Our Heritage

Transamerica's origins began in 1904 as the vision of a young entrepreneur, AP Giannini, who established a community bank serving small businesses and farmers. Years later, Transamerica Corporation was established as a holding company in 1928, and in 1930 acquired Occidental Life Insurance which was renamed Transamerica Occidental Life Insurance Company (Transamerica).

Transamerica opened its first sales office in Shanghai in 1933. In 1941, Transamerica was forced to temporarily close its China offices due to the outbreak of World War II, after which the Transamerica companies were re-established in 1947 and conducted business in Hong Kong. And once again continued to serve customers in Asia.

After decades of expansion, Transamerica commissioned architect William Pereira to design a new company headquarters in San Francisco. The Transamerica Pyramid was completed in 1972, and remains one of San Francisco's most iconic buildings to this day.

The Transamerica Pyramid is a distinctive structure that is widely admired and is recognised internationally. It is an iconic symbol of strength and stands as a source of great pride for Transamerica.

Transamerica started operations in Hong Kong in 1970, and in 2005, Transamerica Life (Bermuda) Ltd. was incorporated in Bermuda followed by the rebranding and establishment of a full service branch in Hong Kong and opening of a full service branch in Singapore in 2006.

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