Unum Corp.'s bank sales effort is just getting started, but its merger partner, Provident Cos., has a small but established program.
Provident inherited about 10 underperforming bank relationships when it ac-quired Paul Revere Corp., an underwriter in Worcester, Mass., for $1.2 billion in 1996.
Paul Revere's sales were minimal and largely in an-nuities, said Jeffrey F. Olingy, Provident's executive vice president for financial institutions.
Mr. Olingy, who had worked for banking companies like NationsBank and BankBoston before joining Provident three years ago, said his roster of customers now includes 18 banks. Among them: First Union Corp. and Chase Manhattan Corp.
Sales are still small, but he expects that within five years about 30% of individual disability sales will come through banks. Sales of group policies "may have more potential but will grow" more slowly, he said.
With a good broker selling $100,000 in premiums a year, Mr. Olingy said, he sees huge opportunities in banks. If a bank has 2,000 branches, even a small share of sales per branch would add up, he said.
But Provident isn't searching far and wide for bank clients. It has looked only to larger banking companies that aren't likely to be acquired, said Mr. Olingy, a veteran of 10 bank mergers and acquisitions.
Echoing Unum executives, Mr. Olingy said he only wants to deal with banks having senior-level commitment to insurance and resources devoted to selling disability insurance.
