Liberty Mutual

Liberty Mutual

Helping People live safer, more secure lives
Company type	Private
Industry	Insurance
Founded	1912
Headquarters	Boston , United States
Revenue	$23.5 billion
Website	http://www.libertymutualgroup.com

Liberty Mutual Group (LMG, Liberty, Liberty Mutual), is an American insurance company. Founded in Boston in 1912, Liberty Mutual is the sixth-largest property and casualty insurer in the U.S., based on 2006 direct written premiums.

Overview

As of December 31, 2006 Liberty Mutual Group had $85.5 billion in consolidated assets, $0 billion in consolidated liabilities and $23.5 billion in annual consolidated revenue. As of early 2008 it was number 94 on the Fortune 500 list of the largest American corporations based on 2006 revenue and number 39 on Equal Opportunity Magazine's annual Top 50 Employers list. Today, Liberty Mutual Group employs over 41,000 people in more than 900 offices worldwide.

The company has received financial strength ratings of "Excellent" (A) from the A.M. Best Company, "Good" (A2) from Moody's Investors Service and “Strong” (A-) from Standard & Poor's.

Liberty Mutual Group operates under a mutual holding company structure. The three principal insurance companies of the group, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Company and Employers Insurance Company of Wausau, each are stock insurance companies under the ownership of Liberty Mutual Holding Company.

Currently the company has offices in over 45 states throughout the U.S. and worldwide as part of their International Business units. The Headquarters building is located in Boston's Back Bay section at 175 Berkeley Street. There are also various large offices located in Indianapolis, Indiana; Wausau, Wisconsin; Dover, NH; Mishawaka, Indiana, New Castle, Pennsylvania, Phoenix, Arizona and Tampa, Florida. The company currently has two data centers, one in Portsmouth, NH with a secondary facility in Kansas City, MO.

On January 22nd, 2009 the Wausau brand was officially retired, merging within Liberty Mutual's new Middle Market commercial division. While this Middle Market operation markets products and services via brokers and agents, Liberty's core business in the Commercial Market line remains direct selling via its high-end National Market Claims operation.

CEOs

• 1998 - present, Edmund F. Kelley
• 1986 - 1998, Gary L. Countryman
• 1979 - 1987?, Melvin Bradshaw

Business Units

Liberty Mutual Group operates through four strategic business units (SBU) with no single unit contributing more than 30 percent of net premium written.

Personal Market

Liberty Mutual’s Personal Markets provides full lines of coverage for private passenger automobile, homeowners, valuable possessions and personal liability through its own sales force in more than 400 offices throughout the U.S., two direct response centers, appointed Prudential agents and the internet. It also offers a wide range of traditional and variable life insurance and annuity products through a subsidiary, Liberty Life Assurance Company of Boston. Personal Markets’ largest source of new business is its more than 10,000 affinity group relationships, including employers, credit unions, and professional and alumni associations. Liberty Mutual’s affinity program is the industry’s most-sponsored voluntary auto and home insurance benefit.

Commercial Markets

Liberty Mutual’s Commercial Markets provides risk and disability management and risk transfer products and services to buyers and buyers’ representatives through five market segments: National Market, which serves the complex needs of large companies; Business Market, which serves mid-sized businesses that prefer a direct relationship; Liberty Mutual Property, which provides property insurance programs, loss control and claims services for both large and mid-sized companies; Group Market, which provides short- and long-term disability products and services, integrated disability management, group life insurance, AD&D, and FMLA administration for large and mid-sized businesses; and, Liberty Mutual Reinsurance, which provides property and casualty reinsurance to insurance carriers worldwide.

In January 2008, the Wausau Insurance brand was realigned under the Commercial Markets SBU. Wausau was formerly a part of the Agency Markets SBU. In January 2009, the Wausau brand was formally retired, and a new Middle Market operation was created, merging the former Wausau Insurance subdivision with Commercial Markets Business Market line. This new Middle Market was created to sell products and services to potential middle market customers via brokers and agents. Commercial lines core business remains direct selling, however, via its more profitable National Market claims operation.

Agency Markets

Liberty Mutual Agency Markets consists of property and casualty, and specialty insurance carriers that distribute their products and services primarily through independent agents and brokers. Core property and casualty products, including a comprehensive set of personal and commercial coverages, are available in most states through the following brands: America First Insurance (Gulf Region); Colorado Casualty (Mountain Region); Golden Eagle Insurance (Pacific Region); Indiana Insurance (Midwest/North Central Region); Liberty Northwest {LNW} (Northwest Region); Montgomery Insurance (Southeast Region); Ohio Casualty (Mideast Region); and Peerless Insurance (Northeast Region). Specialty operations include Liberty Mutual Surety (contract and commercial surety), and Summit Holding Southeast, Inc. (mono-line workers compensation).

The Hawkeye-Security brand was quietly discontinued in January 08, as part of a restructuring of the Agency Markets SBU, which also included the Wausau Insurance brand shifting to the Commercial Markets SBU, and the integration of the newly acquired Ohio Casualty brand. The 'footprint' (regional distribution of states for each brand) was realigned, with some brands experiencing very little change (LNW, Golden Eagle) and others undergoing a larger change in territories (Indiana Insurance, America First)

In April 2008, Liberty Mutual agreed to acquire Safeco, and add its brand to the Agency Markets SBU.

Liberty International

Liberty International provides personal and commercial lines insurance through operations in 13 markets: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Hong Kong, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, Venezuela, and Vietnam. Additionally, Liberty International Underwriters, a global specialty lines insurance and reinsurance business, writes casualty, specialty casualty, marine, energy, engineering and aviation through 31 offices in Asia, Australia, Europe and North America. Liberty Syndicate 4472 at Lloyd’s of London writes on a worldwide basis.

Advertising

Liberty Mutual has traditionally grown its business using a form of affinity marketing known as Group Savings Plus. Over 10,000 employers, credit unions, professional, and college alumni associations are members of this affinity program. The members of these groups are allowed a discount, usually because members of these groups have higher education which is considered one of the best signs of a good insurance risk.

In 2007, Liberty Mutual began a campaign focusing on personal responsibility.

Coach of the Year Award

Launched in 2006, the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award recognizes college football coaches from all four NCAA divisions. Throughout the football season fans can vote for the coach they feel best embody integrity and responsibility - not only to their teams and players, but also in their communities and civic causes. The coach who gets the most votes receives the award.

Liberty Mutual also runs a television program about the award and the various college football coaches. This acclaimed show features exclusive weekly interviews with NCAA coaches like Dennis Franchione, Urban Meyer and Rich Rodriguez, highlights from the "Road to Coach of the Year" tour and fan testimonials from across the country.

External links

• LibertyMutual.com Personal Market Website
• LibertyMutualGroup.com Corporate Website