North American Life

Last updated
North American Life
Company type Mutual
Industry Insurance
Founded1881;143 years ago (1881)
FateAmalgamated with Manulife in 1996
HeadquartersToronto, Ontario

The North American Life Assurance Company, commonly known as North American Life, was an insurance company headquartered in Newtonbrook,Toronto, Ontario.

Contents

In 1995, it was one of the largest mutual insurance companies in North America with US$4.48 billion in assets before merging with The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company to form Manulife Financial the following year. [1]

History

Nineteenth century

Following the defeat of the Liberal government in the federal election of 1878, the outgoing prime minister Alexander Mackenzie moved from Ottawa to Toronto. The following year, Mackenzie's friends endeavored to find him employment and decided to sponsor the incorporation of an insurance company. On January 4, 1881, The North American Life Assurance Company was incorporated in Toronto with Mackenzie serving as its first president and George William Allan, a Conservative, as vice-president. [2] Apart from Allan, virtually all of the company's founding members were Liberal luminaries, among them Donald Alexander Macdonald, Edward Blake, George Brown, Richard John Cartwright, and OIiver Mowat. [3] From its inception, the company was national in scope, having agents in all provinces by 1882. Mackenzie served as president until 1892, though for the last few years he was inactive. He was succeeded by John L. Blaikie.

Early management of the company was decentralized and vested in five standing committees with a board of twenty-five members. In the first three months following its founding, the company issued 1,131 policies worth a total of $416,634, and by 1900 had 17,402 policies in force for a total value of $25,575,142. [2]

Twentieth century

Advertisement, c. 1910 North American Life advertisement.jpg
Advertisement, c. 1910

During World War I, the company's assets rose by 25%, with $2,000,000 of these assets being invested in victory bonds. The Great Depression saw a substantial increase in lapsed policies and a sharp decrease in returns on the company's investments.

In 1931, the semicentennial anniversary of the company's founding, a motion in support of mutualization was passed during a special general meeting. These efforts were met with hostility by those who accused the company of embezzlement under the guise of mutualization, with an investigation by the Banking and Commerce Committee of the House being called for in Parliament by Michael Luchkovich. [4] A defence of the company in Parliament was launched by prime minister R. B. Bennett, who stated that North American Life "belongs to the policy-holders" who had unanimously enacted to mutuallize; no investigation was subsequently launched. [4]

The board and management of the mutualized company included Thomas Bradshaw as president and D. E. Kilgour as general manager, with George Stewart Henry and Louis-Alexandre Taschereau among its directors. [2] Since its founding in 1881, the company had occupied the old United Empire Club building at 112 King Street West in Toronto. In 1932, the company opened its new headquarters at the same address, which was designed in the Art Deco style by Marani, Lawson & Morris. [5] This building was demolished in 1976, with some of its decorative features being moved to the grounds of the Guild Inn. [6] By 1935, sales of life insurance had returned to normal.

North American Life headquarters at 112 King Street West in Toronto, 1932 (demolished in 1976) North American Life hq.jpg
North American Life headquarters at 112 King Street West in Toronto, 1932 (demolished in 1976)

Post-war era

During World War II, the company saw its total business in force increase at a rate of 9% per annum, from $239,456,765 in 1939 to $362,085,616 in 1945. [2] In the immediate post-war period, the company grew substantially, passing the $1 billion in force mark in 1954 with a yearly business increase of between 12% and 14%. This was owed to the company shifting its investments into mortgages and an increase in its number of group insurance policies. [7] In 1984, the North American Life Centre was opened at 5650 and 5700 Yonge Street in Toronto, which features a sculpture of the company's logo by Burton Kramer. [8] The new building was shared with Xerox, and was constructed on the site where prime minister Lester B. Pearson was born; a commemorative plaque can be found on the facade. By 1987, total assets numbered $3.7 billion.

