By Matt Ackermann
March 26, 2009
Steven Turtz, the new president of SunTrust Insurance Services Inc., said he was hired to "significantly" expand the SunTrust Banks Inc. unit by increasing distribution within the bank."This is a business that is ready to explode," Turtz said in an interview last week. "We have critical mass and we have proven that insurance products can be delivered through SunTrust. Now, we just have to take it to the next level."Turtz, who succeeded David Sweigart, said there are a lot of ways to expand distribution through the Atlanta company's bank and wealth management channels.SunTrust Insurance currently offers its products and services almost exclusively to the bank's high-net-worth customers; if it can offer insurance products to all of the bank's customers, the revenue payoff can be considerable, he said."SunTrust Insurance was built as a boutique business to handle one segment of customers, but I really believe I was brought in to increase distribution to all customers," he said."There are distribution channels and customers that SunTrust Insurance is just not taking advantage of, including the retail channel," Turtz said. "I think we are in a perfect storm, because currently there are a lot of banking customers that are worried about their portfolios and their assets. We can present another product and another solution that just isn't discussed very often. We haven't taken advantage of all the customers that SunTrust provides banking to."Turtz, who started his new job last week after a stint with Comerica Inc., said he expects SunTrust Insurance's revenue to increase by 30% to 40% in the next 24 months and that he expects to double business in the next three years."Quite frankly, we are heading in the right direction and we have certainly made strides in the right direction," he said. "We have the people in place to help make this a mainstream product."In the past two years, SunTrust "didn't expand distribution" in insurance, he said."They filled a good space with SunTrust's wealthy clients, but since then they haven't taken advantage of their other channels. They became stagnant, and basically that is the reason I am here."Turtz said he plans to add staff to increase sales, including hiring from other banks. "There are a lot of quality people out there today because of this environment we are working in," he said. "My goal continues to be to find ways to grow and expand, and that requires people from both a sales and marketing perspective. Taking this organization to the next level means bringing on professional from wire houses and banks."SunTrust has steadily increased its insurance revenue over the past 10 years. According to data from Michael White Associates, a Radnor, Pa., company that tracks the investment and insurance industry, SunTrust ranked 33rd nationally in insurance brokerage income as of Sept. 30, with $12.2 million. Comerica ranked 51st, with $7.7 million."SunTrust has potential to grow, but it gets more difficult to get larger in terms of dollar volume as you keep climbing," Michael White, the company's president, said in an interview. "There is less room for growth at SunTrust than there was at Comerica. SunTrust is not a name you immediately think of in terms of their insurance business."Turtz spent two and a half years at Comerica. Before joining Comerica he worked at Highland Capital and Wells Fargo. He accepted the position at SunTrust "to work at a company with a real commitment to insurance," he said. It "is just a much, much bigger and broader business base and a company that has insurance entrenched in its financial planning model."That is not to say Comerica neglected the insurance line, but it was "more of a commercial bank," focused on its business customers, Turtz said. "The size and scale was just not as large. We were spending time building" the insurance business "on the retail and business side rather than thinking of it as a component of a wealth management platform.""In this environment, it is important to understand taking a consultative approach to selling products," he said. "Two years ago, customers were very concerned with returns. Now they are interested in products that are insured."Mr. White said Comerica, which was No. 72 in insurance brokerage income in March 2007, has "really been making good steady progress."
Monday, March 30, 2009
Health Insurance Data Mistakenly Put Online
La Plata Patients Affected by Court Error Patients at a La Plata medical office are among about 250 people whose health insurance information was erroneously made public online by the U.S. District Court of Maryland.
The information was included in public documents through the federal court system's searchable online database, said a lawyer involved in the case. The breach was first reported Sunday by the Washington Examiner. The information has since been blocked from public view.
Some of the Washington area residents affected are patients at the Crain Highway medical offices where Abdul Fadul practices. Fadul, who is listed as an internist and cardiologist, and one of his partners, Ali Al-Attar, are under federal investigation on suspicion of health insurance fraud, according to court documents. Al-Attar, an internist, does not appear to practice in La Plata. Both doctors operate offices in Falls Church and Oxon Hill.
Al-Attar's attorney, Bruce Marcus, said that names, birthdays and health-care policy numbers were listed online for about 250 people. Social Security numbers were listed for about 50. Marcus said he did not know how many of those affected are patients at the La Plata clinic. Calls to the clinic and to Fadul's attorney, Paul Kemp, were not returned.
"The disclosure was done through government action, so they will have to do whatever is necessary to ensure that there is no untoward use of this private information," Marcus said. Calls to the court were not returned.
Federal officials raided the doctors' offices this month after an employee alerted them to suspicious billing methods. The doctors are accused of billing health insurance companies for more than $2 million worth of services they did not provide, according to court documents.
