Nailing its colours to the
mast, Symetra Life Insurance Company has declared its intention to
“significantly” expand its presence in the US group life insurance
market.
Symetra intends to drive
long-term growth in the group life market by expanding in-house
underwriting, claims and actuarial expertise, and investing in
field sales
support.
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“We see terrific growth
potential for group life insurance in the underserved mid-sized
employer market,” commented Symetra CEO Tom Marra.
“This business is a natural
extension of the employee benefits products we already offer, and
it builds on our individual life insurance capability.
“With a renewed focus on
group life, we want to create an even stronger employee benefits
franchise and further diversify our product mix.”
Symetra, which ranks among
the top-40 US life insurers and has some 1.8m customers, is also
active in the employee benefits, annuities and individual life
insurance sectors. Symetra was also ranked as the market leader in
medical stop-loss insurance, in an analysis published by rating by
Standard & Poors in 2009.
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By GlobalDataMedical stop-loss insurance
is a form of reinsurance for self-insured employers that limits the
amount they will have to pay for each employee’s health care or
total company health care expenses.
Established in 1957 as Safeco
Life and Investments (SLI), Symetra made history of a sort in
January 2010 when it listed on the New York Stock Exchange to
become the first US life insurers to execute an initial public
offer since (IPO) 2004. The Bellevue, Washington
state-headquartered insurer raised new capital of $248m in the
IPO.
In the IPO, a further 9.7m
existing shares were sold for a total of about $117m by certain
investors including private equity firm JC Flowers and asset
management firm Fairholme Capital Management.
However, a significant aspect
of the IPO was the decision by the companies which led the investor
group that acquired SLI in 2004 – Warren Buffet’s flagship
Berkshire Hathaway and US general insurer and reinsurer White
Mountains Insurance Group – to retain their stakes in
Symetra.
In the first nine months of
2010, Symetra reported a net profit of $138.7m, up 44.2% compared
with the first nine months of 2009, while premium income reflected
a marginal 0.5% increase to $354.7m.
Total revenue increased by 4% to $1.184bn.
