Cigna Is Putting Two More Offerings On Its Menu of Bank-Channel

Cigna Corp., one of the nation's leading insurance companies, is expanding its product line with help from several well-known money management firms.

The Hartford, Conn., company, which has been making a big push to sell its wares through banks, has launched two new products that tap the expertise of Fidelity Investments, Massachusetts Financial Services, and Quest for Value, among other firms.

The products - a variable annuity contract and a variable universal life policy - are the latest offerings in the company's Accru line of products. The lineup also includes a fixed annuity and an immediate annuity.

Cigna is a relative newcomer to the business of marketing insurance and investment products through banks, having entered the field in late 1993.

At that time, a veteran senior vice president, Roy Bubbs, was named head of the company's financial institutions, annuities, and insurance division. Mr. Bubbs has been with Cigna since 1972.

The company said in a prepared statement that this division has boosted its sales sevenfold in one year, but did not disclose the sales figures.

Although a late entrant to banks, Cigna believes it can quickly gain a toehold. "We've been selling life insurance and annuities for 135 years," said national accounts manager David Wrubel. "In that time, we've accumulated a lot of wisdom about selling that we can pass to banks."

Cigna will also supply technological services like electronic data transmission, automated access to account values, and computerized policy and contract changes, Mr. Wrubel said.

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