CNO Financial Names Chief Actuary-Executive Vice President
August 15, 2014 by Fran Matso Lysiak
CARMEL, Ind. – CNO Financial Group Inc. said it named Chris Nickele chief actuary and executive vice president.
Previously, Nickele served as president of the other CNO business segment and executive vice president of product management.
He will continue to report to Ed Bonach, chief executive officer CNO Financial (NYSE: CNO).
Nickele “was the key business leader for the unwinding of our OCB segment, which represented a significant milestone in the transformation of CNO Financial Group,” Bonach said in a statement. “Along with his continuing management of product pricing and development, he will now take on all of our actuarial valuation.”
The Carmel, Indiana-based CNO Financial’s insurance subsidiaries — mainly Bankers Life and Casualty Co., Colonial Penn Life Insurance Co. and Washington National Insurance Co. — serve middle-income pre-retiree and retired Americans.
Nickele joined CNO in 2005. He previously worked in several actuarial and business leadership roles at Lincoln Financial Group, First Penn-Pacific, Zurich Kemper Life and Bankers Life and Casualty.
Last month, Wilton Reassurance Co. completed its purchase of Conseco Life Insurance Co. from CNO Financial. Wilton paid a net of about $220 million in the transaction (Best’s News Service, July 2, 2014). Also, Bankers Life and Casualty paid $28 million to recapture a block of traditional life insurance that was previously reinsured to Wilton Re.
According to A.M. Best Co., CNO Financial has had success in executing its business strategy, which included focusing on markets where true competitive advantages are achievable while, at the same time, actively managing risk. This strategy included exiting/de-emphasizing non-core product lines through divestiture and/or reinsurance, considerable expense reductions and the completion of its recapitalization plan.
Bankers Life and Casualty Co., Colonial Penn Life Insurance Co. and Washington National Insurance Co. each currently have Best’s Financial Strength Ratings of B++ (Good)
Midday Aug. 14, CNO Financial Group’s stock was trading at $16.98 a share, up 1.07% from the previous close.
(By Fran Matso Lysiak, senior associate editor, BestWeek: fran.lysiak@ambest.com)
