The Alliance was formed by Sir Moses Montefiore and Nathan Mayer Rothschild (married to sisters) with the intention of creating an insurance company with a larger capital and more influential directors than any before.
To support the embryonic life business, the directors recruited Benjamin Gompertz (married to Montefiore's sister), now best known for his law of mortality, and the Alliance was launched in March 1824 with a capital of £5 million.
One of the company's first achievements was to break the monopoly in marine insurance held by Lloyds and the two Chartered Corporations, London and Royal Exchange, via an Act of Parliament.
[1][2] One month after its launch, the Alliance ambitiously resolved to accept foreign insurance, life and fire from the principal towns of Europe, America, the West Indies and India.
Organic growth was not neglected and the Alliance started the major new line of accident insurance in 1907 following the Workmen's Compensation Act 1906.