FM Global - Expansion

Expansion

In 1850, Boston Manufacturers Mutual Fire Insurance Company, the third-oldest FM Global predecessor, was created when Allen convinced a Boston merchant with significant cotton-mill ownership to form his own mutual insurance company with like-minded Boston mill owners. Throughout the next 20 years, other mutual insurance companies were added to the group roster. Together, these companies and the ones that later evolved soon became known as the Associated Factory Mutual Fire Insurance Companies, or the Factory Mutuals, for short.

Loss information helped identify specific industry hazards and was used in developing loss control recommendations for policyholders in similar industries. Such information was shared among all the Factory Mutual (FM) insurance companies, and was utilized by the inspection teams. As the FM companies grew, however, the inspection workload became difficult to manage. By 1878, the FM companies formed a dedicated unit to handle the collective inspection activities for all the FM policyholders. This unique group of loss control specialists initially provided only inspection services. The group later began performing appraisals and adjustments, loss analysis and research activities associated with preventing fire and other hazards in order to benefit the mutual insurance company owners and their policyholders. Today, all of these services remain components to FM Global in the form of engineering and research.

The FM companies' main interests in the late 19th century and early 20th century remained focused on researching and developing products or techniques that would help mitigate property risks and advance the efforts of property conservation. In 1874, a revolutionary form of loss control entered the loss prevention scene: the fire sprinkler. While the invention was originally designed outside the realm of FM, FM's further development and promotion of the sprinkler head aided in its eventual widespread use and acceptance.