Great-West Lifeco

History

Great-West Life was founded in Winnipeg in 1891 by Jeffry Hall Brock, a local insurance agent. The company was incorporated on August 28, 1891, with locals such as James Ashdown on its board. It built its head office in the exchange District in Winnipeg on the corner of Rorie Street and Lombard Avenue. In 1912, two policyholders who died on the Titanic were covered by the company, after its first death payout in 1893.

The earliest roots of any of the companies under its management were set in 1847 Hamilton, Ontario by subsidiary Canada Life (then known as Canada Life Assurance Company); it was later acquired by The Great-West Life Assurance Company. The original name of Canada Life included the word Assurance in place of insurance, something that was more common among British companies. Its second oldest company London Life was founded in 1874 and taken over by Great-West in 1997, one year after it purchased the Canadian operations of the Prudential Insurance Company of America

When created in 1890–1891, 31 of the 40 insurance companies in Canada were foreign-owned and none of the Canadian-based ones were managed from Western Canada. Great-West's founder started the company as an attempt to raise capital needed locally to develop farm land and retail businesses.

In 1942, it was the first Canadian company "to enter the accident and health insurance business." In 1960, the company moved to Osborne Street North, where it had constructed a new building on the site of the old Osborne Stadium. In 1969, Great-West was purchased by Power Corporation of Canada of Paul Desmarais, and was subsequently made into a wholly owned subsidiary. The takeover prompted the resignation of Great-West president David E. Kilgour, whose exit and severance settlement was negotiated by his son-in-law, John Turner, through Fraser Elliott. Kilgour was succeeded as president by James Burns. In 1983, the company expanded again into a building on Broadway and Osborne. In 1979, US and Canadian operations became separate due mostly to rapid US growth. In 1982, Great-West began offering a universal life policy which differed from those offered by competitors. Two years later, in 1984, the Power Financial Corporation was created to be a holding company for Great-West and its numerous businesses. In 1997, Great-West Lifeco took over London Life, acquiring Canada Life Financial in 2003.

Great-West Lifeco began an acquisitions spree on February 17, 2003, when it purchased Canada Life Financial for US$4.7 billion followed by Indiana Health Network incIHN three years later in 2006 and Putnam Investment Trust on August 3, 2007, for $3.9 billion (from Marsh & McLennan Companies). On April 1, 2008, subsidiary Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company sold Denver based Great-West Healthcare to CIGNA for about US$1.9 billion. With the transaction Great-West Lifeco lost about 1.9 million customers (about three quarters of their medical employers).

Other acquisitions include the 2006 takeover of US Bancorp's retirement plans business which added $104 billion in assets at the time, and more retirement plans the same year but from MetLife.

Irish Life, based in Dublin as a life assurance, pensions, and investments group, was acquired by Great West Lifeco in 2013 from the Irish government. On July 18, 2013, Canadian subsidiary Canada Life Limited completed the takeover of Irish Life Assurance.

Great-West Lifeco in 2018 acquired Invesco (Ireland), an Irish company. In October 2018, Stefan Kristjanson retired and was replaced by Jeff Macoun as COO of Great-West Lifeco Inc. In January 2019, Protective Life Insurance Co. bought part of Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Co. for $1.2 billion. A merger of several divisions and subsidiaries to be renamed, the Canada Life amalgamation received approval from the Canadian government in November 2019. They officially begin operating as The Canada Life Assurance Company on January 1, 2020. After the merger into Canada Life, employees of the merged companies will work from company's five main offices in Winnipeg, London, Toronto, Montreal and Regina, with no cuts to employment.

In July 2021, Prudential Financial announced the sale of its retirement-related businesses to Great-West for 3.5 billion dollars.

On May 31, 2023, Great-West Lifeco announced that Franklin Templeton Investments would acquire Putnam Investments for $925 million. Putnam Investments subsidiary, PanAgora Asset Management would not be included in the acquisition. The deal was completed in January 2024.

Companies

Empower Retirement

• Great West Life & Annuity Insurance Company is a company that provides individuals and businesses in all of the USA's states with life insurance, retirement benefits (which are paid for by employers) and annuities distributed by its own brokers and institutions. This division began operations in the USA on May 28, 1997.
• Empower Retirement is a retirement plan recordkeeping company based in Greenwood Village, Colorado. It is the second-largest retirement plan provider in the US.
• The Great West Life Assurance Company is Canada's biggest insurance company. The subsidiary became Canada's leader in 2003 when it paid Cdn$7.3 billion (US$4.7 billion) for Canada Life Financial. Products include trust securities. Great-West Life, Canada Life, and London Life were rebranded as the new Canada Life on January 1, 2020
• Canada Life was founded in 1847 and operates in Ireland, Canada, the UK, Germany, and the Isle of Man. Business focusses on insurance (life, disability, creditor and critical illness) and wealth management. European business goes back to 1903 and provides different regions with different products (insurance and savings are offered in every region except the UK (where annuities and group insurance are provided) and Germany (where business comes from pensions and critical illness).
• London Life is a 140-year-old business currently serving 2 million Canadians. Operates under the banners Great-West, Freedom 55 (savings, investments, retirement, insurance and mortgages), Quadrus Investment Services Ltd. (mutual funds), London Reinsurance Group (international business).
• Irish Life, acquired in 2013 for €1.3 Billion

References

References

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28. "Great-West Lifeco announces sale of Putnam Investments to Franklin Templeton".
29. Masters, Brooke. (2023-05-31). "Franklin Templeton to buy Putnam Investments for more than $1bn". Financial Times.
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31. Dorbian, Iris. (2024-01-02). "Franklin Templeton scoops up Putnam Investments".
32. (September 4, 2019). "Broncos, Empower Retirement agree to deal for stadium naming rights". Denver Post.
33. "Broncos agree to terms with Empower Retirement on 21-year deal to name stadium 'Empower Field at Mile High'". Denver Broncos.
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