Executives from American Financial Group, the parent of Great American Insurance Group, recently briefed investors and securities analysts on the state of its operations and on its prospects for future growth.
One thing the executives did was to sell Wall Street players, at the Morgan Stanley Financials Conference in New York, on the idea that offering annuities is still a reasonable thing to do.
Here are three things the American Financial Group executives told Wall Street, based on the presentation slide deck.
1. The company's own annuities unit is doing well.
The unit reported record earnings, premiums and assets in 2016; it's a leader in its channels; and it has undergone significant transformation since 2009, the company said.
Pretax operating earnings increased to $368 million in 2016, from $127 million in 2009, and fixed and indexed annuity premium revenue increased to $4.4 billion, from $1.3 billion, over that same period.
The unit faced no rating agency downgrades during the Great Recession, and it has received upgrades since the end of the recession, the company said.
2. The company keeps its simple.
Some agents and advisors may wish Great American offered variable annuities or some other type of additional products.
