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Berkshire Hathaway is a holding company with a wide array of subsidiaries engaged in diverse activities. The firm's core business segment is insurance, run primarily through Geico, Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group, and Berkshire Hathaway Primary Group. Berkshire has used the excess cash thrown off from these and its other operations over the years to acquire Burlington Northern Santa Fe (railroad), Berkshire Hathaway Energy (utilities and energy distributors), and the companies that make up its manufacturing, service, and retailing operations (which include five of Berkshire's largest noninsurance pretax earnings generators: Precision Castparts, Lubrizol, Clayton Homes, Marmon, and IMC/ISCAR). The conglomerate is unique in that it is run on a completely decentralized basis.

Aviva is a multiline insurer listed on the London Stock Exchange. The company traces its roots back to the 17th century with the establishment of Hand-in-Hand. After the Great Fire of London, this mutual was formed to provide protection against fires. Hand-in-Hand was then acquired by Commercial Union in 1905. Over the years, Hand-in-Hand insured London landmarks such as London Bridge, the British Museum, and the Palace in Lambeth. The life insurance part of Aviva began in the early part of the 18th century with the establishment of Amicable, again a mutual but this time to protect widows and children against the loss of life.

Ageas was spun out of Fortis during the financial crisis after a consortium including Banco Santander and Royal Bank of Scotland launched a failed bid for ABN Amro. The takeover was badly timed and ambitious, and to fund it Fortis started selling noncore divisions while writing down collateralised debt. As Fortis’ capital began to decline, the company initiated a rights issue, and the long-held promised dividend was suspended. As Fortis’ share price began to decline and financial market conditions continued to worsen, with a series of leadership changes customers began to withdraw their deposits. Fortis was approached by the government and sold its domestic banking operations to the Belgium government. BNP Paribas and was asked to spin off its insurance and asset management divisions.

Originally established as Prudential Mutual Assurance, Investment, and Loan Association in 1848, Prudential plc has moved on a lot since then. Set up to sell life insurance and loans to the middle and then the industrializing and urbanizing working classes, the company subsequently diversified into Europe and then North America with the purchase of Jackson National Life in around 1985. During its time as owner of Jackson, Prudential focused on building out a simple chassis-style product portfolio where customers could choose a variety of add-ons. The company also became renowned for its focus on building requisite internal capabilities to support its strong product offerings, including compelling technology and a large and well-trained salesforce.