Prudential plc

Prudential plc is a British multinational life insurance and financial services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It was founded in London in May 1848 as The Prudential Mutual Assurance Investment and Loan Association to provide loans to professional and working people.

Prudential's largest division is Prudential Corporation Asia, which has over 13 million customers across 12 Asian markets and is a top-three provider of life insurance in Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and Vietnam. Its Prudential UK division has around 7 million customers and is a leading provider of life insurance and pensions in the UK. Prudential also owns Jackson National Life Insurance Company, which is one of the largest life insurance providers in the United States, and M&G Investments, a Europe-focused asset manager with total assets under management of £547 billion at June 2014.

In December 2013 Prudential acquired the Ghanaian life insurance company, Express Life, marking its entry into the African direct life insurance market. Prudential subsequently rebranded the business as Prudential Ghana. In September 2014, it purchased Kenyan life insurer Shield Assurance, rebranding the company as Prudential Kenya.

Prudential has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It had a market capitalisation of approximately £41,630 million as of 4 February 2015. Prudential has secondary listings on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, New York Stock Exchange and Singapore Exchange.

History
1848 to 2000
The company was founded on 30 May 1848 in Hatton Garden in London as The Prudential Mutual Assurance Investment and Loan Association providing loans to professional and working people.

In 1854, the Company began selling the relatively new concept of industrial branch insurance policies to the working class population for premiums as low as one penny through agents acting as door to door salesmen. The army of premium collection agents was for many years identified with the Prudential as the "Man from the Pru".

It moved to its traditional home at Holborn Bars in 1879 and converted to a limited company in 1881. The building was designed by Alfred Waterhouse, and is built of terracotta manufactured by Gibbs and Canning Limited of Tamworth (c.1878) — two of the same driving forces behind the Natural History Museum in London.

The Prudential Assurance Company Limited was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1924.

In 1986, Prudential acquired the American insurer Jackson National Life. In 1997, Prudential acquired Scottish Amicable, a business originally founded in 1826 in Glasgow as the West of Scotland Life Insurance Company, for £1.75bn.

In 1998, Prudential set up Egg, an internet bank within the UK. The subsidiary reached 550,000 customers within nine months but had difficulty achieving profitability. In June 2000 an initial public offering of 21% was made to allow for further growth of the internet business but in February 2006 Prudential decided to repurchase the 21% share of Egg. Egg was subsequently sold to Citibank in January 2007.

In 1999, M&G, a UK fund management company, was acquired.

In June 2000, the Company was first listed on the New York Stock Exchange to help focus on the US market.

2000 to present
In October 2004 Prudential launched a new subsidiary, PruHealth, a joint venture with Discovery Holdings of South Africa selling private medical insurance to the UK market.

In April 2008 Prudential outsourced its back office functions to Capita: about 3,000 jobs were transferred (1,000 in Stirling, 750 in Reading and 1,250 in Mumbai). This significant outsourcing deal, worth an estimated £722m over a 15-year contract, built on Prudential's existing relationship with Capita who took over its Belfast operation in 2006 along with approximately 450 employees in a smaller operational restructure.

On 1 March 2010, Prudential announced that it was in "advanced talks" to purchase the pan-Asian life insurance company of AIG, American International Assurance (AIA) for approximately £23 billion. The deal later collapsed and AIA ended up raising money in an IPO.

In December 2013, Prudential announced the purchase of Ghana’s Express Life Company. Express Life was subsequently rebranded as Prudential Ghana. .In April, Prudential launched two corporate responsibility initiatives to support education in Ghana: the Prudential Scholarship Programme for more than 500 senior high school students, in partnership with the NGO Plan Ghana; and a scheme to support actuarial science graduates.

In September 2014, Prudential purchased Kenyan life insurer Shield Assurance and rebranded it as Prudential Ghana, further expanding the company’s presence in Africa.

On 10 March 2015, it was announced that the CEO, Tidjane Thiam, would leave Prudential to become the next CEO of Credit Suisse. On 1 May 2015, it was announced that Mike Wells, head of the company's US business, would succeed Tidjane Thiam as CEO, on a pay package worth up to £7.5 million.

Berkshire Hathaway

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. The company wholly owns GEICO, BNSF, Lubrizol, Dairy Queen, Fruit of the Loom, Helzberg Diamonds, FlightSafety International, and NetJets, owns 26% of Kraft Heinz Company and an undisclosed percentage of Mars, Incorporated, and has significant minority holdings in American Express, The Coca-Cola Company, Wells Fargo, IBM and Restaurant Brands International. Berkshire Hathaway averaged an annual growth in book value of 19.7% to its shareholders for the last 49 years (compared to 9.8% from the S&P 500 with dividends included for the same period), while employing large amounts of capital, and minimal debt.

The company is known for its control and leadership by Warren Buffett, who is the company's Chairman of the Board, President, and Chief Executive Officer, and Charlie Munger, the company's Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors. In the early part of Buffett's career at Berkshire, he focused on long-term investments in publicly traded companies, but more recently he more frequently bought whole companies. Berkshire now owns a diverse range of businesses including confectionery, retail, railroad, home furnishings, encyclopedias, manufacturers of vacuum cleaners, jewelry sales, newspaper publishing, manufacture and distribution of uniforms, and several regional electric and gas utilities.