Corporations, universities and health providers have mistakenly posted private information online, exposing people to the risk of identity theft, according to the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a Washington-based research group. But Lillie Coney, the center's associate director, said she had never heard of a similar incident involving medical information obtained through online court documents.
"When a court posts medical information, it punishes patients who had nothing to do with the prosecution or the crime allegedly committed in first place," Coney said.
Such information is especially sensitive, she said, because a privacy breach could reveal a patient's medical conditions. The center has pushed for tighter restrictions regarding publicly accessible online court records, especially as it relates to people incidental to an investigation.
"It wouldn't have been enough just to black out the names, because patients can be identified by much more than just their name and Social Security number," Coney said. "And in a small community, there's an even greater ability to identify innocent people."
The information was included in public documents through the federal court system's searchable online database, said a lawyer involved in the case. The breach was first reported Sunday by the Washington Examiner. The information has since been blocked from public view.
Some of the Washington area residents affected are patients at the Crain Highway medical offices where Abdul Fadul practices. Fadul, who is listed as an internist and cardiologist, and one of his partners, Ali Al-Attar, are under federal investigation on suspicion of health insurance fraud, according to court documents. Al-Attar, an internist, does not appear to practice in La Plata. Both doctors operate offices in Falls Church and Oxon Hill.
Al-Attar's attorney, Bruce Marcus, said that names, birthdays and health-care policy numbers were listed online for about 250 people. Social Security numbers were listed for about 50. Marcus said he did not know how many of those affected are patients at the La Plata clinic. Calls to the clinic and to Fadul's attorney, Paul Kemp, were not returned.
"The disclosure was done through government action, so they will have to do whatever is necessary to ensure that there is no untoward use of this private information," Marcus said. Calls to the court were not returned.
Federal officials raided the doctors' offices this month after an employee alerted them to suspicious billing methods. The doctors are accused of billing health insurance companies for more than $2 million worth of services they did not provide, according to court documents.
Corporations, universities and health providers have mistakenly posted private information online, exposing people to the risk of identity theft, according to the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a Washington-based research group. But Lillie Coney, the center's associate director, said she had never heard of a similar incident involving medical information obtained through online court documents.
"When a court posts medical information, it punishes patients who had nothing to do with the prosecution or the crime allegedly committed in first place," Coney said.
Such information is especially sensitive, she said, because a privacy breach could reveal a patient's medical conditions. The center has pushed for tighter restrictions regarding publicly accessible online court records, especially as it relates to people incidental to an investigation.
"It wouldn't have been enough just to black out the names, because patients can be identified by much more than just their name and Social Security number," Coney said. "And in a small community, there's an even greater ability to identify innocent people."
Monday, March 23, 2009
Hannaford to Partner With Insurance Companies
SCARBOROUGH, Maine — As the nation’s health care costs continue to rise, Hannaford Bros.’ customers may get discounts on their insurance premiums under a new initiative in the works. The retailer plans to link its new myHannaford online shopping tool to health insurance companies’ customer reward initiatives, SN has learned.
Under a pilot program slated to kick off in the second quarter, several yet-to-be-named insurance companies will reward customers who buy healthy foods at Hannaford by giving them free gift cards for products that earn Guiding Stars, according to Julie Greene, Hannaford’s healthy living director. Discounts on monthly insurance premiums are also being discussed.
As proof that they’re buying healthy foods, customers would print out their shopping history via myHannaford and send it to their insurance company. Available via a link on the Hannaford.com website, myHannaford provides side-by-side comparisons of foods’ nutritional value, along with their Guiding Stars rating and price.
The insurance plan comes at a time when Safeway has said it plans to reward employees with premium reductions this year if their FoodFlex reports show that they’re buying healthy foods. FoodFlex is a personalized online food and nutrition tool that delivers a nutritional analysis of food purchases made with loyalty cards.
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© 2009 Penton Media Inc.
Under a pilot program slated to kick off in the second quarter, several yet-to-be-named insurance companies will reward customers who buy healthy foods at Hannaford by giving them free gift cards for products that earn Guiding Stars, according to Julie Greene, Hannaford’s healthy living director. Discounts on monthly insurance premiums are also being discussed.
As proof that they’re buying healthy foods, customers would print out their shopping history via myHannaford and send it to their insurance company. Available via a link on the Hannaford.com website, myHannaford provides side-by-side comparisons of foods’ nutritional value, along with their Guiding Stars rating and price.
The insurance plan comes at a time when Safeway has said it plans to reward employees with premium reductions this year if their FoodFlex reports show that they’re buying healthy foods. FoodFlex is a personalized online food and nutrition tool that delivers a nutritional analysis of food purchases made with loyalty cards.
Read More of Today's Headlines
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© 2009 Penton Media Inc.
