Spokeswoman: Symetra Applies to Move Life Business to Iowa Seeking a Level Playing Field With Competitors
January 21, 2014 by Marie Suszynski, Best's News Service correspondent)
BELLEVUE, Wash. – Symetra Financial Corp. said it has applied to change the legal domicile of its principal life insurance subsidiary Symetra Life Insurance Co. from Washington to Iowa.
With the move, the company is looking for a level playing field to compete with other life insurers, company spokeswoman Diana McSweeney told Best’s News Service, adding that emerging industry standards that deal with reserve financing, account and reinsurance rules are at the heart of the decision.
“Iowa is one of the handful of states leading the way in engaging life insurance companies on these complex regulations,” she said in an email. “The state’s extensive experience in the life insurance and annuities space and the resources they’re able to dedicate to the life insurance industry — as evidenced by the number of prominent insurance companies domiciled there — were important factors in our redomestication decision.”
The applications are pending regulatory approvals from the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner and the Iowa Insurance Division. If approved, the redomestication is expected to happen mid-year.
Symetra will keep its home office in Bellevue, Wash. and open an office in Des Moines, Iowa for Symetra Life. In the next two to four year, Symetra expects to hire 20 to 40 employees in Des Moines as the company grows.
In addition, Symetra plans to file an application in the coming weeks to redomesticate a smaller life insurance subsidiary, Symetra National Life Insurance Co.
Symetra expects to be better able to offer product features and benefits that are in high demand.
“We believe that the redomestication will further our efforts to grow and to diversify Symetra’s product portfolio and risk profile, by permitting the company to take advantage of the state-of-the-art statues and regulations governing the life insurance industry in Iowa, where some of the industry’s biggest players are domiciled,” Tom Marra, Symetra’s president and chief executive officer, said in a statement.
The company said it has had an excellent working relationship with Washington regulators and is committed to maintain its corporate headquarters there, which has almost 900 employees.
In 2013, Iowa received a new insurance commissioner, Nick Gerhart. Before taking the position, Gerhart was vice president of compliance and regulatory affairs at Sammons Financial Group (Best’s News Service, June 18, 2012).
As a financial services company, Symetra provides employee benefits, annuities, and life insurance through a national network of benefit consultants, financial institutions, and independent agents and advisers.
Symetra Life Insurance Co. has a current Best’s Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent).
(By Marie Suszynski, Best’s News Service correspondent)
