AHL in the news!

American Home Life Insurance Co., founded in Topeka, recently received an excellent rating from A.M. Best Co. Philip Carlson/The Capital-Journal A Topeka-based company that quietly goes about its business offering life insurance products in 20 states reached a milestone recently and has plans to expand into more states this year. American Home Life Insurance Co., founded in 1909 in Topeka, surpassed $100 million in assets in January. Total income last year was $19.9 million, an increase of 17 percent, partly because of an increase in sales after Sept. 11. American Home Life is a relatively small insurance company dwarfed by the giants such as Northwestern Mutual Life and New York Life, but, in terms of financial strength, it ranks very high. American Home Life carries an A- financial rating by A.M. Best Co., the oldest rating company for insurance companies. Anything in the A category is considered excellent. The company has 36,000 policies in force. "We had good sales in the fourth quarter," said Steve Lobell, president and chief executive officer of American Home Life Insurance Co. Some industry analysts attributed life insurance sales growth to Americans feeling a sense of their own mortality after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11. But, Lobell said, a Life Insurance Marketing Research Association study shows that Americans weren't more willing to talk about life insurance after Sept. 11 than before. So he said he believes the uptick in sales came from agents realizing they had lost a month of sales and needed to hit the streets and talk to new clients. "They had a little better self-esteem about their product," Lobell said. "But they also had lost a month of production." MIB Group Inc., an association of U.S. and Canadian life insurers based in Westwood, Mass., reported that more than 1.4 million life insurance applications were underwritten in October by U.S. and Canadian insurance companies, an 8.6 percent increase from the same period in 2000, according to a Jan. 7 article in the Dallas Morning News. American Home Life had a substantial amount of claims last year -- but none yet from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania. Robert Lasley, executive vice president and chief operating officer for American Home Life, said applications for life insurance products increased to 653 in February from an average of 500 a month last year. Another reason Lobell said he thinks there has been an increase in sales is because investors are getting a little more conservative with their money. They have seen losses in their equity portfolios and want guaranteed returns on their investments. American Home Life offers an annuity that pays 5.75 percent interest, down from 6.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2001 but still very competitive. Steve Lobell

Lasley said the company has $10.5 million in surplus, about 10 percent of the company's assets. "We manage conservatively, but we are growing," Lasley said. Lasley and Lobell said they hope to grow a bit more in the annuities sales as well as expand into Indiana, Michigan, Tennessee, Kentucky and Pennsylvania. The company currently operates in 20 states.
As a mutual company owned by its policyholders, the company's growth is limited to the size of its surplus. So it can't grow too fast. However, because it isn't a stock company, it doesn't face the scrutiny of financial analysts and stockholders. "We don't miss that constant short-term scrutiny," Lasley said. American Home Life depends on several consultants to operate efficiently. Mize Houser & Co., of Topeka, provides the computer technology for American Home Life's data processing. Miller & Newberg, of Olathe, provides actuarial services and Wendling Noe Nelson & Johnson, of Topeka, are the company's auditors. Lobell said Tom Morris recently was promoted to vice president from director of pre-need marketing. The company also announced the retirement from its board of directors John R. Atchley, who is former president and CEO, and Wayne T. Stratton. Lasley and Patrick Salsbury, partner in Goodell, Stratton, Edmonds & Palmer, were elected to the board.

Profile:

• Name: American Home Life Insurance Co., founded in Topeka in 1909
• Location: 400 S. Kansas Ave.
• Employment: 26 full-time; 13 part-time staffers
• Agents: 1,050 under contract, 700 active
• Products: Whole life, term life insurance, final expense whole life insurance, single-premium pre-
need funeral expense insurance, and annuities