According to the Forbes Global 2000 list and formula, Berkshire Hathaway is the fifth largest public company in the world. On August 14, 2014, the price of the company's 'A' shares hit $200,000 per share for the first time in the history of the company.

History
Berkshire Hathaway traces its roots to a textile manufacturing company established by Oliver Chace in 1839 as the Valley Falls Company in Valley Falls, Rhode Island. Chace had previously worked for Samuel Slater, the founder of the first successful textile mill in America. Chace founded his first textile mill in 1806. In 1929 the Valley Falls Company merged with the Berkshire Cotton Manufacturing Company established in 1889, in Adams, Massachusetts. The combined company was known as Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates.

In 1955 Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates merged with the Hathaway Manufacturing Company which had been founded in 1888 in New Bedford, Massachusetts by Horatio Hathaway with profits from whaling and the China Trade. Hathaway had been successful in its first decades, but it suffered during a general decline in the textile industry after World War I. At this time, Hathaway was run by Seabury Stanton, whose investment efforts were rewarded with renewed profitability after the Depression. After the merger Berkshire Hathaway had 15 plants employing over 12,000 workers with over $120 million in revenue and was headquartered in New Bedford. However, seven of those locations were closed by the end of the decade, accompanied by large layoffs.

In 1962, Warren Buffett began buying stock in Berkshire Hathaway after noticing a pattern in the price direction of its stock whenever the company closed a mill. Eventually, Buffett acknowledged that the textile business was waning and the company's financial situation was not going to improve. In 1964, Stanton made an oral tender offer of $111⁄2 per share for the company to buy back Buffett's shares. Buffett agreed to the deal. A few weeks later, Warren Buffett received the tender offer in writing, but the tender offer was for only $113⁄8. Buffett later admitted that this lower, undercutting offer made him angry. Instead of selling at the slightly lower price, Buffett decided to buy more of the stock to take control of the company and fire Stanton (which he did). However, this put Buffett in a situation where he was now majority owner of a textile business that was failing.

Buffett initially maintained Berkshire's core business of textiles, but by 1967, he was expanding into the insurance industry and other investments. Berkshire first ventured into the insurance business with the purchase of National Indemnity Company. In the late 1970s, Berkshire acquired an equity stake in the Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO), which forms the core of its insurance operations today (and is a major source of capital for Berkshire Hathaway's other investments). In 1985, the last textile operations (Hathaway's historic core) were shut down.

In 2010, Buffett claimed that purchasing Berkshire Hathaway was the biggest investment mistake he had ever made, and claimed that it had denied him compounded investment returns of about $200 billion over the subsequent 45 years. Buffett claimed that had he invested that money directly in insurance businesses instead of buying out Berkshire Hathaway (due to what he perceived as a slight by an individual), those investments would have paid off several hundredfold.

Zurich Insurance Group

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd. is a Swiss insurance company, commonly known as Zurich, headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland. The company is Switzerland's largest insurer. As of 2013, the group was the world's 75th largest public company according to Forbes' Global 2000s list, and in 2011 it ranked 94th in Interbrand's top100 brands.

Zurich is a global insurance company which is organized into three core business segments: General Insurance, Global Life and Farmers. Zurich employs around 60,000 people serving customers in more than 170 countries and territories around the globe. The company is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. As of 2012 its capital position was strong, with shareholders' equity of $34.494 billion.

History
The company was founded in 1872 as a marine reinsurance under the name "Versicherungs-Verein" (Insurance Association), a subsidiary of the Schweiz Marine Company. In 2000, after a number of acquisitions, it was unified to form one holding company – Zurich Financial Services.

In April 2012, Zurich Financial Services Ltd changed its name to Zurich Insurance Group Ltd. In a statement the Group explained the rationale behind the name change. "In recognition of this strategic focus, the reference to financial services in the company name has been replaced by indicating the insurance activity of the Group instead and to specify the purpose accordingly."

Core business segments

General Insurance
Zurich's General Insurance business serves individuals, small and medium-sized businesses and major multinational corporations with motor, home, and commercial products and services.

Global Life
Zurich's Global Life business offers life insurance, savings, investment and pension products. In the United States life insurance is issued by Zurich American Life Insurance Company with offices in Schaumburg, Illinois and New York City.

Farmers
Zurich's Farmers segment includes Farmers Management Services, which provides non-claims related management services to the Farmers Exchanges (not owned by Zurich), as well as the Farmers RE business which includes reinsurance assumed from the Farmers Exchange by the Group. Zurich’s Farmers Insurance Group is the third largest insurance group in the United States.

Corporate social responsibility
In 2009, Zurich was awarded Charity Times "Best Insurance Services" and was shortlisted again in 2010. In 2012 the Zurich Community Trust (UK) won the Cross Sector Partnership of the Year Award for its partnership with the treatment charity Addaction.

