History
November 6, 1886
Charles M. Turner founds the Security Mutual Life Association. The fundamental objective of the entity—to sell a high quality product at a competitive price. The Company was established as a "mutual" life association not as a stock company so that policyholders, not private investors, would share in profit.
January 3, 1887
Security Mutual Life Association opens its doors for business, located in two small offices in downtown Binghamton, New York. On this day the first policy was sold. It was a policy that today would be recognized as a one-year renewable term policy. The death benefit was $1,000.
1889 Security Mutual Life becomes the first company in the nation to offer disability benefits. This helped to establish the Company as an innovator in the industry.
April 22, 1898 The Company's name is changed to Security Mutual Life Insurance Company.
September 7, 1900
Once again, Security Mutual Life lives up to its reputation of being a competitive spark in the industry by establishing the "Total Abstinence League," offering a "preferred class" to its members if they agreed not to sell, use or manufacture intoxicating liquors. The offering was a smash hit.
January 31, 1903 Security Mutual Life announces plans for building its own 10-story headquarters.
March 12, 1904 Construction of the headquarters begins. The main entrance way was designed after the stone bridge depicted in the Company's emblem.
As Security Mutual Life turns 50 The creation of the Social Security system enables families, for the first time, to actually plan for their insurance needs. Security Mutual Life adapts itself to the Country's new vision of life insurance and the widely accepted need for it as a supplement to government and private benefits.
1940 Being an innovator in the industry, Security Mutual Life is among the first life insurance companies to create a separate health department. Within weeks Security Mutual Life offers accident and health coverage in addition to traditional life insurance.
1944 Security Mutual Life pioneers another line of business: Group Coverage. Soon thereafter Security Mutual Life establishes a contributory plan for life insurance and hospital coverage for Security Mutual Life employees.
Early 1950s
Security Mutual Life becomes a leader once again by adding a new line of pension coverage and offering guaranteed issue coverage long before the industry even had a name for such practices.
- Becomes the first company to issue Jumping Juvenile policies. Face amount is $1,000 until age 21 and then jumps to $5,000.
- Becomes the first company to offer noncancelable disability income coverage to age 65.
1960 Security Mutual Life adds "of New York" to its name.
1962 75 years old—$125 million in assets and $565 million of life insurance in force.
- Security Mutual Life joins with 7 other companies to give New York State residents a nonprofit hospital-medical and major medical insurance program for the elderly. The plan, called the New York 65, was set up on a tax-exempt, nonprofit basis.
1969 Security Mutual Life joins with 152 other companies in pledging to divert $1 billion from normal investment channels to help finance the rebuilding of center cities.
1970
$1 billion of life insurance in force.
1977
Security Mutual Life introduces its nonsmoker premium discount, an echo of the Total Abstinence League (discounts to non-drinkers).
1981 Security Mutual Life dedicates a new 3-floor, 95,000-square-feet, addition to accommodate the Company's growth.
1983 Security Mutual expands into the worksite market by offering employees of participating employers the opportunity to purchase life insurance through the convenience of premium payment by payroll deduction.
1986 100 Years Old—$13.1 billion of life insurance in force; $582 million in assets; $11.5 million in dividend payments.
1992
1997 Security Mutual's subsidiary, Security Administrators, Inc., established in 1983, opens its Syracuse office. SAI provides plan design and administrative services to sponsors of retirement plans nationwide.
1998 Security Mutual expands into the credit union market by offering credit union members the opportunity to purchase life insurance with premiums deducted from their credit union accounts.
2002
Security Mutual Life creates a Benefits Division to provide targeted products and services—both group/employer-paid products and voluntary/employee-paid products—to the benefits management market.
2006
2011
Security Mutual Life achieves its 125th anniversary
and its 119th consecutive year of paying dividends.
2012 December 31, 2012—$31.1 billion of life insurance in force; $2.62 billion in assets. $22.3 million in dividend payments.
Dividends paid for 121 consecutive years.