CS Knowledge Base

Storebrands oldest roots trace back to "Den almindelige Brand-Forsikrings-Anstalt", established in 1767 as a compulsory fire insurance scheme for buildings in Norwegian cities. The scheme later evolved into Norges Brannkasse. The name Storebrand originates from "Christiania almindelige Branfosikrings-Selskab for Varer og Effekter", founded on May 4, 1847.^[5]

Throughout the 20th century, Storebrand expanded through a series of acquisitions and mergers, including the acquisition of Idun (1923) and the travel insurance company Europeiske (1936). In 1983, the Norden Group and the Storebrand Group merged, an in 1984 Norske Folk and Norges Brannkasse were jointly marketed under the name UNI forsikring. The company changed its name to AS Storebrand in 1986.^[5]

In 1991 Storebrand merged with the companies under the UNI Forsikring trademark (Norges Brannkasse and Norske Folk), to become UNI Storebrand. Later attempts to acquire Swedish insurance company Skandia, together with Danish company Hafnia and Finnish company Pohjola, to form a large Nordic insurance company under Norwegian leadership, failed in 1992. This caused the share prices of UNI Storebrand to plummet and the government took control of the company. In 1993 the company successfully managed to restructure its debt and was again made available for trading on the Oslo Stock Exchange.^[5]

In 1996 the company changed its name to Storebrand ASA, and was granted governmental concession to operate banking services through its fully owned subsidiary Storebrand Bank.^[5]

The following year, attempts to merge with Christiania Bank og Kreditkasse, now part of Nordea, failed as Storebrand did not achieve the necessary two-thirds majority for the merger from its shareholders. 63,38 percent voted in favor.

In 1999 Storebrand merged its P&C insurance division with similar divisions of Skandia and Pohjola to form If P&C Insurance, in which Storebrand retained an ownership share of 33 percent. The shares were later sold, a natural consequence of Storebrand starting a new P&C insurance division to become a competitor of If, while If also became a competitor of Storebrand by selling health insurance and certain pension plans.

In 2007, the group acquired the Swedish pension provider SPP.^[9]

Odd Arild Grefstad became CEO in 2012. ^[5]

Subsequent acquisitions include private equity manager Cubera (2019), fintech and savings platform Kron (2022) , and Danica Pensjon Norge (integrated in 2023).^[3][14]

Storebrand Livsforsiking AS is a leading pension provider in the Norwegian market, offering occupational pensions, private pension saving, and life insurance for businesses, public-sector entities and private individuals.^[15]

Its products include:

• Defined Contribution Pensions
• Individual Pension Saving
• Individual Pension Accounts
• Paid-up Policies (Fripoliser)

Storebrand Asset Management AS is Norway's largest private asset manager and managed approximately NOK 1,469 billion in assets at the end of 2024.^[4]

The business includes:

• Storebrand fonder AB
• Storebrand eiendom
• Storebrand Fastighet
• SKAGEN Funds

Funds are offerd under the Storebrand, Delphi and SKAGEN brands.^[3]

Storebrand has been a pioneer in responsible investing since the mid-1990s.^[16]

Storebrand Bank ASA is a direct-to-consumer bank offering:^[17]

• Mortgages
• Deposit accounts
• Payment cards
• Savings products

The group has decided to phase out the banks corporate banking operations. The saving platform Kron, acquired in 2022, is part of the retail offering. ^[12]

Storebrand Forsikring AS is responsible for the groups annual risk products, including:^[18]

• Property and casualty insurance
• Personal and employee risk Insurance

Storebrand Helseforsikring AS was sold in 2024.

the failed attempt to acquire Skandia in 1991-1992 remains one of the most widely discussed events in Norwegian financial history.^[3]

The group was placed under public administration on 25 August 1992 and investigated through NOU 1993:9 and NOU 1994:7.^[21]

In March 2022, Norway's Financial Supervisory Authority (Finanstilsynet) criticized Storebrand Asset Management following a document-based review.^[22]

The authority concluded that the funds Storebrand Kreditt and Storebrand Kort Kreditt IG had been presented with stronger historical performance than they had actually achieved, due to comparisons with benchmark indices considered non-representative. Finanstilsynet stated that it viewed the issues seriously, and Storebrand subsequently implemented corrective measures.^[22]

Following an on-site inspection, finanstilsynet published a report in April 2026 identifying significant weaknesses in Storebrand Banks internal controls, particularly regarding anti-money laundering compliance.^[23]

According to the regulator, the Board had not adequately addressed known weaknesses dating back to 2019 despite strong lending growth, and the banks lending practices exposed it to credit risk inconsistent with the boards stated risk appetite.^[23]

In June 2026, Finanstilsynet concluded that sustainability information about funds on Storebrands Banks kron.no platform was misleading. ^[24]

The regulator found the Mornignstar sustainability globes were presented in a way that could lead consumers to believe they measured the actual sustainability of investments rather than sustainability risk. Storebrand acknowledged that it had used an outdated explanation and removed both the sustainability globe rating and carbon-risk rating for the fund overview.^[24]