This Day In Market History: Insurance Company Of North America IPO

Each day, Benzinga takes a look back at a notable market-related moment that occurred on this date.

What Happened? On Nov. 19, 1792, the Insurance Company of North America held its initial public offering.

Where The Market Was: The INA IPO predates the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500.

What Else Was Going On In The World? In 1792, the U.S. Postal Service was created. Congress passed the Presidential Succession Act. A dictionary cost 50 cents.

Birth Of INA: On Nov. 19, 1792, investors gathered at the Pennsylvania State House to buy shares of the Insurance Company of North America at a price of $10 per share. The INA IPO was conducted in the same location the Declaration of Independence was adopted just 16 years earlier.

More than 60 investors bought shares of INA, raising more than $600,000 in initial capital, or about $17.2 million in today’s dollars. Within 11 days, investors had purchased 40,000 shares of stock. The initial insurance business focused solely on marine insurance.

INA emerged from the Great Depression as one of the largest insurance companies in the U.S. with roughly $117 million in assets in 1941.

In 1950, INA invented the homeowners policy, the most successful multiple-line insurance policy in history.

In 1982, INA merged with Connecticut General Corporation to form Cigna Corp CI. In 1999, ACE Limited acquired INA along with the rest of Cigna’s international and U.S. property and casualty businesses. In 2016, ACE adopted the name Chubb Ltd CB.

A $1,000 stake in the INA IPO back in 1792 would have been worth $10.1 million by 1998 prior to the ACE buyout.