FBL Appoints Two Senior Executives

By Cyril Tuohy

InsuranceNewsNet

FBL Financial Group, the West Des Moines, Iowa-based holding company, has hired agency veteran D. Scott Stice as its chief marketing officer and John D. Currier Jr. as its chief actuary, the company has announced.

Stice will have responsibility for sales, marketing and distribution for the company’s brand and primary operating subsidiary, Farm Bureau Financial Services, the company said. Stice also will be responsible for Farm Bureau’s exclusive agency sales force. He reports directly to the FBL Financial Group’s chief executive officer James P. Brannen.

“Scott’s proven leadership with strategy development and execution, coupled with his exclusive agency background, makes him ideally suited to lead our Farm Bureau Financial Services sales and marketing efforts,” Brannen said in a statement.

Stice, who holds a master’s degree in business administration  from Pepperdine University, was previously senior vice president and head of field strategy and execution at Farmers Insurance.

Currier, whose hiring was announced earlier this month, will have overall responsibility for life actuarial issues and enterprise risk management, the company said. Most recently, he was chief actuary at Aviva USA. He holds a bachelor’s degree in actuarial science from Butler University.

Brannen praised Currier as an “outstanding talent,” and said Currier’s management skills and “broad actuarial product and policy experience” would strengthen FBL’s management team.

The announcements came weeks after the company reported first quarter profits of $25 million, up from $16.6 million a year ago. Even with the robust growth in profits this year, FBL has tweaked its product line.

First quarter premiums on life insurance products rose 27 percent as the company focused its agency network on selling more universal and term life insurance products.

Strong life insurance sales were offset by a 28 percent decline in annuity premiums as the company suspended the sale of some annuity products due to low interest rates, and as the company reduced commissions paid to agents, according to company filings.

Cyril Tuohy is a writer based in Pennsylvania. He has covered the financial services industry for more than 15 years. He can be reached at [email protected].

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Cyril Tuohy is a writer based in Pennsylvania. He has covered the financial services industry for more than 15 years. He can be reached at [email protected].