Åland Mutual (Finland), known locally as Ömsen, is a non-life insurance company that insures cars, houses, businesses, and animals. Since 2019, personal insurance, including accident insurance, travel insurance, life insurance and sickness insurance, have been added to its portfolio. Åland Mutual writes insurance on its home islands and also on the Swedish and Finnish mainland.
Based in the autonomous part of Finland, the Åland Islands, Åland Mutual has been providing non-life insurance products to its local community since 1866. As a small and independent insurance mutual, Åland Mutual wanted to establish connections with other mutuals around the world to share knowledge and gain inspiration. With ICMIF’s support, the insurer arranged visits to fellow insurers in the Netherlands.
The challenge
Åland Mutual were keen to discuss ideas, examine challenges and explore potential solutions with fellow mutual leaders, particularly on topics such as digitalisation, sustainability and mutuality.
The mutual was also in the process of driving an internal leadership initiative for young employees, three of whom participated in this international exchange as a final activity within that programme.
The connection experience
ICMIF facilitated an exchange of experience between Åland Mutual and two of its Dutch members: Univé Dichtbij and Onderlinge Nederland.
- Univé Dichtbij is a cooperative association of eight regional cooperatives with over 1.8 million members, tracing its origins back more than 200 years.
- Onderlinge Nederland, which recently celebrated its 130th anniversary, is a mutual life insurer and mortgage lender offering guarantee products to over 230,000 members.
Members involved
Key insights and learnings
The visit highlighted the common challenges and opportunities that mutuals and cooperatives share around the world, despite differences in structure, size and product offerings.
The two-day visit included workshops and discussions where each insurance openly shared experiences, strategies and actions around three key areas: digitalisation, sustainability and mutuality.
Åland Mutual realised that that many of the challenges it faces as a smaller-sized mutual, are similar to those faced by its Dutch counterparts. For example, both Åland Mutual and Onderlinge Nederland have embarked on a journey to digitise, and the exchange provided an opportunity to discuss how to bring customers along on this journey.
These efforts, which led to a record attendance of 400 members at its 2025 AGM, were well received by the Dutch counterparts, who described the discussions as “inspiring.”
Onderlinge noted that it was equally inspiring to learn how Åland Mutual operates within its market, the choices it makes, and to share its own approach in return.
The Åland Mutual delegation was particularly impressed by the webinars Onderlinge had developed for its members — an idea they are considering adopting. Overall, the visit provided valuable insights and meaningful perspectives for all three mutuals.
Outcomes
During the visit, Åland Mutual was introduced to a Dutch-developed tool that streamlines report production, which enables the simultaneous creation and management of multiple reports. Åland Mutual is now exploring whether this tool could be applicable to its own operations.
The insurer looks forward to continuing the conversations it started with Onderlinge Nederland and Univé Dichtbij, expanding the dialogue to include more colleagues and focusing more specific topics together in the future.
