Primerica Placed in New Citi Division

January 21, 2009 at 07:00 PM

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Citigroup Inc. has put Primerica Financial Services Inc. in a new division that holds the company's non-bank, "non-core" assets.

Citigroup, New York, is putting its core banking operations in a new Citicorp division.

The other division, Citi Holdings, will hold Primerica, Duluth, Ga.

Citi Holdings also will hold other non-banking operations, such as Citigroup's 49% stake in Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.

Citi Holdings managers "will seek to maximize the value of these [non-core] businesses by running them well, restructuring and managing them through this tough economic cycle, and taking advantage of value-enhancing disposition and combination opportunities as they emerge," Citigroup says.

At Primerica, "there will not be a change in the way that business is done, because we have always operated as our own business and had our own CEO and management team," says Peter Schneider, executive vice president of Primerica.

The shift into Citi Holdings will not lead to layoffs or additional employee attrition, Schneider says.

"Primerica has strong results and will continue to have strong results," Schneider says. The unit is "extremely well capitalized," he adds.

Although the life market was difficult in 2008, the face amount of coverage issued held steady at $88 billion, and the number of aplications fell just 1%, to 336,373, Schneider says.

The average face amount per policy increased slightly, to $299,200; from $296,400.

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