FMG 120 years
This year FMG celebrates 120 years of working alongside New Zealand dairy farmers and their rural communities.
FMG was set up by a group of farmers who got together 120 years ago to find a better way to look after each other and manage the risks and challenges faced by rural New Zealanders. In the early 1900s, farmers didn’t have much choice when it came to insurance cover. The only option was proprietary insurers that didn’t understand New Zealand’s risks or land.
In true pioneering style, a group of New Zealand farmers got together to challenge the status quo, and in 1905 the first farmers’ mutual associations were formed in Otago, Wellington, Taranaki, and Hawke’s Bay.
The mutual model meant it was owned by its members and clients, not external shareholders – a structure that remains today.
“This marked the beginning of a new era in rural insurance,” FMG Chief Executive Officer Adam Heath says. “It was also the very beginning of the business we are now, 120 years later.”
The idea of setting up mutuals caught on quickly and soon mutuals were springing up right across the country.
Fast-forward to the 1970s, mutuals started combining to form even stronger organisations that could offer more products, and in 1978, Farmers’ Mutual Group (FMG) was established from a base in Palmerston North.
Sticking around for 120 years is no mean feat for a business. But it is no accident that FMG has got there, praising their rural roots.
“Our country’s history reveals a primary sector that has always challenged the status quo, teamed up to pool resources, shared knowledge and capability, and created something special. We are a product of this
sector and mindset, born from farmers and growers, for farmers and growers,” adds Adam.
“We’ve seen two world wars, major earthquakes, floods and more recently, the confronting nature of increasing climatic events on the planet.
“We’ve watched our clients grow and evolve their businesses, purchase their first homes and begin families. We’ve been there for the burglaries and the fender benders, and we were there for the life-changing
devastation of the Napier, Edgecumbe, Canterbury, and Kaikōura earthquakes, and Cyclones Bola and Gabrielle. These highs and lows have shaped FMG into what it is today.”
FMG is still 100% New Zealand-owned and operated. Their team of more than 800 employees pride themselves on understanding and supporting rural New Zealand to grow, innovate and succeed in whatever goals they have set for themselves.
“One thing has not changed, and that’s putting our clients right when it has all gone wrong,” says Adam. “We’ve been here for 120 years, and we intend to be here for another 120.”
Visit fmg.co.nz
