The Colonial Mutual Life Assurance Society Limited, later Colonial Limited, and commonly known as Colonial Mutual, Colonial Mutual Life, and/or CML, was a diverse international financial services company headquartered in Melbourne, Australia. Colonial's core businesses were life and general insurance, retirement savings, banking and funds management. The company operated in the United Kingdom, New Zealand and the Fiji Islands for more than a century.
It was a mutual society for most of its history, and demutualised in 1997. In 1994, Colonial acquired the State Bank of New South Wales, including the bank's First State investment management business. Colonial was acquired by Commonwealth Bank in 2000. The Colonial name lives on in the Colonial First State subsidiary of the Commonwealth Bank.
History
Colonial was founded in Melbourne in 1873. The first President of the Society was Sir Redmond Barry. The first Chief Manager was Thomas Jacques Martin.
In the 1980s, Jacques Martin was established to provide administration and consulting services to rapidly expanding corporate and industry-based retirement funds. In 1989, financial advisers became a feature of the business through the purchase of Scottish Amicable’s interests in Australia. Colonial expanded its operations into Asia in 1990 and its presence in the region comprised almost 130 offices across eight markets.
In 1994, banking became a major platform of the group’s business when Colonial acquired the State Bank of New South Wales. Funds management was a key sector of Colonial’s operations since the company was established, and this business was further expanded when Colonial acquired First State Fund Managers (now Colonial First State Investments) as part of the agreement to buy the Bank. In 1997 Colonial’s stockbroking arm was established.
Colonial listed on the Australian and New Zealand stock exchanges in 1997, ending 124 years as a mutual company and beginning a new era as a publicly owned company.
Colonial carved out a unique position for itself in the financial services sector. It was to achieve growth and balance risk across a diverse range of income streams, drawn from its wide but complementary range of business operations and its broad geographic exposure.
In 2000, Colonial became part of the Commonwealth Bank Group.
Colonial was differentiated in the marketplace through its fundamental strategy known as bancassurance or ‘allfinanz’, the provision of a broad range of integrated solutions to its customers’ lifelong financial needs. These financial solutions were delivered through innovative methods of distribution that are most convenient and relevant to customers’ individual needs. The allfinanz approach was most highly developed in Australia, and it was progressively being exported to Colonial’s international operations in ways that reflect the local market conditions and opportunities.
Overseas activities
The company entered Asia in 1990 under the brand ‘CMG’ and now has a presence in the region spanning eight markets. The group’s operations in Hong Kong, Singapore and the Philippines are wholly owned. In other key markets CMH has forged joint ventures with Edaran Otomobil Nasional Berhad (EON) in Malaysia, the Bank of Ayudhya family of companies in Thailand, PT Astra International in Indonesia, and The Ho Chi Minh City Insurance Company (Bao Minh) in Vietnam.
Colonial signed a joint venture contract with China Life Insurance Company to establish a life insurance business in Shanghai.
China
The company has operated representative offices in Beijing since 1994 and in Shanghai since 1995. In April 1998, Colonial became the first Australian insurer to be invited by the Government of the People’s Republic of China to apply for a licence to set up a life insurance business in Shanghai. A joint venture with China’s largest life insurer China Life was announced on 30 July 1999. The group was also active in investments in China. It has established a joint venture company – CMG Mahon Investments – a direct equity fund to invest directly into businesses in less developed regions of China. It also manages and part owns CMG CH China Investments Limited, a fund that invests exclusively in equities listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges.
Fiji Islands
Colonial offered life insurance, health insurance, banking and investments in Fiji. It leads the Fiji life and health insurance markets, with around a 70 per cent share of the local life insurance market by premium income. It became active in banking in Fiji when it acquired a 51 per cent stake in the National Bank of Fiji (now Colonial National Bank) in early 1999.