Mercantile Mutual

The Mercantile Mutual Insurance Company was an Australian insurance and financial services company. It was established in 1878,[1] and lasted until 2001, when it became part of ING Australia.[2] The insurance portion of the business was later sold to ANZ and branded as OnePath in 2010.[3][4]

In 2017, ANZ announced the sale[5] of the OnePath business as the Wealth Australia life insurance business to Zurich Financial Services Australia (Zurich)[6] and ANZ's OnePath Pensions and Investments and Aligned Dealer Group businesses ("OnePath P&I") to IOOF Holdings (now Insignia Financial)[7][8]

This sale was completed in 2022.[9]

The history of the Mercantile Mutual Insurance Company is contained in the book 'Servant of a century : the first 100 years of the Mercantile Mutual Insurance'[10]

Mercantile Mutual sponsored the Australian domestic limited-overs cricket tournament from 1992 to 2001, when it was called the "Mercantile Mutual Cup"[11] for that time.

Further reading

  • Servant of a Century: The First 100 Years of the Mercantile Mutual Insurance (1978)

References

  1. Major Companies of The Far East and Australasia 1992/93: Volume 3: Australia and New Zealand Graham and Trotman, 1992, retrieved 14 September 2023^
  2. Lachlan Gilbert. Mercantile Mutual name to disappear Money Management, Momentum Media, 12 February 2001, retrieved 14 September 2023^
  3. ANZ rebrands ING as OnePath The West Australian, 4 August 2010, retrieved 14 September 2023^
  4. About OnePath OnePath, retrieved 14 September 2023^
  5. Update on Wealth Australia Divestments - ANZ ANZ Shareholder update, 12 December 2017, retrieved 26 March 2026^
  6. Zurich enters agreement to acquire ANZ’s life insurance businesses in Australia www.zurich.com, retrieved 2026-03-26^
  7. Successful separation of Pensions & Investments Business from ANZ Insignia Financial, 24 October 2020, retrieved 26 March 2026^
  8. Media Release - ANZ completes sale of OnePath P&I to IOOF ANZ, 3 February 2020, retrieved 26 March 2026^
  9. Unravelling a complex corporate structure: ANZ’s Wealth divestment explained www.anz.com.au, retrieved 2026-03-26^
  10. Harry Mayfield. Servant of a century : the first 100 years of the Mercantile Mutual Insurance Mercantile Mutual Insurance, 1978^
  11. One-Day Cup (Australia) Wikipedia, 2026-03-13, retrieved 2026-03-26^