Ohio National makes huge strategy shift, cuts hundreds of jobs
September 6, 2018 by Steve Watkins
Ohio National Financial Services is making one of the biggest strategic shifts in its history to focus on its strongest areas of life and disability income insurance while dropping new business in other segments and cutting hundreds of jobs.
Montgomery-based Ohio National is in turn opting to quit taking applications for annuities or new retirement plans, effectively dropping efforts to win new business in those areas effective Sept. 15. It will continue to service and support existing clients in those areas.
Ohio National will reduce its employment by about 300 as a result of the change. That’s more than 20 percent of the nearly 1,300 employees Ohio National has. It will have 950 employees, including about 900 at its home office, when the job cuts are completed.
Gary “Doc” Huffman, Ohio National’s chairman and CEO, told me the shift in strategy arose from a process begun early this year to review its five-year strategic plan that runs through this year and its plan for the future. Three key issues – protracted low interest rates, the changing regulatory landscape and rising costs of doing business – led to the changes.
“Those pressures, those headwinds continue,” Huffman said. “At the same time, we sold more whole life insurance and more disability insurance last year than we ever have in the company’s history. This positions us for the future and builds on our historic strengths in life insurance and disability income insurance. The core of our company for more than 100 years has been our life business and our strategy reinforces that strength. We are confident that our long-term prospects are bright.”
Huffman said Ohio National is helping its employees who are losing their jobs with a benefits package based on years of service, continuation of other benefits and outplacement assistance.
“We sincerely appreciate their contributions to our policyholders, our community and the company,” he said.
Ohio National, a mutual company owned by its policyholders, doesn’t take lightly the move to stop taking on new annuity business. It has $22 billion in assets under management in annuities out of the company’s $42 billion in assets under management. But that’s big enough for a company its size, Huffman said.