Business Moves

CAA, Bridges Group Inc.

Austin, Texas-based Combined Agents of America LLC (CAA) has added Bridges Group Inc., based in Kansas, to its roster of agency members.

Since 1894, the Bridges Group has served the region surrounding Norton, Kan., with a range of insurance products, including home, business, crop, farm and ranch, auto, health, and other financial services. Since 2004, Bridges Group has been selected by the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA) as a Best Practices agency.

Founded in 1997, Combined Agents of America LLC (CAA) has 40 independent insurance agency members located throughout Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.

Zurich North America Commercial’s Energy Casualty group has opened offices in Cleveland, Ohio, and Atlanta, Ga. The Cleveland office will be the base of operations for an expanded mining practice, while the Atlanta office will serve accounts in the southeastern United States.

Motorists Mutual Insurance, Federal Home Loan Bank

Motorists Mutual Insurance Company (Motorists) of Columbus, Ohio, reported it has been approved for membership at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati (FHLBank).

With $1.2 billion in assets and rated “A” (Excellent) by A.M. Best, Motorists is the 21st insurance company to join FHLBank and is among more than 180 insurance companies in the 12-district FHLBank system.

Membership allows Motorists to take advantage of FHLBank’s product line of financial services, including low-cost advances that can be used for liquidity management and general asset/liability management.

Motorists Mutual Insurance Company is the lead company in The Motorists Insurance Group. The group of companies is composed of nine property and casualty, life and brokerage companies. Motorists’ products are sold by a network of more than 4,000 independent agents in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana and Michigan.

The FHLBank is a $98 billion congressionally-chartered wholesale regional bank providing financial services for residential housing and economic development to 728 member financial institutions located in Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee.

American Enterprise, Homesteaders

Two Des Moines area insurance companies have called off plans for a merger.

American Enterprise Group Inc. of Des Moines and Homesteaders Life Co. of West Des Moines said in a joint statement that they’ve nixed the deal. The companies had signed a letter of intent to merge in January.

Homesteaders spokesman Dean Lambert says the deal came apart because the two companies were unable to ensure that policy owner value before and after the transaction could be maintained.

American Enterprise owns Des Moines-based American Republic Insurance and Omaha-based World Insurance Co., which specialize in health insurance.

AIG

American International Group (AIG) has taken down the most prominent sign at its downtown Manhattan offices. According to a Reuters report, the company replaced the large AIG sign outside the entrance to its property/casualty offices as part of its plan to change that operation’s name to AIU Holdings Ltd. and re-brand the global insurance operations.

The sign is outside the company’s Water Street offices, around the corner from AIG’s 70 Pine Street headquarters, which has long been marked only with an understated brass plaque inscribed, “American International Building.”

AIG has said it may sell the headquarter building, as part of its drive to raise funds to repay its debt to the U.S. government.

The AIG name became tainted after large losses on mortgage bets necessitated a government bailout of $85 billion last September. Twice since then, more aid has been provided to AIG, with the rescue now costing U.S. taxpayers as much as $180 billion.

Topics USA Ohio AIG