Amalgamation

In 1992, North American Life posted a 25% fall in profits as a result of higher health insurance claims and lower investment income from its real estate and equity portfolios. [9] In 1996, the company amalgamated with The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company to form Manulife Financial. With this amalgamation, Manulife Financial acquired ownership of Elliot & Page Limited, a mutual funds company, and entered into the mutual fund business, renaming the new subsidiary Manulife Financial Asset Management Limited. [10] The new company became the largest group life and health carrier in Canada, representing 13% of the market at the time of the amalgamation. [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

The Independent Order of Foresters, operating as Foresters Financial, is a fraternal benefit society headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada that provides life insurance and other financial solutions in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. As of 2022, Louis Gagnon has served as the company's president and CEO.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Friends Provident</span> British life insurance company

Friends' Provident Insurance was a banking institution founded in 1832 to serve the needs of the Society of Friends (Quakers). Based in Bradford, Yorkshire, it concentrated on sickness and annuity policies until its life fund acquired Century Insurance in 1918, expanding into general insurance. The restriction to Quaker membership was an increasing constraint but the ties were substantially reduced by the Friends' Provident Institution Act 1915. Although Century's branch network enabled FPI to expand, the periodic underwriting losses strained the life fund's capital base and Century was sold in 1975. In the year 2000, Friends Provident demutualised and listed on the FT100 Index. After abortive takeover negotiations, Friends accepted a takeover bid from Resolution Limited in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Hancock Financial</span> American insurance company

John Hancock Life Insurance Company, U.S.A. is a Boston-based insurance company. Established April 21, 1862, it was named in honor of John Hancock, a prominent American Patriot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sun Life Financial</span> Canadian insurance company

Sun Life Financial Inc. is a Canadian financial services company. It is primarily known as a life insurance company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manulife</span> Canadian multinational insurance company and financial services provider

Manulife Financial Corporation is a Canadian multinational insurance company and financial services provider headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The company operates in Canada and Asia as "Manulife" and in the United States primarily through its John Hancock Financial division. As of December 2021, the company employed approximately 38,000 people and had 119,000 agents under contract, and has CA$1.4 trillion in assets under management and administration. Manulife at one point serviced over 26 million customers worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canada Life</span> Canadian financial services and insurance company

The Canada Life Assurance Company, commonly known as Canada Life (Canada-Vie), is an insurance and financial services company with its headquarters in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The current company is the result of the 2020 amalgamation of The Great-West Life Assurance Company, London Life Insurance Company and The Canada Life Assurance Company, along with their holding companies. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Great-West Lifeco.

The Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, also known as MassMutual, is a Springfield, Massachusetts-based life insurance company.

A segregated fund or seg fund is a type of investment fund administered by Canadian insurance companies in the form of individual, variable life insurance contracts offering certain guarantees to the policyholder such as reimbursement of capital upon death. As required by law, these funds are fully segregated from the company's general investment funds, hence the name. A segregated fund is analogous to the U.S. insurance industry "separate account" and related insurance and annuity products.

Great-West Lifeco Inc. is a Canadian insurance-centered financial holding company that operates in North America, Europe and Asia through five wholly owned, regionally focused subsidiaries. Many of the companies it has indirect control over are part of its largest subsidiary, The Canada Life Assurance Company; the others are managed by Great-West Lifeco U.S. LLC, a U.S. based subsidiary. Great-West Lifeco is indirectly controlled by Montreal billionaire Paul Desmarais Jr. through his stake in the Power Corporation of Canada, which owns 72% of Great-West Lifeco. The hyphen in the company's name was originally a typesetter's error.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wawanesa Insurance</span>

Wawanesa Insurance—officially The Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company, also known as Wawanesa Mutual or simply Wawanesa—is a Canadian mutual insurance firm, as well as among Canada's ten largest property and casualty insurers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maritime Life</span>

The Maritime Life Assurance Company was a Canadian insurance company based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It was founded in 1922 and in 2004 it became fully integrated with Manulife Financial, with the Maritime Life brand being retired. In 2004 it had 2700 employees.