According to its website, Zurich Community Trust has donated over £60 million since 1972, with the goal of addressing key social issues. It has supported over 600 charities a year, making a measurable impact on the lives of over 80,000 people. Zurich was one of the first recipients of the Community Mark from Business in the Community which it has successfully retained for three years.

At a group level, the Z Zurich Foundation's mission is to help individuals and communities understand and manage risk, leveraging Zurich's core strengths as an insurer. Zurich is achieving this aim by working with long-term partnership with select non-profit organizations such as Practical Action, the Rainforest Alliance, and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

In March 2012, Zurich reinforced its commitment to the Z Zurich foundation by making a substantial investment of $100 million.

In 2011, Zurich launched a free online resource – My Community Starter – designed to make getting involved in community activities more simple.

On 24 October 2002, Zurich North America hosted a ceremony at the 9/11 Tribute Center honoring the winners of its 2012 K.A.M.P. awards, a program created as a living legacy to the four employees killed on 9/11: John Keohane, Peggy Alario, Kathy Moran and Ludwig Picarro.

In March 2013, Zurich announced its global flood resilience program, which aims to enhance community flood resilience by finding innovative ways to increase the impact of disaster risk reduction efforts at community, national and global levels. The first country program is taking place in Mexico and Indonesia. To maximize the community impact of the program, Zurich has formed a strategic alliance with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

Progressive Corporation

The Progressive Corporation is one of the largest providers of car insurance in the United States. The company also insures motorcycles, boats, RVs and commercial vehicles, and provides home insurance through select companies. Progressive has expanded internationally as well, offering car insurance in Australia. The company was co-founded in 1937 by Jack Green and Joseph M. Lewis, and is headquartered in Mayfield Village, Ohio.

Segments
The company operates in three segments: Personal Lines, Commercial Auto, and Other-indemnity. The Personal Lines segment writes insurance for private passenger automobiles, motorcycles, boats, and recreational vehicles through both an independent agency channel and a direct channel. The Commercial Auto segment writes primary liability and physical damage insurance for automobiles and trucks owned by businesses primarily through the independent agency channel. The Other-indemnity segment provides professional liability insurance to community banks, principally directors, and officers liability insurance. It also provides insurance-related services, primarily providing policy issuance and claims adjusting services in 25 states for Commercial Auto Insurance Procedures/Plans. In 2011, the company was ranked 164 in the Fortune 500.

Industry information
Progressive is one of the largest auto insurers in the United States, with over 13 million policies in force, along with State Farm, Allstate, GEICO, Nationwide Insurance, Farmers Insurance Group, and USAA. Progressive primarily offers its services through the Internet or by phone and through independent insurance agents. Progressive's Agency business sells insurance through more than 30,000 independent insurance agencies and progressiveagent.com where customers can quote their own policies and then contact an agent to complete the sale.

In December 2009, Progressive announced it was selling car insurance in Australia. Initially called Progressive Direct, it rebranded as Progressive in 2011.

Marketing and operations
Progressive's marketing campaign is known for offering quotes of its competitors along with its own quote. It was the first major insurer to offer auto policies through the phone and through its web site. In September 2007 Progressive began to offer Pet Injury coverage, which provides coverage for dogs and cats that are injured in a crash and is included at no additional cost with Collision coverage.

Immediate Response Vehicles (IRVs) used by Progressive are specially modified Ford Explorers and Ford Escapes.

Corporate sponsorship
On December 13, 2006, the company said earnings rose 58 percent in November as the company retained more of the premiums it collected because of comparisons to a month affected by Hurricane Katrina claims.

In January 2008, Jacobs Field in Cleveland, Ohio, home of the Cleveland Indians, was renamed Progressive Field. Progressive signed a 16-year contract for the naming rights, as well as sponsorship rights to become the Official Auto Insurer of the Cleveland Indians. The agreement costs around $3.6 million per year. (Mayfield Village, Ohio, where the company is based, is a suburb of Cleveland.)

In March 2008, Progressive announced its title sponsorship of the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE and their funding of the $10 million prize purse. The Progressive Automotive X PRIZE is an international competition designed to inspire a new generation of viable, super fuel-efficient vehicles. The competition is open to teams from around the world that can design, build and bring to market 100 MPGe (miles per gallon energy equivalent) vehicles.

On December 14, 2010, the Gator Bowl Association announced that Progressive Insurance would become the title sponsor for the 2011 Gator Bowl college football bowl game.

Controversies
In 2002, the company settled with the State of Georgia in a class action lawsuit over diminished value claims brought by policyholders.

In 2007, the company apologized after it was revealed they hired private investigators to infiltrate a church group and pose as congregation members to collect information on litigants seeking redress from the company. Another lawsuit was filed by the litigants over the affair against the company for invasion of privacy and fraud.

In 2009, the company was sued for allegedly deceiving policyholders by employing illegally operated, unlicensed body shops to make repairs on vehicles for their clients in order to save money. The court ruled in Progressive's favor on two of the counts and the other four were dropped, pending appeal.

Also in 2009, the company was accused of ordering their advertisements off the air during the show broadcast of Glenn Beck on the Fox News Channel over comments made about U.S. President Barack Obama. Progressive responded that they never authorized their ads to be aired during Beck's program, and they aired in that timeslot due to Fox's error.

