| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1979 |
| Headquarters | Carmel, Indiana |
| Products | Insurance |
| Revenue | $4.5 billion USD (2007) |
| Website | www.conseco.com |
Conseco (NYSE: CNO), originally Security Life of Indiana, is a financial services organization based in Carmel, Indiana. Conseco's insurance subsidiaries provide life insurance, annuity and supplemental health insurance products to more than 4 million customers in the United States. These products are distributed through independent agents, career agents and direct to customers through television advertising and direct mail.
Conseco is currently ranked 503 on the Fortune 1000 with 2007 revenues of $4.5 billion.
Conseco was incorporated in 1979, began insurance operations in 1982 and became a public company in 1985.
In 1986 Conseco acquired Lincoln Income Life Insurance Company for $29 per share or $32.3 mil. Shearson Lehman Brothers advised Lincoln Income Life Insurance. Earlier, in mid 1985, Lincoln had agreed to be acquired by I.C.H.[1] for $31 per share in cash but the merger couldn't be consummated as the Kentucky Department of Insurance raised objections to certain expenses which Lincoln would have incurred in the merger. Lincoln also received a merger proposal from Redgate in 1985. Satisfied with its recipe for acquiring and improving insurance companies, Conseco stepped up its acquisition efforts in 1986. It purchased Bankers National Life Insurance Company for $118 million, respectively.
In 1998, Conseco purchased the former Greentree Financial, one of the largest financiers of mobile homes, in an attempt to diversify into consumer financial services. They also bought life insurance company Colonial Penn later that year, changing their name to Conseco Direct Life, though changing the name back to Colonial Penn in 2001 (known as Banker's Conseco Life Insurance Company in New York state). Conseco (though not its subsidiary insurance companies) entered Chapter 11 reorganization in 2002 and emerged nine months later in 2003. The third-largest U.S. Chapter 11 filing, after WorldCom Inc. and Enron Corp.[2] In the process of reorganization, GreenTree was divested and Conseco is now solely focused on the insurance industry.
C. James Prieur, Conseco's CEO, joined the company on 7 September 2006, and also became a member of Conseco's board of directors. Prieur was the president and chief operating officer at Sun Life Financial prior to accepting the position at Conseco.
Conseco is the parent company of seven insurance companies, including Bankers Life and Casualty Company and Colonial Penn Life Insurance Company. Conseco also owns 40/86 Advisors, an investment management company.
On May 11, 2010, the board of directors officially approved changing the holding company's name to CNO Financial Group.