David Noble, 85, the longtime president of one life insurer and the founder of another, American Equity Investment Life Holding Co., died Sunday, according to American Equity.
Noble was born in West Des Moines, Iowa, in 1931. He got into the insurance business at General United Insurance Co. in Des Moines around 1949.
Noble was president of Statesman Life Insurance Co. from 1976 to 1994. The company now known as CNO Financial Group Inc. acquired Statesman in 1994. Noble soon left to start American Equity Life in West Des Moines, Iowa, in 1995. When he died, he was still the company's chairman.
American Equity helped create the modern indexed annuity market. Noble was one of the major backers of efforts to keep the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from regulating indexed annuities that same way it regulates variable annuities.
American Equity is collecting the memories of people who knew Noble at [email protected].
Noble also started the Noble Foundation in Des Moines. The foundation supported many schools and charities.
