren
* 1955–1961 – Bengt Petri
Bengt may refer to:
People In arts, entertainment and media Actors
* Bengt Djurberg (1898–1941), Swedish actor and singer
* Bengt Ekerot (1920–1971), Swedish actor and director
* Bengt Eklund (1925–1998), Swedish actor
* Bengt Logardt (1914â ...
* 1961–1969 – Pehr Gyllenhammar
Pehr Gustaf Viktor Gyllenhammar (23 April 1901 – 22 November 1988) was a Swedish insurance company executive. He completed a law degree from Stockholm University in 1925, and became CEO of the insurance company Svenska Skeppshypotekskassan (th ...
* 1970–1971 – Pehr G. Gyllenhammar
Pehr Gustaf Gyllenhammar (born 28 April 1935) is a Swedish businessman. He is mainly known for his 24 years as CEO and chairman of Volvo, between 1970 and 1994. In the early 1980s he took the initiative for the European Round Table of Industriali ...
* 1971–1981 – Arne Lundeborg
* 1981–1996 – Björn Wolrath
* 1997–2003 – Lars-Eric Petersson
* 2003–2004 – Leif Victorin
* 2004–2006 – Hans-Erik Andersson
* 2006–2008 – Julian Roberts
* 2008–2010 – Bertil Hult
* 2010–2012 – Mårten Andersson
* 2012–2015 – Bengt-Åke Fagerman
* 2015–present – Frans Lindelöw
References
External links
Skandia
– Official site
{{Authority control
Investment companies of Sweden
Banks of Sweden
Insurance companies of Sweden
Companies based in Stockholm
Financial services companies established in 1855
Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange
1855 establishments in Sweden
Swedish brands