ABSTRACT
As one door closed: another opened. The onset of war led to heightened demand from insurance companies for reinsurance cover. Hatry bought a small reinsurance company from its former German owners and recapitalised it. So successful did this business prove that within 18 months, Hatry was able to sell, realising a substantial profit.
The profit was used to buy a small bank, Commercial Bank of London, which Hatry then reorganised so that it could be use as the foundation for his future stock exchange transactions.
In December 1916, Hatry was just 28.
