CHICAGO -- Kemper Securities Group Inc. yesterday announced it will become Kemper Securities Inc. when it retires the names of its five divisions July 1.
"By retiring the divisional names and dropping the word 'group,' we communicate that we are one firm," James R. Boris, the firm's chairman, president, and chief executive officer, said in a press release. "The name Kemper Securities Inc. represents the cohesive strengthened organization this company has become."
Kemper Securities Group Inc. was formed in 1990 through the consolidation of five separate regional securities brokerage firms into one broker-dealer.
The names of the predecessor firms -- Bateman Eichler, Hill Richards; Blunt Ellis & Loewi; Boettcher & Co.; Lovett Underwood Neuhaus & Webb; and Prescott, Ball & Turben -- were retained as the five retail divisions of Kemper Securities Group Inc.
As Kemper Securities Inc., the firm will divide its retail operations into six geographic regions overseen by the same regional sales directors who previously were responsible for those areas.
"The divisional names served a purpose for a period of time because those were the names which had recognition and value in their communities," Mr. Boris said in the release. "But we have worked hard over the past two years to attach that value to our unified organization."
With $2 billion in assets and $300.7 million in capital, the Chicago-based firm is the second-largest securities brokerage firm with headquarters outside New York. The firm has 170 retail, institutional, and investment banking offices in 25 states and the United Kingdom.
