VantisLife Insurance Co. in East Hartford, Conn., is aggressively seeking to form alliances with banks and credit unions to increase its distribution nationwide.
Craig Simms, the senior vice president of marketing, said in an interview Monday that the insurer was limited to distributing in Connecticut up until 2002 but now has four regional managers to help develop and maintain distribution partnerships in the eastern half of the United States.
Most recently VantisLife signed an agreement with GTE Federal Credit Union in Tampa, Fla. The credit union has more than 35 branches, 200,000 members, and $1.7 billion of assets.
Mr. Simms said that the company, which operates as Savings Bank Life Insurance in its home state, has regional managers courting alliance opportunities in Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Maryland, Virginia, and Delaware. Representatives are also making strong sales efforts in New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Maine, he said.
Bank and credit union alliances have been the bedrock of VantisLife’s expansion strategy, said Mr. Simms. “We are focused on opportunities east of [the] Mississippi but hope to be admitted to all 50 states by 2005,” he said. The company is currently admitted in 38 states, up from 12 a year ago.
VantisLife targets institutions with assets $500 million to $20 billion of assets, said Mr. Simms, explaining that companies bigger than that are too difficult for the $600 million insurer to handle.
“We’re not going after Wachovia-sized companies,” said Mr. Simms. “We couldn’t effectively manage that size.” Its typical banking alliance lies in the $1 billion to $10 billion range.
The insurer is also focusing on a relationship with PrimeVest Financial Services Inc., the St. Cloud, Minn., broker-dealer for BankNorth Group Inc. PrimeVest is helping VantisLife expand its banking relationships.
Bank relationships are something VantisLife has had in Connecticut for 60 years. It has more than 40 bank partners in the Nutmeg State, mainly community-type institutions with assets of $500 million to $15 billion.
Much of VantisLife’s life insurance sales in Connecticut are of level-term life policies, with the average product written for a $350,000 death benefit. The company also has a traditional whole-life product and a less expensive simplified term plan, with death benefits of up to $100,000. The latter requires few health questions to be asked and is simple to underwrite.
VantisLife also sells fixed annuities but does not offer variables.
