Ullico


Ullico Inc. is a privately held insurance and financial services holding company in the United States. Formerly known as Union Labor Life Insurance Company, it was founded in 1927 by the American Federation of Labor and its then president, Samuel Gompers, to offer health and life insurance products specifically to working men and women. Matthew Woll, president of the International Photo-Engravers Union of North America, became the company's first president. Ullico is one of the largest insurance and investment services companies for trade union members in the United States.

Overview

Ullico Inc.'s mission is to provide financial security to union members and their families. The company offers specialty insurance and investment products to labor organizations, union employers, municipalities and institutional investors, as well as union members and retirees. Ullico is a privately held, joint stock company. The company's constitution and bylaws permit shares to be held only by trade unions, union officials, union members and union benefit funds. The stock's value changes once a year when company directors set a new share price based on the advice of independent auditors.
As of 2009, the company insured more than two million union members and dependents through $25 billion in Life, Accidental Death and Dismemberment insurance. Further, more than six million members were served through $125 million in gross written Property and Casualty premiums. Ullico had $5.5 billion in assets and a consolidated GAAP Equity of nearly $240 million.

Divisions

Ullico Inc. consists of The Union Labor Life Insurance Company, Ullico Casualty Group Inc., Ullico Investment Advisers Inc. and Ullico Investment Company Inc. These companies fall into three divisions: Life and Health, Property and Casualty and Investment Services

Life and health

More than 85 years ago, The Union Labor Life Insurance Company became the founding unit of Ullico Inc. Today, Union Labor Life provides life and health solutions specifically tailored for the labor market. Through alliances with market leaders in risk protection, the company offers an array of insurance products for unions, jointly managed trust funds and organized employers as well as supplemental insurance programs that are directly marketed to union members, retirees and their families. Products including:
  • Stop Loss Insurance: Protects self-funded, employer- or union-sponsored healthcare plans from incurring large or unforeseen catastrophic health expenses exceeding the plans predetermined dollar amounts. Union Labor Life helps each organization tailor their Stop Loss plans to each group's specific needs.
  • Group Term Life and Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance: These offerings feature a unique Strike Waiver of Premium that allows premiums to be waived during sanctioned strikes when certain eligibility requirements are met.
  • Voluntary Supplemental Insurance: Marketed directly to union members and retirees, options include Term and Whole Life, Accidental Death and Dismemberment, Accident and Hospital Indemnity Protection, Dental Insurance and Dental Discount programs.
  • Union Labor Life also offers Group Vision Insurance, Group Prescription Benefit Management and Group Disability Insurance.

    Property and casualty

Ullico Casualty Group creates insurance products that mitigate fiduciary risks to union workplaces and its trustees. Products include:
  • Fiduciary Liability: As trustees and other fiduciaries of multi-employer and public benefit funds face significant personal liabilities, Ullico Casualty Group not only updates insurance coverage as these issues evolve, but knows how to resolve fiduciary claims to protect policyholders’ personal assets.
  • Union Liability: Under federal labor law, officers and directors of labor unions can be exposed to personal liability, but must defend themselves, in certain circumstances, at their own expense. Union Liability covers the duty of fair representation, employment practices liability, financial management of the union and personal injury liability.
  • Commercial Lines: The Property and Casualty portfolio includes Property, General Liability, Automobile, Umbrella and Workers’ Compensation coverage.
  • Alternative Risk Solutions: The company's captive insurance programs, managed through Ullico Captive PCC and Ullico Risk Solutions LLC, help keep costs low by allowing policyholders with similar risk profiles to share in their own insurance risk.

