Italy’s largest insurer Generali Assicurazioni, is to be the diamond sponsor for the 2015 FERMA Forum in Venice on 4 to 7 October. Diamond sponsorship is a new category this year open only to a partner from the host country.

Generali, which is one of the world’s largest insurers, was founded in Trieste in 1831 when the city was the most important seaport of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The city was booming; about 20 insurance companies were already active mainly in marine insurance. Generali’s founder Giuseppe Lazzano Morpurgo brought together a group of Trieste financiers and merchants in November 1831 to start a company with sufficient capital to expand beyond the geographical territory reached by other Trieste houses and into other classes of insurance. Almost immediately after the statutes of the new company had been approved, Morpurgo left Trieste to establish the company’s Venice headquarters, so the company’s connection with Venice is nearly as old as the business itself.

Registration for enthusiasts
One risk manager is so enthusiastic about the 2015 Forum that he sent his application – in writing – to FERMA before the New Year. Online applications will open around the end of March.