Standard Life is a life assurance, pensions and long-terms savings company in the UK which is owned by Phoenix Group.

Desjardins Financial Security (DFS) is the life and health insurance arm of Desjardins Group, the leading financial institution in Quebec and the largest cooperative financial group in Canada. DFS registered a record-breaking revenue data in 2016, with a year-over-year increase of 12.5%. In terms of written premium, the industry ranks second in Quebec, and fifth in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Empire Life</span> Canadian company

The Empire Life Insurance Company, operating as Empire Life, is a Canadian life insurance and financial services company headquartered in Kingston, Ontario. It was incorporated in 1923 and is a subsidiary of E-L Financial Corporation Limited of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The company provides individual life, health and investment products as well as group life and health products through independent distribution partners including financial advisors, management general agents, national account firms and employee benefit producers. Empire Life is the parent company of Empire Life Investments Inc., a Canadian investment management company launched in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northwestern Mutual</span> American financial services company

Northwestern Mutual is an American financial services mutual organization based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The financial security company provides consultation on wealth and asset income protection, education planning, retirement planning, investment advisory services, Financial Planning trust and private client services, estate planning and business planning. Its products include life insurance, permanent life insurance, disability income, and long-term care insurance; annuities; investments; and investment advisory products and services. Northwestern Mutual ranked No. 90 on the 2021 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue and is in the top 30 by assets held. The firm distributes a portion of its earnings to eligible policyholders as annual dividends.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SSQ Insurance</span>

SSQ Insurance, was a mutual diversified financial institution founded in 1944 in Quebec, Canada, which offers insurance and investment products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York</span> American life insurance company

The Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York was the oldest continuous writer of insurance policies in the United States. Incorporated in 1842, it was headquartered at 1740 Broadway, before becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of AXA Financial, Inc. in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donald Guloien</span> Canadian business executive

Donald Arthur Guloien is a Canadian business executive. He was the President and CEO of the financial services company, Manulife, the largest insurance company in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CI Financial</span> Largest investment management firm by assets under management in Canada

CI Financial is a Canadian investment management company based in Toronto, Ontario. It offers investment management and wealth management services targeted to high net worth retail investors, as well as brokerage and trading services to portfolio managers and institutional investors.

References

  1. 1 2 "Insurers Agree To a Merger In Canada". The New York Times. The Associated Press. 8 September 1995.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Stevens, O. B. (1956). North American Is A Way of Life: 1881-1956. Toronto: North American Life Assurance Company.
  3. ↑ "Biography – MACKENZIE, ALEXANDER – Volume XII (1891-1900) – Dictionary of Canadian Biography". www.biographi.ca. Retrieved 2022-02-16.
  4. 1 2 "House of Commons Debates, 17th Parliament, 3rd ... - Canadian Parliamentary Historical Resources". parl.canadiana.ca. Retrieved 2022-02-17.
  5. ↑ Torontoist (2010-02-13). "Historicist: North American Edifice Complex". Torontoist. Retrieved 2022-02-17.
  6. ↑ Hauch, Valerie (5 May 2016). "Once Upon A City: Guild Inn an artists' muse that still inspires". The Toronto Star.
  7. ↑ "Reports Good Year: North American Life New Business at Peak". The Globe and Mail. Toronto, Ont. 7 February 1956. p. 22. ProQuest   1291577793.
  8. ↑ https://www.csaregistries.ca/files/projects/4775-1449_GHGReport_20120501_20130430.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  9. ↑ "INVESTMENT NEWS: North American Life posts 25% fall in profit". The Globe and Mail. Toronto, Ont. 16 November 1992. p. B9. ProQuest   1151740287.
  10. ↑ "Manulife Financial Corporation | The Canadian Encyclopedia". www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. Retrieved 2022-02-17.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.