State Farm Story
In a little over 80 years, State Farm has grown from a small, farming-community-based mutual auto insurer to one of the world's largest financial institutions.
Despite this tremendous growth, our founder's original philosophy of insurance coverage at a fair price, coupled with fair claim settlement has remained the cornerstone of our success.
It began in 1921, when a successful Illinois area farmer named George J. Mecherle (pronounced Ma-herl), was forced to change careers due to his wife's health concerns. The couple moved to the city of Bloomington, and Mecherle took a job as an insurance salesman.
He liked the work, and quickly became successful, but he did not agree with the fact that farmers were charged the same auto insurance rates as non-farmers even though they were consistently less accident-prone.
When he suggested a better way to sell insurance, his employer laughed and said, "If you think you've got such a good idea, why don't you start your own company?" So he did.
In 1922 Mecherle opened his own firm, State Farm Insurance, as a mutual automobile insurance company owned by its policyholders. This revolutionized the insurance business by introducing low-risk rates, safe-driver discounts, and semi-annual payment plans.
Today State Farm Insurance Companies® is one of the 20 largest corporations on the Fortune 500. It includes 79,200 employees and more than 16,700 agents servicing 71.6 million policies in the United States and Canada.
The highly principled mission, vision and values of State Farm today are still those of George J. Mecherle.
State Farm Facts
State Farm insures more cars than any other insurer in North America and is the leading U.S. home insurer. State Farm's 17,800 agents and 68,000 employees serve over 74 million auto, fire, life and health policies in the United States and Canada. State Farm also offers customers banking, annuities and mutual fund products. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No.22 on the Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit State Farm.com® or in Canada State Farm.ca™.
State Farm Insurance Companies
Here are some of the major companies in the State Farm Group and a bit of their history. Detailed financial information is contained in the 2005 Year In Review or Annual Report.
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company was founded on June 7, 1922, by George J. Mecherle, a retired farmer. It initially concentrated on meeting auto insurance needs of Illinois farmers through a mutual organization owned by the customers. By 1942, the company was the nation's largest auto insurer, a ranking it has held ever since. About one out of every five cars on the road is insured with State Farm®. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is a mutual insurance company and as such does not have any shareholders. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company began marketing health insurance in 1965.
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is also the parent company of several wholly-owned subsidiaries that provide property and life insurance, banking products and mutual funds. These entities include:
State Farm Life Insurance Company was founded in 1929. State Farm Life and Accident Assurance Company began operations in 1961 to meet special requirements for life insurance in New York, Connecticut, and Wisconsin. State Farm Life Insurance Company and State Farm Life and Accident Assurance Company have been marketing Variable Products to our customers through State Farm VP Management Corporation since 1998.
State Farm Fire and Casualty Company was formed in 1935 to provide property insurance for State Farm customers in the United States and Canada. The product lines written by State Farm Fire and Casualty Company include homeowners, boat owners and many commercial lines. The company has been the nation's largest insurer of homes since 1964.
State Farm County Mutual Insurance Company of Texas became a part of the State Farm Group in 1961 and protects motorists in Texas . This company cedes most of the risk assumed under its policies to State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company under a quota-share reinsurance arrangement. The company is under common management with State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company.
State Farm Indemnity Company commenced business in 1991 and writes auto insurance in the state of New Jersey for the State Farm group. The company was formed to provide more accurate pricing and risk assessment in this unique market. In 2006, State Farm Guaranty Insurance Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of State Farm Indemnity Company, began writing auto insurance business in the state of New Jersey. All business written by State Farm Guaranty Insurance Company is ceded to State Farm Indemnity Company.
State Farm General Insurance Company was organized in 1962 as a property insurance affiliate. This company has evolved into the primary writer of State Farm homeowners and property liability insurance in the state of California.
State Farm Florida Insurance Company commenced business Feb. 1, 1999 and is the primary writer of homeowners and property liability insurance in the state of Florida.
State Farm Lloyds is an association of underwriters operating under the Lloyds Plan as provided in Texas law. It underwrites homeowners and commercial multiple peril insurance in that state. It began writing business in 1983. The association's insurance operations are managed by its attorney in fact, State Farm Lloyds, Inc., as required by law.
State Farm Bank, F.S.B. received formal approval for a thrift charter from the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) in November 1998 and is generally referred to as "State Farm Bank®". Its focus is on consumer-oriented financial products, complementing State Farm's insurance focus on personal lines.
State Farm Bank is a nontraditional financial institution and does not have branch offices. The bulk of direct customer interaction and product assistance is provided by State Farm® agents, augmented by a telephone call center, mail and the Internet. As of December 31, 2005, the Bank held $12 billion in total assets.
State Farm Investment Management Corp. (SFIMC) serves as the investment advisor for the State Farm Associate and Retail Mutual Funds and the underlying Funds offered in connection with State Farm Variable Products. In addition, SFIMC serves as the transfer agent for the State Farm Associate and Retail Mutual Funds . SFIMC has over 35 years experience managing investment company assets. State Farm VP Management Corp. (SFVPMC) serves as the broker/dealer for the State Farm Associate and Retail Mutual Funds and State Farm Variable Products .
