Our Beginning

In 1904, a young entrepreneur named Amadeo Giannini created the Bank of Italy in a converted San Francisco saloon. His goal was to make financial services available to everyone — not just the wealthy few. And so he did; after the 1906 quake and fire, Giannini set up a makeshift bank on the San Francisco docks, giving residents loans to rebuild, secured with only a handshake .

 

In 1928, Giannini merged with Bank of America, and in 1930 acquired Occidental Life Insurance Company through Transamerica Corporation. The banking and life insurance businesses separated in 1956, with the latter taking the Transamerica name. And in 1972, the now iconic Transamerica pyramid claimed its place in the San Francisco skyline .

 

Changing Times

A flurry of creativity and acquisition activity in the 1960s and 1970s resulted in Transamerica owning interests in not only life insurance and financial services, but also motion picture distributor United Artists, Trans International Airlines and Budget Rent A Car.

In the mid-1980s, Transamerica refocused its core business on its founding mission of making insurance and financial tools available to more people. And in July 1999, Transamerica began a new chapter in its history when it became part of one of the world's leading international financial organizations: Aegon N.V.

 

Modern Day

Today, the Transamerica companies are as committed to helping people as we were 100 years ago. Customers now have access to an even wider range of services, from life insurance to retirement plans, to secure their financial futures.

From our very beginning we've been committed to helping you build a solid financial foundation for now and the future. And we’ll continue to do so with insurance and financial products that are as affordable as they are exceptional.