Mr. Astley: Indeed, the company is 130 years old. It started as a mutual company in Waterloo, Ontario, in 1870. In 1999, we became the first large Canadian mutual company to go public. At that time we also changed our name from Mutual Life to Clarica Life Insurance Company, changed our visual identity and launched a major program to build brand and name awareness in Canada and in selected areas of the United States.
TWST: Why the decision to go public?
Mr. Astley: There were several factors that influenced our decision to
go public but two of the most important were: First, we could see that
the financial services environment was heading for dramatic change, a
scenario in which the mutual form would no longer be relevant and where
the public company form would be needed to continue to thrive and to
execute our strategy. The second reason was that we believed that going
public was the best way to serve our owners, the policyholders. So those
two factors were very big in our minds.
Tickers included in this excerpt: CLI:TSE
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