Ping An’s Chairman Ma Didn’t Take a Salary in 2008
Feb. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Ping An Insurance (Group) Co., China’s second-largest insurer, said Chief Executive Officer Peter Ma will forgo his salary for 2008 after the company lost $2.3 billion on its investment in Fortis.
Ma, who earned 66.16 million yuan ($9.7 million) in 2007, made the decision after the financial crisis “affected company performance,” Ping An’s Shenzhen-based spokesman Sheng Ruisheng said in a telephone interview today.
Ping An has forecast a “significant” drop in annual profit because of the decline in the value of its stake in Belgium’s Fortis, bailed out by three European governments last year. Ma, who earned 33 times more than his counterpart at larger China Life Insurance Co. in 2007, joins executives at companies from Citigroup Inc. to Sany Heavy Industry Co. who have taken pay cuts as the financial crisis erodes earnings.
“That was the company’s response to the public’s skepticism over its high compensation and management abilities” following the Fortis losses, said Olive Xia, an analyst at Core Pacific Yamaichi in Shanghai. “It can help restore investor confidence, but will have little effect on company profit.”
Ping An’s net income may have dropped by 30 percent from 2007 to 13 billion yuan last year, said Xia. The company, scheduled to release 2008 financial results April 10, has fallen 58 percent in Hong Kong trading since the start of last year.
Pay Cuts
Ma’s compensation compares with the 1.99 million yuan made by Yang Chao, chairman of China Life, the nation’s biggest insurer, in 2007, and 1.156 million yuan PICC Property & Casualty Co. paid Chairman Wu Yan for the same year.
Sheng declined to say whether Ma, 53, received the money and is returning it or didn’t get paid last year, as well as whether other Ping An senior executives or board members agreed to compensation cuts.
Ma, who has been with Ping An since 1988 when the company was set up and has been chairman since 1994, gave 20 million yuan from the 66.16 million yuan to Beijing-based charity China Soong Ching Ling Foundation, the company said. His income after tax and the donation was 25.794 million yuan.
Citigroup Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit said Feb. 11 that he will take a salary of $1 and no bonus until the bank, which has accepted $45 billion in government bailout money, returns to profitability.
Sany Heavy, China’s biggest supplier of concrete-making equipment, said Feb. 5 it plans to cut Chairman Liang Wengen’s annual salary to 15 cents and slash the pay of board members by as much as 90 percent in 2009 because of the financial crisis.
Fortis Stake
Ping An in November 2007 paid 1.81 billion euros for a 4.9 percent stake in Fortis, which became a casualty of the global credit crunch after pouring 24.2 billion euros ($31 billion) into the acquisition of ABN Amro Holding NV assets in 2008 just as the U.S. subprime-mortgage market collapsed.
The Chinese insurer voted against a state-organized breakup of Fortis, once Belgium’s biggest financial services company, on Feb. 11, saying asset sales driven by the Belgian government “severely impaired” shareholders’ interests. Ping An reported a third-quarter loss after a 15.7 billion yuan impairment charge on the Fortis investment.
Ping An Chief Investment Officer John Pearce left the company two months ago.
To contact the reporter for this story: Zhang Dingmin in Beijing at Dzhang14@bloomberg.net Last Updated: February 24, 2009 00:36 EST
Ma, who earned 66.16 million yuan ($9.7 million) in 2007, made the decision after the financial crisis “affected company performance,” Ping An’s Shenzhen-based spokesman Sheng Ruisheng said in a telephone interview today.
Ping An has forecast a “significant” drop in annual profit because of the decline in the value of its stake in Belgium’s Fortis, bailed out by three European governments last year. Ma, who earned 33 times more than his counterpart at larger China Life Insurance Co. in 2007, joins executives at companies from Citigroup Inc. to Sany Heavy Industry Co. who have taken pay cuts as the financial crisis erodes earnings.
“That was the company’s response to the public’s skepticism over its high compensation and management abilities” following the Fortis losses, said Olive Xia, an analyst at Core Pacific Yamaichi in Shanghai. “It can help restore investor confidence, but will have little effect on company profit.”
Ping An’s net income may have dropped by 30 percent from 2007 to 13 billion yuan last year, said Xia. The company, scheduled to release 2008 financial results April 10, has fallen 58 percent in Hong Kong trading since the start of last year.
Pay Cuts
Ma’s compensation compares with the 1.99 million yuan made by Yang Chao, chairman of China Life, the nation’s biggest insurer, in 2007, and 1.156 million yuan PICC Property & Casualty Co. paid Chairman Wu Yan for the same year.
Sheng declined to say whether Ma, 53, received the money and is returning it or didn’t get paid last year, as well as whether other Ping An senior executives or board members agreed to compensation cuts.