In 2012, the company was widely criticized online for how it handled the claims filed by the family of Kaitlynn Fisher. When Kaitlynn Fisher, 24, was hit and killed by a driver who ran a red light in Baltimore, Progressive fought to avoid payment due, with a policy that covered against the possibility of an accident with an underinsured driver. The driver was found to be negligent at trial with the Fisher family contending that Progressive provided legal assistance to the defense.

Liberty Mutual

Liberty Mutual Group, more commonly known by the name of its primary line of business, Liberty Mutual Insurance, is an American diversified global insurer, and the second-largest property and casualty insurer in the United States. It ranks 76th on the Fortune 100 list of largest corporations in the United States based on 2013 revenue. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, it employs over 50,000 people in more than 900 locations throughout the world. As of December 31, 2013, Liberty Mutual Insurance had $121.2 billion in consolidated assets, $102.2 billion in consolidated liabilities, and $38.5 billion in annual consolidated revenue. The company, founded in 1912, offers a wide range of insurance products and services, including personal automobile, homeowners, workers' compensation, commercial multiple peril, commercial automobile, general liability, global specialty, group disability, fire and surety.
Liberty Mutual Group owns, wholly or in part, local insurance companies in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China (including Hong Kong), Colombia, Ecuador, India, Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Venezuela and Vietnam.

In the United States, Liberty Mutual remains a mutual company where policyholders holding contracts for insurance are considered shareholders in the company. However, Liberty Mutual Group's brand usually operates as a separate entity outside the United States. In other countries, subsidiaries are often created in countries where legally recognized mutual company benefits cannot be enjoyed.

The current CEO is David H. Long. He succeeded his predecessor Edmund (Ted) F. Kelly on June 29, 2011. Ted Kelly was appointed CEO in 1998. In April 2013, Ted Kelly stepped down from the Board of Directors, as Chairman.

History
Early history
Liberty Mutual was founded in 1912 as the Massachusetts Employees’ Insurance Association (MEIA), following passage of a Massachusetts state law requiring employers to protect their employees with workers’ compensation insurance in 1911. The first branch office was opened in 1914, and later that year, the company wrote its first automobile insurance policy. The company was founded as a Massachusetts Mutual Company, where its insureds have ownership in the company. The name was changed in 1917 to the Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and, through partnerships, the company began offering full-coverage auto policies.

Structural changes
In 1964, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company began offering life insurance through its Liberty Life Assurance Branch. In 2002, the company converted into its current mutual holding company structure. The conversion was controversial, as it proposed to give policyholders an interest in the mutual insurance company, which some policyholders believed would dilute their interest in the overall company and limit their dividends. A lawsuit was filed, alleging that information provided to policyholders was misleading. Liberty Mutual settled the lawsuit in December 2001, which required additional disclosure and limited certain compensation to company officers and directors. Despite these concerns, the plan was approved by voting policyholders around November 2001. Leveraging the greater flexibility of the mutual company structure, Liberty Mutual transformed from a single-line, highly regional insurer to one of the world's leading property and casualty insurance companies.

Growth and acquisitions
Liberty Mutual's growth has been both organic and through acquisition. Early acquisitions were small, but Liberty Mutual has made several large acquisitions over the past decade, including the high-profile acquisition of Safeco Corporation in 2008. Liberty Mutual agreed to acquire all outstanding shares of Safeco for $68.25 per share, for a total transaction price of approximately $6.2 billion. The result of this activity was an increase in revenue from $6 billion to over $30 billion in twelve years. In 1999, the company purchased Wausau Insurance Cos.

Liberty Mutual created a television commercial in 2006 about people doing good things for strangers, reporting that the "overwhelming" positive response they received for the ad led to their decision to create the website The Responsibility Project.

Liberty Mutual is also the sole corporate sponsor of the long-running PBS documentary series, American Experience, and has produced special commercial messages for airing during American Experience broadcasts. In 2011, as part of the company's "Real America" campaign, the company introduced two new commercials featuring Sacagawea and Paul Revere.

In 2011, the company began construction of the Liberty Mutual Tower, a 22-story skyscraper as part of its World Headquarters Expansion Project. The building received its certificate of occupancy in June 2013.

Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety
Founded in 1954, the Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety has studied the occupational safety and health of workers. Its scientific contributions include machine safeguarding guidelines, the Cornell-Liberty Survival Car, and ergonomic guidelines that have informed the basis for national and international safety standards. More recently, the Institute developed the Workplace Safety Index, which is an annual ranking of the leading causes of the most disabling occupational injuries in the United States.

The Institute's scientists conduct field and laboratory experiments to study the major causes of work-related injury and disability, publishing their results in peer-reviewed scientific literature. Institute findings are the basis for safety programs, recommendations, and software used by Liberty Mutual loss control consultants in order to help policyholders enhance worker safety. The Institute’s work is non-proprietary, and is available to the public.

