| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Traded as | NYSE: TRV Dow Jones Industrial Average Component S&P 500 Component |
| Industry | Insurance |
| Predecessor | Citigroup |
| Founded | Incorporated as St. Paul Fire & Marine in 1853. Merger of The St. Paul Companies and Travelers Property Casualty Corp. in 2004 |
| Headquarters | Hartford, Connecticut U.S. |
| Key people | Jay S. Fishman (Chairman and CEO) |
| Products | Insurance policies Risk management |
| Revenue | US$ 25.112 billion (2010)[1] |
| Operating income | US$ 4.306 billion (2010)[1] |
| Net income | US$ 3.216 billion (2010)[1] |
| Total assets | US$ 105.181 billion (2010)[1] |
| Total equity | US$ 25.475 billion (2010)[1] |
| Employees | 32,000 (2010)[1] |
| Website | Travelers.com |
The Travelers Companies (NYSE: TRV) is the largest American insurance company by market value.[2] It is also the second largest writer of U.S. commercial property casualty and the third largest writer of U.S. personal insurance through independent agents. Travelers has headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota and Hartford, Connecticut with significant operations in New York, New York. It has been a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average since June 8, 2009.[3]
The company has field offices in every U.S. state, plus operations in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Singapore, China, Canada, and Brazil. In 2010, the company reported revenues of US $25.1 billion and total assets of US $105.2 billion.
Travelers, through its subsidiaries and approximately 14,000 independent agents and brokers, provides commercial and personal property and casualty insurance products and services to businesses, government units, associations, and individuals. The company offers insurance through three segments:
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The Travelers Company's Management Team is composed of:[4]
The main predecessor companies of The Travelers Companies, Inc. are The St. Paul Companies, Inc. and Travelers Property Casualty Corporation.
Saint Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Co. was founded March 5, 1853, in St. Paul, Minnesota, serving local customers who were having a difficult time getting claim payments in a timely manner from insurance companies on the east coast of the United States. It barely survived the Panic of 1857 by dramatically paring down its operations and later reorganizing itself into a stock company (as opposed to a mutual company). It soon spread its operations across the country. In 1998 it acquired USF&G, known formerly as United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company, an insurance company based in Baltimore, Maryland, but was forced to downsize by almost half due to a competitive marketplace.[5]
Travelers was founded in 1864 in Hartford. Along the way it had many industry firsts, including the first automobile policy, the first commercial airline policy, and the first policy for space travel.[6]
In the 1990s, it went through a series of mergers and acquisitions. It was bought by Primerica in 1993,[7] but the resulting company retained the Travelers name. In 1995 it became The Travelers Group.[6] It bought Aetna's property and casualty business in 1996.[8]
In 1998, the Travelers Group merged with Citicorp to form Citigroup.[7] However, the synergies between the banking and insurance arms of the company did not work as well as planned, so Citigroup spun off Travelers Property and Casualty into a subsidiary company in 2002,[9] although it kept the red umbrella logo. Three years later, Citigroup sold Travelers Life & Annuity to MetLife.[10] In 2003, Travelers bought renewal rights for Royal & SunAlliance Personal Insurance and Commercial businesses.[11]
In 2004, the St. Paul and Travelers Companies merged and renamed itself St. Paul Travelers, with the headquarters set in St. Paul, Minnesota. Despite many assurances from CEO Jay Fishman that the newly formed company would retain the St. Paul name, the corporate name only lasted until 2007, when the company repurchased the rights to the famous red umbrella logo from Citigroup and readopted it as its main corporate symbol, while also changing the corporate name to The Travelers Companies.[12][13]
Travelers is currently 106 on the Fortune 500.[14] list of largest U.S. companies. On June 8, 2009, Travelers replaced its former parent Citigroup on the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Travelers provides support for charitable organizations through the Travelers Foundation and with corporate funding and in-kind services. The company's community giving is primarily focused on public education reform and improving academic and career success for underrepresented youth in Saint Paul, Minn. and Hartford, Conn. The remainder of Travelers' civic and charitable giving resources in those cities support targeted local needs in the areas of community development and the arts.[15]
In January 2007, Travelers agreed to pay US$ 77 million to six states to settle a class action suit and end investigations into its insurance practices.[16] The charges involved paying the insurance broker Marsh & McLennan Companies contingent commissions to win business without the knowledge of clients, thus creating a conflict of interest.[17] Additionally, the investigation examined whether Travelers had created the illusion of competition by submitting fake bids,[18] thus misleading clients into believing they were receiving competitive commercial premiums.[19]
The original logo of the red umbrella started in 1870 when it appeared in a newspaper ad for the young insurance company. It was revived in the early 1960s, when it was given its signature red color by Harry W. Knettell, then the account executive for The Travelers and Vice President at the Charles Brunelle advertising agency. During the late 1960s Charles Brunelle was the largest advertising agency in Hartford, a city known as "the insurance capital of the world" due to the many insurance companies in that town. The Travelers was one of their many insurance company clients. [20]
In 2006, a Travelers commercial titled Snowball was nominated for an Emmy. Snowball featured a man, walking down a steep San Francisco sidewalk, who trips and knocks over a table of items at a garage sale. The man and the items roll down the street, forming a ball which gathers garbage cans, pedestrians, construction materials, motorcycles, light poles, and other items, in a manner very reminiscent of the familiar cartoon "snowball" effect or the cult video game Katamari Damacy.[21] The creators of the ad say it is simply based on the snowball effect, they have never heard of the game, and that the resulting similarity was a surprise to them.[22]
In 2007, the company secured naming rights for an annual event to be called the Travelers Championship golf tournament, formerly the Greater Hartford Open, on the PGA Tour.
In April 2008, The Travelers purchased back the rights to the famous red umbrella, which is featured in several commercials starring Paul Freeman as well as other advertisements. In July 2008, the spot "Delivery," also starring Freeman, was nominated for an Emmy.
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