1919 - 1948

1919

Prudential moves in to the field of General Insurance for the first time, offering insurance that ranges from fire and household to marine and aviation.

1926

The Publicity Department is set up to deal with ever increasing challenges from competitors and to publicise new products launched after the war: the Everywoman Policy for single women, the Heritage Policy for family protection and the Hearth and Home Policy, a combination of life cover and household insurance.

1931

M&G launches the first unit trust in Britain, The First British Fixed Trust, investing in the shares of 24 leading companies. The idea was brought to Britain by a stockbroker impressed by the way that American mutual funds (the US equivalent of unit trusts) had withstood the shock of the 1929 Wall Street Crash.

1924

Prudential shares are floated on the London Stock Exchange.

1929

Group Pensions is established, building on expertise gained from Prudential’s own staff pension scheme.

1940

Chief Office staff are evacuated to Torquay and other regional centres during the Second World War. By 1945, Prudential had paid £5.5 million in claims on nearly 110,000 deaths; 21,000 of these comprised one third of all British civilians killed in air raids.