    Investment services

Ullico offers products and services designed for institutional investors through The Union Labor Life Insurance Company and Ullico Investment Advisors Inc.. These products, including Ullico's real estate-related Separate Account J, are sold through the Ullico Investment Company.
Union Labor Life's Real Estate Investment Group is responsible for originating, underwriting and managing the company's real estate mortgage and equity investments, while UIA, a registered investment advisor with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, provides investment advice to institutional investors with a focus on jointly managed, multi-employer Taft-Hartley funds.
The UIC is a registered broker-dealer with the SEC and a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation. The company markets and sells products managed through UIA and group annuity contracts offered through Union Labor Life.
Hearthstone Holdings, Inc., a portfolio company of Ullico's Infrastructure Fund that is headquartered in Morgantown, West Virginia, owns and operates natural gas distribution systems in Indiana, Ohio, North Carolina, Maine, Montana, and West Virginia. Hearthstone also owns and operates water and wastewater utilities in Arizona and Michigan.

History

On May 1, 1927, in Washington, D.C., the Union Labor Life Insurance Company, providing life insurance to union workers, which was unavailable at the time. Many Americans worked in hazardous jobs with few, if any, work safety laws in place to protect them. Railroads, construction sites and factories all presented too much risk for many companies’ underwriters. Life insurance was either priced out of reach of workers or insurance companies denied coverage because of the risks associated with their jobs. Union Labor Life aimed to provide a new level of stability for workers and increase their standard of living.
Samuel Gompers, the first president of the American Federation of Labor, saw the value in a union-owned insurance company. Matthew Woll, then president of the Photo Engravers Union, became Union Labor Life's first president. Soon more than 60 international unions, hundreds of local unions, and more than 300 individuals, including AFL president William Green, owned stock.
Over the years, as the needs of unions and their members evolved, Union Labor Life grew and diversified, offering health insurance, fiduciary liability insurance, investment products for pension funds and services for administering trust fund business. As other subsidiaries formed, it was clear that Union Labor Life needed another entity for future growth and diversification. In 1987, Ullico Inc. was created as a holding company for Union Labor Life and Ullico Casualty Company.

Timeline

1925: The AFL approves the creation of a union-owned insurance company.
1927: Union Labor Life opens for business on May 1, 1927, in Washington, D.C. Its first group policy was written for the Federal Employees Local 105 of Washington, D.C.
1932: Union Labor Life begins offering retirement annuities and issues its first stockholder and policyholder dividends.
1935: Company headquarters move to New York, New York.
1943: The organization begins offering group Accident, Health and Hospitalization insurance.
1946: Union Labor Life establishes company-paid-for insurance and pension plans for its own employees.
1957: The company purchases and merges with the American Standard Life Insurance Company, founded by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in 1924.
1959: Group Dental and Prescription benefits are first offered.
1961: Group annuity actuarial and administration departments are created.
1966: Group Vision, Extended Care and an extended plan of Long-Term Disability are offered.
1977: Mortgage Separate Account J is introduced.
1979: Ullico Casualty Company is created to proceed with new kinds of insurance.
1983: Ullico headquarters move back to Washington, D.C.
1986: Ullico Casualty begins to market Fiduciary Liability insurance to funds and trustees as other carriers abandon the market.
1987: Ullico Inc. is established as a holding company for the company's subsidiaries and assets. A number of new ventures quickly follow.
1990: Trust Fund Advisors, a pension fund portfolio management company, is created.
1999: UlliCare®, a managed care health plan, is introduced. Ullico also buys Tri-City Brokerage, the largest and only independent national insurance wholesaler.
2006: Ullico becomes a registered broker and dealer with the National Association of Securities Dealers and the SEC.
2008: Ullico Captive, PCC is established to offer alternative risk solutions through the Life and Health and Property and Casualty lines of business.
2009: Ullico Casualty Company posts a record $102 million in gross written in force premiums.
2010: In December 2010, the Ullico Board appoints Edward M. Smith as the company's new chief executive officer.
2020: Ullico Benefit Solutions, LLC has signed a strategic deal with Marathon Health, LLC.

Scandals

Ullico expanded significantly in the 1990s, creating a large number of strategic alliances with other insurance companies and making a number of acquisitions. Beginning in the late 1990s, the organization experienced a range of problems and challenges, including a conflict of interest in pension fund management and insider trading.