Munich Re was founded in 1880 by Carl von Thieme amid a flurry of other reinsurance companies set up independent of primaries. Then, most reinsurers typically focused on a few customers with strong reputations. Thieme focused on a broader set of cedents in order to drive stronger growth in premiums. This coincided with a strategy of risk diversification and a preference to partner rather than take on a one-sided transfer of risk. In the 1890s, Munich introduced the first machinery insurance. After von Thieme and Wilhelm von Finck founded Allianz, this was the main channel to sell insurance on machinery. We think the approach of partnering with insurers and preferring to avoid one-sided risk, in conjunction with combining inspection and insurance services, remains at the heart of the firm.