President's Message: 2007 Review
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Mark A. Robison, CPA, CPCU President and CEO |
“What a blessing” is a term I heard often during 2007. It was an excellent year for Brotherhood Mutual—one of the best in the 90-year history of the company.
Brotherhood Mutual reported superb financial results each quarter, strengthening the company’s ability to respond to policyholder needs now and in the future. Even more important, I believe the company helped church and ministry leaders focus on building their ministries by providing products and services that eased leader concerns about protecting their property and people.
Policyholders Give Claim Services Top Marks
“Easing policyholder concerns” means we pay claims quickly and efficiently. In 2007, policyholders again gave Brotherhood Mutual a near 100 percent satisfaction rating for the claims services they received from us. Although the year was generally quiet weather-wise, Brotherhood Mutual paid policyholders more than $71 million in claims for damages they incurred as a result of storm and fire events and cases involving liability protection.
Brotherhood Mutual added $16.2 million to the Policyholder’s Security Fund. At year-end, the fund’s assets stood at $135.7 million, illustrating the company’s financial strength and ability to protect policyholders in the event of an insurable crisis. Brotherhood Mutual also paid more than $2.2 million to policyholders with good risk management histories over the last three-year period.
Brotherhood Mutual Named Industry ‘Champion’
Brotherhood Mutual finished 2007 financially stronger than ever. Direct premium income topped the $202 million mark and we earned more than $8 million dollars in investment income.
The company’s assets grew more than seven percent, ending the year at $314.4 million. Brotherhood Mutual’s combined earnings/loss ratio at the end of the year was a strong 90.5 percent and the company posted slightly more than $17 million as net income for the year.
In December, National Underwriter magazine named Brotherhood Mutual one of the nation’s “champions” among property-casualty insurers. In its evaluation of the company’s finances over a 12-year period, the well-known trade publication ranked Brotherhood Mutual as one of the most consistently profitable companies in the industry—an indicator of our long-term ability to meet customer needs.
MinistryFirst Changes Add Product Flexibility
Mid-year, we introduced a significantly enhanced version of MinistryFirst®, Brotherhood Mutual’s primary church insurance product. The more than 30 coverage changes give customers one of the most comprehensive, yet flexible, property-casualty products available to churches and related ministries.
In addition to product improvements, Brotherhood Mutual strengthened its position as a provider of risk management and safety training resources. SafetyCentral is the new online safety and risk-management training tool we introduced near the end of the year. SafetyCentral’s training modules may help customers reduce their insurance risk and potentially, their premium costs.
During 2007, Brotherhood Mutual also expanded its business area by entering the states of Wisconsin and New York. Over the next several years, we plan to continue our expansion well beyond the 31 states and the District of Columbia, where we currently do business.
Mission Program Adds to Company Expertise
Brotherhood Works, the corporate mission program we introduced in 2006, gained added momentum this year. The program sponsored its first state-side mission trip to a bilingual church in southern Tennessee and our foreign mission team traveled to Serbia again to continue its work with a large evangelical ministry in Novi Sad.
Brotherhood Works not only allows employees and agents to participate in mission work, but the program also sharpens our understanding of ministry and boosts our ability to help those we are called to serve. The more we walk the same path as the churches and ministries we insure, the more passionate I believe we’re likely to be in helping them avoid risk or recover from the insurable problems they experience.
Thank You for Allowing Us to Serve You
As I near my first anniversary as company president, I’m thankful that the transition to my new role at Brotherhood Mutual has gone so smoothly. That’s due in large part to the encouragement and support I’ve received from my predecessor and current chairman, Jim Blum, members of the Board of Directors, other senior managers, agents, and employees.
In many ways, Brotherhood Mutual’s success is directly related to the success of the church and ministry leaders who serve the organizations we insure. We thank you for your business and look forward to helping you protect and grow your ministries in the years ahead.
Mark A. Robison, CPA, CPCU
President and CEO
Read more about our 2007 financial performance:
View and print a PDF version of our 2007 Annual Report (288k).