ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, February 22, 1997 TAG: 9702240085
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MAG POFF THE ROANOKE TIMES
Shenandoah Life Insurance Co. of Roanoke has joined the competition: It is marketing its insurance and annuity products through community banks.
Robert W. Clark, president of Shenandoah Life, said Friday at the company's 80th annual meeting of policyholders that the program, instituted last year, will be expanded in 1997.
Shenandoah Life has signed up six banks: two each in Virginia and Indiana, and one each in Texas and North Carolina. The Virginia institutions are Bank of Fincastle and First Colonial of Hopewell.
A seventh bank is expected to sign an agreement shortly, said company spokeswoman Donna Musselwhite. The goal is to have 12 banks from throughout Shenandoah Life's 20-state region by year-end.
When the new program of selling insurance through banks is mature several years from now, it could account for up to half of the portion of Shenandoah Life's business of selling policies to individuals, Musselwhite said. Current sales are divided 55 percent group policies and 45 percent individual policies.
Musselwhite said retailing through banks is a new way for Shenandoah Life to approach customers, many of whom are interested in "one-stop shopping" at their banks.
Shenandoah Life's program is unusual, she said, because its agents are involved in the program and may go to the bank to sell directly to consumers. Also, she said, the company tailors its program to meet the needs of the individual banks.
Also at Friday's meeting, Clark told the policyholders that the company opened a home page - www.shenlife.com - on the Internet last week.
Because Shenandoah Life is a mutual insurance company, it is owned by its policyholders. Friday's meeting was the equivalent of an annual shareholders meeting for publicly traded stock companies. The sparsely attended event was held at Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center.
Other accomplishments last year, Clark said, included investment of $3.3 million in automation, which will save the company $1 million annually, and creation of individual universal life products that increased sales by 55 percent.
Shenandoah Life will offer other new individual products this year, including an equity index portfolio, Clark said. The company will also expand its marketing efforts for group policies, especially in North Carolina and the Midwest.
Competition is "fierce" among insurance companies, mutual funds, banks and investment firms, Clark said.
He predicted more mergers of insurance companies because of this competition. He noted three Virginia companies - First Colony, Life of Virginia and Home Beneficial Life - got new owners last year.
Today's issue for insurance companies, Clark said, is the manner in which insurance companies market their products. He said Shenandoah Life is committed to making sure its sales practices are above reproach. The nation's largest life insurance companies - Prudential and Metropolitan Life - in recent months have been accused of violating sales laws.
By a vote of 63-0, the policyholders elected Ralph B. Everett, a partner in a Washington, D.C., law firm, to the board. Elizabeth G. Helm of Winchester, Gordon K. Davies of Richmond and Nicholas F. Taubman of Roanoke were re-elected to new three-year terms.
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: Chart by staff: Shenandoah Life Insurance Co. KEYWORDS: MGRby CNB