Allstate Insurance Company

The Allstate Corporation is the second largest personal lines insurer in the United States (behind State Farm and GEICO in auto) and the largest that is publicly held. The company also has personal lines insurance operations in Canada. Allstate was founded in 1931 as part of Sears, Roebuck and Co., and was spun off in 1993. The company has its headquarters in Northfield Township, Illinois, near Northbrook. Its current advertising campaign, in use since 2004, asks, "Are you in good hands?" The corporate spokesperson is Dennis Haysbert.

Allstate sponsors many sporting events, including the Allstate Sugar Bowl. In 2014, Allstate's total revenue was $35.2 billion, of which $28.9 billion came from Property Liability.

History

In 1925, Sears, Roebuck & Co. held a national contest to decide the name of a new brand of car tires. After over two million name submissions, "Allstate" was chosen as the winner; the trademark was adopted the very next year. The tires' success in both the catalog and retail stores prompted Sears Chairman General Robert E. Wood to praise the Allstate tire's contribution to Sears' retail store success.

The idea for Allstate Insurance Company came during a bridge game on a commuter train in 1930, when insurance broker Carl L. Odell proposed to Wood, his neighbor, the idea of selling auto insurance by direct mail. The idea appealed to Wood, and he passed the proposal to the Sears board of directors, which approved it. Allstate Insurance Company, named after Sears’ tire brand, went into business on April 17, 1931, offering auto insurance by direct mail and through the Sears catalog. This was in line with one of the objectives of a company to sell automobile insurance in the same manner as Sears sold its merchandise.

Lessing J. Rosenwald was Allstate's first board chairman, and Odell was named vice president and secretary.

In 1933, at the Century of Progress World’s Fair in Chicago, Allstate’s Richard E. Roskam sold insurance at a booth in the Sears pavilion. In 1934, Allstate opened its first permanent sales office in a Chicago Sears store.

In 1941, only about a quarter of U.S. drivers had auto liability insurance. This led to the state of New York passing a law which established the financial responsibility of drivers for damage or injuries resulting from auto mishaps. That law inspired legislation in other states, and by the mid-1950s nearly every state had some sort of financial responsibility law on its books.

In 1949 the Allstate Headquarters Building was completed at 3245 W. Arthington Street in Chicago. The mid-rise building is currently vacant (as of 2013) and in danger of demolition. The building is noted for its early post-war mid-rise construction. This location was vacated at some point when the company relocated in the post-war years.

The company’s "You're in Good Hands with Allstate" slogan was created in 1950 by Allstate’s general sales manager Davis W. Ellis. At the end of the decade, it was used in the company's first network television advertising campaign, which featured actor Ed Reimers.

Allstate added products throughout the 1950s, including fire insurance in 1954 and homeowners and life insurance in 1957. Allstate began selling insurance to Canadians in 1953. Allstate Insurance Company of Canada was incorporated in 1964. (In 1952 and 1953, Sears also sold an automobile called Allstate.)

In 1967, the company's home office was moved from Skokie to Northbrook, Illinois. Allstate continued to sell additional types of insurance to customers throughout the decade, including worker's compensation insurance in 1964, surety bonds in 1966, inland-marine coverage in 1967 and a business package policy in 1969.

The brand itself expanded in the 1950s and 1960s and could be found on a variety of products like fire extinguishers and motor scooters. In 1952, an Allstate car was produced, but it was a flop; it was pulled from stores by 1953. The Allstate brand was eventually limited to insurance, tires, and car batteries by the late 1960s before becoming insurance-only in the mid-1970s. In 1991, the company went public before becoming completely independent in 1995.

In 1985, Allstate began to move agents out of Sears stores and locate agents in neighborhood offices. In June 1993, 19.8 percent of Allstate became public through a stock offering. Allstate became completely independent in June 1995, when Sears spun off the remaining 80 percent stake in the company, distributing 350.5 million shares of Allstate stock to its stockholders.

In 1999, Allstate unveiled a new business model that created a single contract for exclusive, independent agents selling Allstate insurance. It also created a network of call centers.

In 1999, Allstate purchased the personal lines division of CNA Financial and subsequently renamed it to Encompass Insurance Company which is written by independent insurance agents, as opposed to the direct writing that constitutes the core part of its business.

In 2003, actor Dennis Haysbert became Allstate’s spokesman, using the tagline "That’s Allstate’s stand."

In 2010 the actor Dean Winters became a part of Allstate’s campaign "Mayhem" “personifying the pitfalls, like collisions and storm damage, that can befall drivers”.

State Farm

State Farm is a group of insurance and financial services companies in the United States. In 2014, the company sold its operations in Canada to Desjardins Group, which is continuing to use the State Farm name.

The group's main business is State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, a mutual insurance firm that also owns the other State Farm companies. The corporate headquarters are in Bloomington, Illinois.

State Farm is ranked 44th in the 2013 Fortune 500, which lists American companies by revenue.

History

State Farm was founded in 1922 by retired farmer George J. Mecherle as a mutual automobile insurance company owned by its policyholders. The firm specialized in auto insurance for farmers, and later expanded its services into other types of insurance, such as homeowners and life insurance, and to banking and financial services.

