Mr. Rife: This is a locally owned company. It was a family-started insurance company, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It was started in 1946 by the Chairman's father, Scott McIntyre Sr. We're involved in the property and casualty and life business. We actually have a total of nine companies, but the P&C business is pooled together, and then the life company runs separately. We have offices in Cedar Rapids; Denver, Colorado; Galveston, Texas; and New Orleans, Louisiana. And we'll write in the neighborhood of 450 million probably this year. We have a small assumed reinsurance business, and in addition to the regular property and casualty lines, we do write some bonds also, Fidelity & Surety. So our emphasis really in the property and casualty side is on the commercial business. About 88%-89% of our business is non-personal lines, so, I guess I'm saying that personal lines make up 11%-12% of our business. We are probably a mid-market writer, some off Main Street, and we really consider our company an underwriting company. So our goal every year is to make an underwriting profit. And although we haven't been very successful at that in the last five years, I think the landscape is changing in the property and casualty business and we're anticipating some improvement in those lines.
TWST: What has been the problem over the last five years?
Mr. Rife: The problem is the same problem it always is with property and
casualty companies: a soft market, catastrophes, large losses. It's not
an unusual thing. And there are not many companies in the marketplace
that have been writing an underwriting profit in the last five years.
And I will say, if you look at the figures, you'll see that the United
Fire Group, in the P&C side, has outperformed the industry on a combined
basis since 1998.
Tickers included in this excerpt: UFCS
For more information call (212) 952 7433. The Wall Street Transcript does not endorse any of the comments made by interviewees, and does not make stock recommendations.