CEO Sets Sights on Variable Annuities.Despite disappointing first-quarter earnings, the head of Allmerica Financial Corp. says the company is concentrating on being a variable products company. Jack O'Brien
Jack O'Brien is an American editor and humorist. Biography Early life and career , president and chief executive officer of Allmerica Financial, said that in the long term, Allmerica Financial plans on being a key player in both the variable-annuity and variable life businesses. "In this year's first quarter, we had a decline in variable-annuity sales, primarily due to investor concerns about volatility Volatility 1. A statistical measure of the tendency of a market or security to rise or fall sharply within a period of time. 2. A variable in option pricing formulas that denotes the extent to which the return of the underlying asset will fluctuate between now and the in the equity markets and concerns about the economy," O'Brien O'Bri·en , Edna Born 1932. Irish writer whose works, including The Lonely Girl (1962) and Johnny I Hardly Knew You (1977), explore the lives of women in modern-day Ireland. Noun 1. said. "But on a sequential-quarter basis, our variable-annuity sales increased by about 2% from the fourth quarter." Over the long term, the variable products business of the company is poised for growth, O'Brien said. "In the first quarter, we were only down 10% or 11%--while the industry was down about 15% or 20%," he said. Allmerica Financial has three methods of distribution: agency, select broker-dealer Broker-Dealer A person or firm in the business of buying and selling securities operating as both a broker and dealer depending on the transaction. Notes: Technically, a broker is only an agent who executes orders on behalf of clients, whereas a dealer acts as a principal and mutual-fund partner channels. "Strategically, this year we have started to place more emphasis on our select broker-dealer channel, because the market environment there appears to offer more opportunity." That method of distribution looks promising. In the first quarter, "we nearly doubled" the number of wholesalers and introduced new products, he said. "As a result, our sales in that particular area were up 26%," O'Brien said. O'Brien also discussed the company's long- long- Adverb (in combination) for or lasting a long time: long-established, long-lasting and short-term Short-term Any investments with a maturity of one year or less. short-term 1. Of or relating to a gain or loss on the value of an asset that has been held less than a specified period of time. opportunities. "Right now, the commercial part of the property/casualty business is getting stronger--faster than any other part of the business," he said. "There are real opportunities for [more] price increases in the small-commercial market than there have been for the past two or three years." But in the first quarter, Allmerica's property/casualty business was its weakest segment. "We got hit with [adverse] weather and unfavorable developments in the fourth quarter," he said. Allmerica Financial Corp. A.M. Best #: 08491 Rating: Subsidiaries rated A Headquarters: Worcester Worcester, city, England Worcester (w  s`tər), city (1991 pop. 75,466) and district, Worcestershire, W central England, on the Severn River. , Mass.
Lines of Business: Asset management, risk management |
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