The State Farm jingle ("Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there") was written by American songwriter Barry Manilow in 1971. A cover was released by Weezer in 2011.

As of December 2013 State Farm had 65,000 employees and 18,000 agents. February 2014 figures show the group servicing 80 million policies in the United States and Canada, of which over 44,000,000 are for automobiles, 27,000,000 are for fire, 7,000,000 for life, and more than 2 million bank accounts.

Edward B. Rust, Jr. is the chairman and CEO of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, and president and chief executive officer of State Farm Fire and Casualty Company, State Farm Life Insurance Company, and other principal State Farm affiliates.

In 2014, the company sold its operations in Canada to Desjardins Group. Canadian policies were transferred to be underwritten by Desjardins Group on January 1, 2015. The State Farm brand continues to be use for agents and marketing.

Logo

The State Farm interlocked tri-oval logo was created in the mid-to-late 1940s and was updated in 1953. For nearly 60 years, this design was critical to its brand image.

On December 15, 2011, State Farm decided to transform its interlocked tri-oval logo to a contemporary logo to showcase the company’s core service offerings of auto, fire, and life. The new logo was introduced January 1, 2012, marking the company’s 90th anniversary. It consists of a simple three-oval design adjacent to the State Farm wordmark. According to Pam El, Marketing Vice President at State Farm, a change in image was needed to employ a bolder presence that could compete in today’s digital world.

Advertisement

This commercial structure is from State Farm's "Get to a Better State" campaign that premiered in June 2011, with an increased spending budget. As a result, State Farm’s brand awareness and favorability has gone up considerably. This campaign focuses on making humor out of unfortunate problems that are commonly faced. These commercials then make light of the situation by demonstrating how easy it is to contact an agent and correct the problem that has occurred. Each of these commercials follows a similar structure. A group of one to three people find themselves in an unfortunate situation. Someone in the group will then call on their State Farm agent by singing the jingle “like a good neighbor, State Farm is there”. A State Farm agent will then appear and help the group out with their problem. There are a few commercials that deviate from this structure, but still follow the same ultimate pattern.

State Farm also has commercials beginning with the words "State of..." and another word describing the certain commercial. One notable commercial shows a man awake at 3:00 in the morning on the phone with his State Farm agent. This certain commercial begins with State of Unrest. The man's wife sees him talking on the phone in a secretive way. She is suspicious and asks who is on the phone, to which her husband says: "It's Jake from State Farm". The man's wife then takes the phone and asks, "What are you wearing, 'Jake from State Farm?'", to which the agent responds in a timid way, "Uh, khakis". Still believing he's a female, the wife says, "She sounds hideous", where the husband replies, "Well she's a guy, so…"

Aflac

Aflac is a Fortune 500 company, providing financial protection to more than 50 million people worldwide. When a policyholder or insured gets sick or hurt, Aflac pays cash benefits fairly, promptly and directly to the insured. For nearly six decades, Aflac voluntary insurance policies have given policyholders the opportunity to focus on recovery, not financial stress.

Our company

Since the founding of our company in 1955, we've put the customer first by reminding ourselves daily of the promises we've made to those we insure. By doing so, we've gained the trust of more than 50 million people who count on us to pay claims fairly and promptly when they need us most. Our customers choose Aflac because of our commitment to providing them with the confidence that comes from knowing they have assistance in being prepared for whatever life may bring.

Our Business Operations & Strategy

Our strategy for growth in the United States and Japan has remained straightforward and consistent for many years: Aflac develops relevant voluntary insurance products and sells them through expanded distribution channels.

Aflac is made up of thousands of people whose actions are dedicated to providing exemplary service and solutions for businesses and individuals. It’s important that we accomplish this by staying true to our values and our culture, which embody something we call “The Aflac Way.” Each day, we work to advance our straightforward, time-tested strategy to ensure we protect our customers.

Aflac does business in the two largest insurance markets in the world, the United States and Japan, and our policies cover more than 50 million people worldwide. For nearly six decades, our strategy for growth in these segments has remained straightforward and consistent – develop relevant voluntary insurance products and sell them through expanded distribution channels.

Aflac Japan

Aflac is the No. 1 life insurance company in terms of the number of individual insurance policies in force in Japan.

Sponsorships:

Whether it's at the Heisman Trophy ceremony, on the greens of the PGA TOUR or on the red carpet at the GRAMMYs, Aflac's national sponsorships bring the Duck to some of the nation's biggest events. No matter the venue, the beloved advertising icon inspires fans around the country to quack, "Aflaaaaac!"

GRAMMYs

Known as "Music's Biggest Night," the GRAMMY Awards celebrate the music industry's pinnacle of achievements. Aflac's partnership with The Recording Academy allows the company to connect with a young and diverse audience, while also creating unique, music-centric experiences to help artists and fans alike understand that Aflac promises to be there for its policyholders when the need help most.

Heisman Trophy

Few awards garner the prestige of the Heisman Trophy. Every year since 1935, the Heisman Trophy Trust has awarded the famous bronze statue to the college football player whose performance best exhibits the pursuit of excellence with integrity both on the field and off. Aflac's partnership with the Heisman Trophy embodies the same spirit of excellence,
performance, perseverance, and respect that we strive
to offer to our customers.

