The Phoenix Companies, Inc. (NYSE:PNX) today announced that it has
formed a distribution company, Saybrus PartnersSM, Inc., and
that Saybrus has an agreement with financial services firm Edward Jones
to provide life insurance consulting services to the firm's financial
advisors.
Phoenix formed Saybrus as part of a series of actions to strengthen its
market position and strategy. Saybrus provides dedicated consultation
services to partner companies, as well as support for Phoenix’s product
line within its own distribution channels.
"Establishing Saybrus is an important first step in executing our growth
strategy, which includes leveraging our existing capabilities in
innovative ways. Through Saybrus, we can leverage our exceptional life
insurance expertise, our solutions-based approach, and our proven
ability to support financial advisors,” said James D. Wehr, president
and chief executive officer of Phoenix.
Saybrus’ wealth management consultants will work with more than 11,700
Edward Jones financial advisors, helping them match insurance products
to meet their clients' needs. The initial three-year agreement focuses
Saybrus consultants on two new insurance carriers in the Edward Jones
retail distribution network, John Hancock Life Insurance Company
(U.S.A.) and Pacific Life Insurance Company, both of which have a
selling agreement with Edward Jones.
Edward W. Cassidy, Phoenix’s executive vice president of distribution,
was named managing principal of Saybrus. He said, "Saybrus is
well-positioned to provide companies like Edward Jones with a
comprehensive and effective sales organization that has both wholesaling
and ‘assisted sales’ expertise.
"We are delighted to partner with one of the most widely and highly
respected financial services firms in the industry to give them
one-on-one support to help their financial advisors solve their clients’
insurance needs,” Mr. Cassidy said.
Merry Mosbacher, a principal responsible for insurance marketing at
Edward Jones, said, "Life insurance is a foundational need of our
clients, which is why we are expanding our offerings. Our agreement with
Saybrus will enhance our ability to serve our clients by bringing them
proven life insurance strategies customized for their individual needs
to help in reaching their financial goals.”
ABOUT PHOENIX
Dating to 1851, The Phoenix Companies, Inc. (NYSE:PNX) provides
financial solutions using life insurance and annuities, with particular
expertise in the high-net-worth and affluent market. In 2008, Phoenix
had annual revenues of $2.0 billion and total assets of $25.8 billion.
It is headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut. For more information,
visit www.phoenixwm.com.
ABOUT SAYBRUS
Saybrus Partners, Inc. is an organization of experienced insurance
professionals that offers select business partners a unique approach to
solutions-based planning. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Phoenix
Companies, Inc., with corporate headquarters in Hartford, Connecticut
and consulting representatives located across the United States. For
more information, visit www.saybruspartners.com.
ABOUT EDWARD JONES
Edward Jones provides financial services for individual investors in the
United States and, through its affiliates, in Canada and the United
Kingdom. Every aspect of the firm's business, from the types of
investment options offered to the location of branch offices, is
designed to cater to individual investors in the communities in which
they live and work. The firm's 11,700-plus financial advisors work
directly with nearly 7 million clients to understand their personal
goals – from college savings to retirement – and create long-term
investment solutions that emphasize a well-balanced portfolio and a
buy-and-hold strategy. Edward Jones embraces the importance of building
long-term, face-to-face relationships with clients, helping them to
understand and make sense of the investment options available today.
Edward Jones, which ranked No. 2 on FORTUNE magazine's "100 Best
Companies to Work For 2009," is headquartered in St. Louis.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release may contain "forward-looking statements” within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
which, by their nature, are subject to risks and uncertainties.
We
intend for these forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe
harbor provisions of the federal securities laws relating to
forward-looking statements.
These forward-looking statements
include statements relating to trends in, or representing management’s
beliefs about, our future transactions, strategies, operations and
financial results and often contain words such as "will,” "anticipate,”
"believe,” "plan,” "estimate,”
"expect,” "intend,” "may,”
"should” and other similar words or expressions.
Forward-looking
statements are made based upon our current expectations and beliefs
concerning trends and future developments and their potential effects on
the company.
They are not guarantees of future performance.
Our
actual business, financial condition and results of operations may
differ materially from those suggested by forward-looking statements as
a result of risks and uncertainties, which include, among others:
(i)
unfavorable general economic developments including, but not limited to,
specific related factors such as the performance of the debt and equity
markets and changes in interest rates; (ii) the effect of continuing
adverse capital and credit market conditions on our ability to meet our
liquidity needs, our access to capital and our cost of capital; (iii)
the possibility of losses due to defaults by others including, but not
limited to, issuers of fixed income securities; (iv) changes in our
investment valuations based on changes in our valuation methodologies,
estimations and assumptions; (v) the effect of guaranteed benefits
within our products; (vi) the consequences related to variations in the
amount of our statutory capital due to factors beyond our control; (vii)
further downgrades in our debt or financial strength ratings; (viii) the
possibility that mortality rates, persistency rates, funding levels or
other factors may differ significantly from our pricing expectations;
(ix) the availability, pricing and terms of reinsurance coverage
generally and the inability or unwillingness of our reinsurers to meet
their obligations to us specifically; (x) our dependence on
non-affiliated distributors for our product sales; (xi) our dependence
on third parties to maintain critical business and administrative
functions; (xii) our ability to attract and retain key personnel in a
competitive environment; (xiii) the strong competition we face in our
business from banks, insurance companies and other financial services
firms; (xiv) our reliance, as a holding company, on dividends and other
payments from our subsidiaries to meet our financial obligations and pay
future dividends, particularly since our insurance subsidiaries’ ability
to pay dividends is subject to regulatory restrictions; (xv) the
potential need to fund deficiencies in our Closed Block; (xvi) tax
developments that may affect us directly, or indirectly through the cost
of, the demand for or profitability of our products or services; (xvii)
the possibility that the actions and initiatives of the U.S. Government,
including those that we elect to participate in, may not improve adverse
economic and market condition generally or our business, financial
condition and results of operations specifically; (xviii) other
legislative or regulatory developments; (xix) legal or regulatory
actions; (xx) changes in accounting standards; (xxi) the potential
effects of the spin-off of our former asset management subsidiary;
(xxii) the potential effect of a material weakness in our internal
control over financial reporting on the accuracy of our reported
financial results; and (xxiii) the risks related to a man-made or
natural disaster; and (xxiv) other risks and uncertainties described
herein or in any of our filings with the SEC.
We undertake no
obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statement,
whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.