western life INSURANCE Western Reserve Life Measured growth became rapid expansion as WRL acquired other small INSURANCE companies and their blocks of business. By the end of 1962. the company was able to conduct business in five states. Also in 1962. a major milestone occurred when Jack Kenney joined Western Reserve Life as Director of Marketing. Over the course of the next three decades. Mr. Kenney would be named Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. leading WRL to become one of the nations top providers of annuities and variable universal life INSURANCE. By the mid-1960s. evolving customer needs were beginning to dictate a change in financial products. As part of their financial planning. more and more Americans were learning about the possibility of rewards from the stock market. Mutual funds were emerging as a popular financial instrument. However. consumers were hard pressed to afford both the premiums on traditional. whole-life INSURANCE and investments in mutual funds. It seemed like an either-or situation: either the security provided by life INSURANCE or the growth potential provided by the stock market. but not both. WRL pioneered the solution to this dilemma with the introduction of a new marketing concept. The Balanced Program. The Balanced Program gave consumers the power to enjoy the cost-effective security of term life INSURANCE and the growth potential of mutual funds with a single check. For the concept to work. WRL had to create a Broker/Dealer network of representatives licensed to sell INSURANCE and mutual funds. Thus. in 1967. Western Reserve Financial Services was formed. But one more piece of the puzzle was missing: a mutual fund. In 1968. key stockholders of Pioneer Management Company. investment advisor to the nations second oldest fund group. the Pioneer Funds. agreed to a business venture with Western Reserve Life. The resulting holding company was called Pioneer-Western Corporation. The decade ended with WRLs move to Florida. The move established the foundation for even more profitable growth. The next fifteen years would bring much change. During this period. WRL spun off from Pioneer-Western Corporation. was bought then sold by a railway conglomerate and a child care corporation. and expanded its portfolio of financial products. Throughout it all. WRL continued to prosper. By the mid-70s. barely 16 years after its birth. the company achieved $1 billion of life INSURANCE in force. The second billion came only two years thereafter. This phenomenal growth was a direct result of the success of the companys innovative products. Indeed. the Balanced Program was well established. but while the sales force continued to sell the Pioneer Fund. WRL no longer owned the management company. The search was on to acquire a new fund management company. In 1985. WRLs search bore fruit. Janus Capital enjoyed a great track record. but at the same time had no sales force and minimal assets. Our parent company launched a joint venture with Janus. and in June 1985. the IDEX Fund was launched. At WRL. it was business as usual: sales were booming and there was yet another revolutionary product around the corner. Western Reserve Lifes first variable universal life INSURANCE product was launched in 1986. This revolutionary product gave consumers all the benefits of life INSURANCE along with the flexibility to choose among investment options. ranging from the lower risk-lower return potential of bonds to the higher risk-higher return potential of equities. And consumers could enjoy any growth of their cash value on a tax-deferred basis. WRLs first annuity was introduced shortly thereafter. Sales soared. In 1991. Jack Kenney went searching for a corporate parent with the INSURANCE roots. capital. flexibility. and vision to appreciate WRLs specialty: annuities and variable universal life INSURANCE. Happily for us all. a deal was struck. In February of 1991. WRL became a member of the AEGON INSURANCE group. It took WRL 20 years to achieve the first billion dollars of life INSURANCE in force. In just the last eight years. our life INSURANCE in force has increased over seven-fold to over $62 billion. In 1998. WRL became a member of the Insurance Marketplace Standards Association (IMSA). a voluntary membership organization whose purpose is to promote high ethical standards in the sale of individual life INSURANCE and annuities. WRL capped off the year by moving into a beautiful new building in sunny St. Petersburg. Florida. Today. Western Reserve Life continues its leadership and innovation in the financial services industry on the strength of its history. its products. and its people. Article Source: INSURANCEbrokerageamerica/western-reserve.html
Posted on: Sun, 27 Jul 2014 06:51:19 +0000