PGA TOUR

Aflac is a leader in supplemental insurance and has been recognized for sharing qualities that have long been associated with the PGA TOUR, among them integrity and philanthropy. Both organizations have earned universal recognition and garnered mass appeal. Aflac policyholders have a deep passion for the game of golf, and Aflac associates share that same passion for helping people get back in the game
of life by delivering on a promise  to help policyholders
focus on recovery, not financial stress.

American Automobile Association

The American Automobile Association is a federation of motor clubs throughout North America. AAA is a non-profit member service organization; with 54 million members in the United States and Canada. AAA provides services to its members, including roadside assistance and others. Its national headquarters are in Heathrow, Florida.

Current operations

Members belong to one of 69 individual clubs (see List of AAA regional clubs), and the clubs in turn own AAA. The number of local clubs has decreased over time through consolidation; as late as the 1970s the membership roster included dozens of clubs that each served a single county, particularly in New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The member clubs have arranged a reciprocal service system so that members of any participating club are able to receive member services from any other affiliate club. Member dues finance all club services as well as the operations of the national organization.

The vast majority of AAA clubs have "AAA" as part of their name, although the two largest AAA clubs by membership do not: the Automobile Club of Southern California and Auto Club South.

From the standpoint of the consumer, AAA clubs primarily provide emergency road services to members. These services, which include towing, lockouts, winching, tire changes, automotive first aid, battery replacement, and others, are handled by private local towing companies contracted by a state AAA club. AAA sells roadside assistance for a variety of motor vehicles, including motorcycles. In some areas, AAA also offers bicycle roadside assistance. Many AAA clubs have an automotive fleet division serving large metro areas, while private towing companies cover the surplus call volume by area. Recently, certain clubs have implemented an "on the go" diagnostic/installation automotive battery program.

Clubs also distribute road maps (including customized map guides for specific journeys, branded as "TripTik") and travel publications (TourBooks), and rate restaurants and hotels according to a "diamond" scale (one to five). The best hotels and restaurants according to AAA's criteria receive the Five Diamond Award. Many offices sell automobile liability insurance, provide travel agency, auto-registration and notary services. Maps, TourBooks, and travel agent services are generally free to members. AAA also offers member discounts through its "Show Your Card & Save" program.

AAA is authorized by the U.S. Department of State to issue International Driving Permits in the United States, along with the National Automobile Club.

International affiliates

The AAA has reciprocal arrangements with a range of international affiliates. In general, members of affiliates are offered the same benefits as members of the AAA while traveling in the United States, while AAA members are offered equivalent benefits while traveling in the territory of the affiliate.

International affiliates include:
- ARC Europe, encompassing the leading European clubs, including the Automobile Association (United Kingdom), ANWB (Netherlands), ADAC (Germany), ACI (Italy), TCS (Switzerland), TCB (Belgium), ÖAMTC (Austria) and RACE (Spain) below.

- The Royal Dutch Touring Club (ANWB) in the Netherlands

- The Canadian Automobile Association in Canada (TourBooks and maps of Canadian places are published by AAA, and are distributed by AAA and CAA clubs using both AAA and CAA logos).

Farmers Insurance Group

Farmers Insurance Group (informally Farmers) is a U.S. insurer group of automobiles, homes and small businesses and also provides other insurance and financial services products. Farmers Insurance has more than 50,000 exclusive and independent agents and approximately 22,000 employees.

Operations

The Farmers Exchanges, headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, are three reciprocal insurers or inter-insurance exchanges (Farmers Insurance Exchange, Fire Insurance Exchange and Truck Insurance Exchange) owned by their policyholders. The Farmers Exchanges, directly or through their subsidiaries and affiliates, offer homeowners insurance, auto insurance, commercial insurance, and financial services throughout the United States. Farmers Group, Inc. (dba Farmers Underwriters Association) and its subsidiaries, Truck Underwriters Association and Fire Underwriters Association, provide certain non-claims administrative services for the Farmers Exchanges as their attorneys-in-fact. The Farmers Exchanges do not hold an ownership interest in Farmers Group, Inc., and neither Farmers Group, Inc. nor its ultimate parent, Zurich Financial Services Ltd., a Swiss company, holds an ownership interest in any of the Farmers Exchanges.

The Foremost Insurance Group, headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is a group of companies that primarily insure specialty products such as mobile homes, motor homes, travel trailers and specialty dwellings, motorcycles, off-road vehicles, boats and personal watercraft. It was founded in 1952 and was acquired by the Farmers Exchanges in March 2000. The Foremost companies are subsidiaries of the Farmers Exchanges.

The Bristol West Insurance Group became a part of Farmers in July 2007. In 1973, it began providing private passenger auto insurance to residents in Florida and now provides liability and physical damage insurance – focusing exclusively on private passenger vehicles – across the United States. 

The Bristol West companies are subsidiaries of the Farmers Exchanges.

