Nationwide ins

About Nationwide ins

"Nationwide is one of the largest insurance and financial services companies in the world, with more than $148 billion in statutory assets. Our core businesses include: domestic property and casualty insurance, life insurance and retirement savings, asset management, and strategic investments. Nationwide provides a full range of products and financial services from auto, fire, life, health and commercial insurance to administrative services, annuities, mutual funds and retirement plans. We offer these products through multiple distribution channels and we maintain strong relationships with premier mutual fund managers.

Nationwide ins. does business in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands, Asia, Europe and Latin America.

Our domestic property and casualty insurance operation includes the leading companies of Nationwide Insurance:

»   Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company
»   Allied Insurance
»   Scottsdale Insurance Company
»   Nationwide Agribusiness

Nationwide Financial (NYSE: NFS) is a leading provider of annuities, life insurance, retirement plans, and other financial services for individuals and institutional clients.  The major operating subsidiary of NFS is the Nationwide Life Insurance Company.  Nationwide Financial, a public company, is 63.0 percent owned by Nationwide. Nationwide Financial has $96 billion in assets under management.

Gartmore Group , is the asset management arm of Nationwide. Gartmore Group features nine affiliated investment advisors strategically located in North America , Europe and Asia. Collectively, Gartmore Group manages more than $75 billion in nontaxable and taxable assets.

Gartmore Investment Management plc., with more than $49 billion in assets under management, was acquired by Nationwide in 2000. The London-based Gartmore is an international funds manager, with leading market positions in the United Kingdom, as well as Europe and Japan.

history

The Beginning
The Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, a consumer group organized by Ohio farmers, started what would become Nationwide in 1925. Early Farm Bureau leaders felt that established insurers were overcharging for auto insurance. While they knew little about insurance, common sense told them that rural drivers should pay less for auto insurance if they had fewer accidents than city motorists.

The Ohio Farm Bureau Federation incorporated the Farm Bureau Mutual Automobile Insurance Company on December 17, 1925. Working with a $10,000 loan, the company opened a one-room office in downtown Columbus staffed with three employees. Twenty part-time agents volunteered to sell auto insurance policies without commission to give the company a running start.

At the time, Ohio law required any insurance company to sign up 100 pledged policyholders if they wanted to qualify for a state license. Selling mostly on the basis of their faith in an untried but logical insurance concept, the volunteer agents obtained 10 times the needed number within a few months. With 1,000 policy applications, Farm Bureau Mutual officially started business on April 12, 1926.

Back then, the new company offered only one product, auto insurance, and only to Ohio farmers. Yet, it was so successful in providing quality auto insurance at low rates that rural drivers in other states soon sought coverage from the new Ohio company.

In 1928, with help from locally based "sponsoring" organizations, Farm Bureau Mutual began expanding into other states. The first was West Virginia, and then came Maryland, Delaware, Vermont, and North Carolina.

Even bolder than state expansion was the decision to extend its services to residents of towns and small cities in 1931. In 1934, the company began insuring motorists in metropolitan areas and the company was on the move.

The introduction of a fire insurance company in 1934 and the purchase of a struggling life insurance company the following year soon brought all-around personal protection to its many customers. By the mid-1930s, the insurer became a conglomerate long before it became a standard business practice.

By 1943, when World War II interrupted expansion, Farm Bureau Mutual operated in 12 states and the District of Columbia. The company resumed territorial growth in 1952, and accelerated its national expansion in 1956.

To better represent itself and the work done across the country, Farm Bureau Mutual changed its name to Nationwide Insurance in 1955. During the next 10 years, Nationwide expanded into 20 additional states, including Oregon, the company's first state west of the Mississippi River.

Innovation helped Nationwide ins. move ahead of the industry the mid-1950s through multi-line selling, and pioneering the sale of both life insurance and mutual funds shares by its agents. It was a bold move at the time that was viewed skeptically and opposed vigorously by both the insurance and securities industries. Attitudes changed slowly, but many leading insurance companies eventually followed Nationwide's lead into mutual funds.

The Complex
Growth is an ongoing characteristic of Nationwide. Farm Bureau Mutual quickly moved out of its tiny office to an old mansion converted to office use and eventually to a downtown Columbus office complex in 1936. That building was later tripled in size, and dedicated in 1951 during the company's 25th anniversary year.

The near chronic lack of office space and the need to localize customer service caused Farm Bureau Mutual to start a network of large regional offices in 1951. These consisted of sales, claims, and underwriting personnel ready to meet the needs of their customers.

Nationwide's international headquarters now resides at One Nationwide Plaza, the largest single office building in Central Ohio. Completed in 1978, the 40-story structure is a city landmark. The home office complex grew throughout the 1980s to include several surrounding buildings that offer a combined office space of more than 2.6 million square feet of space.

Construction of Nationwide's home office complex also helped revitalize the once-blighted north downtown area of Columbus. Since 1974, multi-million dollar construction projects have rendered a sprawling convention center, several hotels and numerous popular restaurants and shops. Of the 16 major buildings constructed in the area, Nationwide built six and provided partial financing for two others.

Nationwide ins. announced in 1997 that it would build an arena for the citizens of Central Ohio, and provide a home to a National Hockey League franchise, the Columbus Blue Jackets. The arena opened in September 2000, and the Blue Jackets began to play that fall. Just to the northwest of Nationwide's home office, the "Arena District," features many retail, food and entertainment venues, along with commercial and residential construction that continues today.

values;

We work to help our customers protect and manage the most important assets in their lives: their families, their property and their incomes after they retire. We are committed to providing the best investment, retirement and insurance solutions we can for our customers. It's what they have come to expect from us. Our corporate values, and the effort each associate puts forth in making them a reality, will enable us to be the great company we envision for tomorrow.

Performance Values
We have a bias for action and a passion for results
We act accountably
We value coaching and feedback
We work as one team
We have fun

Core Values
We value people
We are customer focused
We act with honesty and integrity
We trust and respect each other" - nationwide.com