Ma, who has been with Ping An since 1988 when the company was set up and has been chairman since 1994, gave 20 million yuan from the 66.16 million yuan to Beijing-based charity China Soong Ching Ling Foundation, the company said. His income after tax and the donation was 25.794 million yuan.
Citigroup Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit said Feb. 11 that he will take a salary of $1 and no bonus until the bank, which has accepted $45 billion in government bailout money, returns to profitability.
Sany Heavy, China’s biggest supplier of concrete-making equipment, said Feb. 5 it plans to cut Chairman Liang Wengen’s annual salary to 15 cents and slash the pay of board members by as much as 90 percent in 2009 because of the financial crisis.
Fortis Stake
Ping An in November 2007 paid 1.81 billion euros for a 4.9 percent stake in Fortis, which became a casualty of the global credit crunch after pouring 24.2 billion euros ($31 billion) into the acquisition of ABN Amro Holding NV assets in 2008 just as the U.S. subprime-mortgage market collapsed.
The Chinese insurer voted against a state-organized breakup of Fortis, once Belgium’s biggest financial services company, on Feb. 11, saying asset sales driven by the Belgian government “severely impaired” shareholders’ interests. Ping An reported a third-quarter loss after a 15.7 billion yuan impairment charge on the Fortis investment.
Ping An Chief Investment Officer John Pearce left the company two months ago.
To contact the reporter for this story: Zhang Dingmin in Beijing at Dzhang14@bloomberg.net Last Updated: February 24, 2009 00:36 EST
Rivals Bid for A.I.G. Insurance Unit, Report Says
The American International Group, which is reportedly negotiating for tens of billions of dollars in additional assistance amid mounting losses, has received offers from MetLife and Axa for its American Life Insurance unit, Bloomberg News reported, citing three people familiar with the situation.
A sale of a life-insurance unit, which is present in more than 50 countries, would be the biggest step yet in the company’s dismantling, the news service said.
According to Bloomberg News, MetLife made a preliminary bid of $11.2 billion for the unit, but the price could come down to about $8 billion because of the unit’s financial condition. Axa has tabled a rival offer, which excludes the unit’s lucrative Japanese operations.
If A.I.G doesn’t get the right price, it may shelves the sale or issue shares, Bloomberg News said.
Go to Article from Bloomberg News »
A sale of a life-insurance unit, which is present in more than 50 countries, would be the biggest step yet in the company’s dismantling, the news service said.
According to Bloomberg News, MetLife made a preliminary bid of $11.2 billion for the unit, but the price could come down to about $8 billion because of the unit’s financial condition. Axa has tabled a rival offer, which excludes the unit’s lucrative Japanese operations.
If A.I.G doesn’t get the right price, it may shelves the sale or issue shares, Bloomberg News said.
Go to Article from Bloomberg News »
Monday, March 16, 2009
Rivals Bid for A.I.G. Insurance Unit, Report Says
The American International Group, which is reportedly negotiating for tens of billions of dollars in additional assistance amid mounting losses, has received offers from MetLife and Axa for its American Life Insurance unit, Bloomberg News reported, citing three people familiar with the situation.
A sale of a life-insurance unit, which is present in more than 50 countries, would be the biggest step yet in the company’s dismantling, the news service said.
According to Bloomberg News, MetLife made a preliminary bid of $11.2 billion for the unit, but the price could come down to about $8 billion because of the unit’s financial condition. Axa has tabled a rival offer, which excludes the unit’s lucrative Japanese operations.
If A.I.G doesn’t get the right price, it may shelves the sale or issue shares, Bloomberg News said.
A sale of a life-insurance unit, which is present in more than 50 countries, would be the biggest step yet in the company’s dismantling, the news service said.
According to Bloomberg News, MetLife made a preliminary bid of $11.2 billion for the unit, but the price could come down to about $8 billion because of the unit’s financial condition. Axa has tabled a rival offer, which excludes the unit’s lucrative Japanese operations.
If A.I.G doesn’t get the right price, it may shelves the sale or issue shares, Bloomberg News said.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
AIG Receives Bids For Life Insurance Unit: Report
LONDON -- American International Group Inc. has received bids from MetLife Inc. and Axa for its American Life Insurance Co. unit, according to a Bloomberg report citing people familiar with the matter. MetLife made a preliminary offer of $11.2 billion, though the price may drop to around $8 billion because of the unit's worsening condition the report said. The Axa bid, meanwhile, excluded operations in Japan, it added. If it doesn't find a deal at the right price, AIG may shelve the sale or issue shares to the public. AIG said Monday that Monday that it's evaluating "potential new alternatives" with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to tackle the insurers problems.
Copyright © 2009 MarketWatch, Inc.
Copyright © 2009 MarketWatch, Inc.
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