NAMIC Federal Bank Charter Application Okayed
Assurance Partners Bancorp, a bank holding company affiliated with the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC), this week received its regulatory approval to open a federal thrift. The charter was approved by the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS), the federal agency that regulates the thrift industry.
The bank will be called Assurance Partners Bank, a name NAMIC says conveys the linkage of insurance and banking products, and the plan to form a bank to support financial product distribution through multiple insurance companies and their independent agency force.
The insurer group says the new bank will be unique as it was created through the trade association and a consortium of 262 insurance companies in 35 states and two Canadian provinces that invested in the enterprise. Its products and services will be marketed through investor companies and their independent insurance agents, beginning in Indiana and eventually reaching across the country.
"Obtaining charter approval from the Office of Thrift Supervision represents a major milestone in the formation of Assurance Partners Bank," said David Fronek, president and CEO of Assurance Partners Bank. "The bank's management team can now focus its efforts on the numerous organizational issues involved in setting up this unique bank/insurance partnership."
Fronek, who joined the bank one year ago, previously served as the senior vice president of the Retail Lending Services division of First Chicago/NBD Corporation. He has 33 years experience in the financial services industry.
The thrift charter application was filed with the federal Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) in July 1998. The charter filing was the culmination of several months of planning, including an offering period that resulted in NAMIC-member insurance companies investing $12.5 million in the effort. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation also is reviewing the deposit insurance application from Assurance Partners Bancorp, and is expected to approve it soon.
Assurance Partners Bank will provide insurance companies, insurance agents and policyholders of investor companies and other prospects with an array of financial products and services through various delivery channels.
"We're very pleased that Assurance Partners Bank will soon begin working with our member companies, their agents and policyholders in this cooperative effort in the great tradition of the mutual insurance industry," stated Larry Forrester, CAE, NAMIC president and chairman of Assurance Partners Bank. "NAMIC member companies raised the capital to start the bank, and their customers will be the primary beneficiaries of its success."
Assurance Partners Bank will offer selected loan products and related services through insurance company members of NAMIC and their agents. Initially focusing on the Indianapolis and Indiana markets, the bank will expand its operations to other states through its affiliations with insurance companies and their agents. The bank will be headquartered in Carmel, Indiana and plans to open in June 2000.
Initially, the bank plans to offer home equity, automobile, personal, consumer loans, residential first-mortgage loans and small business loans - products corresponding to the personal and commercial segments of the insurance industry. Certificates of deposit from the bank's insurance company investors will represent its primary initial funding source. The bank will also serve the general public.
"Our technology-leveraged marketing distribution system brings a value proposition to the independent agency model," said Scott Poore, CIC, vice president, manager for marketing/sales for Assurance Partners Bank. "The bank's products and services will enable insurance agents affiliated with our investor companies to directly compete in the marketplace with bank-owned insurance agencies."
Poore has an insurance company and agency marketing background, including experience working as a commercial account manager with a bank-owned insurance agency.