21st Century Insurance, headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, became a part of Farmers in July 2009. Using the internet and direct response marketing channels, 21st Century markets personal auto insurance to consumers throughout the United States. The 21st Century Insurance companies are subsidiaries of the Farmers Exchanges.

Farmers New World Life Insurance Company started as Catholic Life Insurance Company in Spokane, Washington in 1910. Later that year it was renamed New World Life Insurance Company. In 1953, it was acquired by Farmers Group, Inc. In 1954, its name was changed to the current 

Farmers New World Life Insurance Company. Farmers New World Life Insurance Company is now based in the Seattle suburb of Mercer Island, Washington. It offers flexible universal life insurance, traditional term life insurance, whole life insurance and annuities. Farmers New World Life Insurance Company is a subsidiary of Farmers Group, Inc.

Farmers Financial Solutions, LLC. was created by the Farmers Exchanges in 2000 to provide financial products to customers.

Products and services

Farmers' products and services include:

- auto insurance
- home insurance, including homeowners, condominium and renters insurance, mobile and manufactured home insurance, specialty home insurance, including landlord and rental properties, seasonal homes, and vacation homes, and flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program
- motorcycle insurance
- life insurance, including term, whole and universal life insurance
- recreational insurance, such as insurance for boats, ATVs, RVs, and travel trailers
- business insurance for small and medium-sized businesses, such as liability and property insurance, commercial auto and workers compensation insurance for apartment and commercial property owners, artisan contractors, condominium homeowner associations, retail stores, service providers, offices, religious organizations, educational and non-profit organizations, hotels, motels, bed &  breakfasts, and other businesses in the light manufacturing, restaurant, wholesale, and auto service & repair industries
- financial services and products, such as mutual funds and variable annuities.

Sponsorships

Farmers Field

On February 2011, Farmers announced that it had agreed to sponsor a football stadium in the city of Los Angeles. This stadium would have been located downtown, close to the Staples Center. The contract was signed for 30 years, and its estimated cost is $700 million. This deal starts with $20 million for the first year, and then eventually increases. This stadium was planned to be named as “Farmers Field”. Even though Los Angeles does not officially own a football team yet, the NFL has given their approval to build the stadium.

The Farmers Insurance Open

Farmers became the title sponsor of the Farmers Insurance Open PGA tournament in Torrey Pines, CA in 2010. The event raises millions for local San Diego charities each year.

NASCAR

Farmers is the sponsor of the No. 5 Chevrolet SS driven by Kasey Kahne for Hendrick Motorsports in the Sprint Cup Series since the 2012 season. Farmers was the first to introduce a #hashtag on a racecar. Kahne's first victory in the No. 5 was at the 2012 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Farmers promotes its motor-sport relationship through the Farmers Racing website.

Truckers Insurance HQ

Truck Insurance | Truckers Insurance HQ, is one of Australia’s premiere truck, transport and earthmoving insurance brokerages, assisting businesses of all types and sizes ranging from owner operators, to national corporate fleets.
As a specialist division of Your Risk Adviser, Truck Insurance | Truckers Insurance HQ has access to over 150 of Australia’s leading insurers and underwriting agencies, as well as the buying power of being a TOP 20 Broker as recognized by National Adviser Services 2014.

The experienced staff at Your Risk Adviser will work with you to understand your business, identify your insurance needs and tailor an insurance package that is not only comprehensive but also competitive.

As part of our service to clients, we will:
– Review your existing insurance portfolio.
– Review your insurance needs as required (Annually minimum).
– Advise on risk minimization strategies.
– Provide FREE consignment note & contract comment by transport specialist solicitors.
– Research the various insurers and products available including negotiation of customised coverage with insurers where required.
– Develop an insurance portfolio implementation strategy.
– Provide ongoing portfolio management, including remarketing to insurers.
– Provide claims management and loss minimisation services.


Our Transport Specialist can assist you with advice and coverage for:
– Vehicles, Machinery, Fleets.
– Load Insurance.
– Public & Products Liability.
– Carriers Liability.
– Trailers In Control / Non Owned / Hired Out.
– Workers Compensation / Income Protection
– Chain of Responsibility / Management Liability

Be covered on the road

Truck Insurance Specialist
Trucking is a major industry in Australia. It keeps the Australian economy moving by ensuring that industrial products are delivered to their destinations on time. As a truck owner, you need to be assured that your trucks and goods in transit will get to their destinations safely.

Unfortunately for truck owners, the road can be full of mishaps. Goods in transit can get stolen or damaged and trucks can get into vehicular accidents. Expenses related to such incidents can be so astronomical they could shut down a business.

Many truck owners understand the risks and take a no nonsense approach to managing these risks. Commercial motor insurance is an essential aspect of the Australian transport industry and should cover all possible legal liabilities that a trucking company could face.

Truck insurance should not seem like a foreign language. Let us help you understand the varying degrees of coverage and what they mean to a truck owner.

You can expect to get commercial vehicle insurance for broader protection. We can provide you with every type of coverage from cargo insurance, fleet insurance and liability insurance to make sure you are legally and adequately covered.

You can find cheaper truck insurance without putting your business at risk. Compare commercial vehicle insurance rates today for your trucking insurance needs.