The economic recession of the early 1990s hit the nation hard and resulted in growing rates of both bankruptcies and unemployment. As Sampo's business focus was on households, the depression had less impact on the company as compared to many of its competitors.

In 1994, Sampo acquired the insurance companies Otso and Teollisuusvakuutus. The latter specialized in large-scale industry and suffered badly from the economic depression. In spring 1994, Sampo also acquired Vahinko-Kansa.

During the same year, the European Economic Area (EEA) was formed, which transformed Europe into a common market for 320 million people. For Sampo, the EEA Agreement meant that Finnish companies working on an international level would have more freedom to purchase their insurance policies in other European Community (now European Union) countries. Foreign insurance companies now also had easier access to the Finnish market. The competition for clients was intensifying, but Sampo retained its opportunities for growth.

Sampo accommodated the pressure of internalization at the time by expanding into the Baltic states and Russia. It was the first international insurance company in Saint Petersburg to form its own body of representatives to assist Finnish and international companies in risk management. Sampo also closely followed the steps of the insurance company If, which was founded in 1999 by Skandia, a Swedish insurance company and Storebrand, the Norwegian insurer.

As the depression wore off, life insurance policies gained more in popularity compared to other insurance policies. Nordic insurance companies started to invest in this growing sector and Sampo also went on to found a life insurance company in 1997, which was at the time called Henki-Sampo (Sampo Life) and is nowadays known as Mandatum Life. At the end of the century, Sampo had grown to become Finland’s largest insurance company by some distance.