CUNA Mutual Group

TruStage Financial Group

Company type	Mutual
Industry	Insurance and finance
Founded	1935; 90 years ago (1935) (as Credit Union National Association)
Headquarters	Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Terrance Williams, President and CEO
Services	financial services commercial & consumer services investment products personal services lending services wealth management and retirement services
Revenue	$3.54 billion USD (2017)[1][2]
Net income	$303 million USD (2017)[3]
Total assets	$20.6 billion USD (2017)[4]
Number of employees	3,300 (2017)
Website	https://www.trustage.com
Footnotes / references [5]

TruStage Financial Group, Inc., formerly known as CUNA Mutual Group,/ˈkjuːnə/ is a mutual insurance company that provides financial services to cooperatives, credit unions, their members, and other customers worldwide. TruStage Financial Group sells commercial and consumer insurance and protection products. TruStage Financial Group provides retirement plan services to small businesses and credit union employees. The Madison, Wisconsin-based company also provides auto, home, life and loan protection products to credit union members through its TruStage brand.^[6]

History

The "CUNA" in the company's name originally stood for "Credit Union National Association".^[7] TruStage Financial Group is the marketing name for CMFG Life Insurance Company, its subsidiaries, and affiliates.

TruStage Financial Group was founded in 1935 as the CUNA Mutual Insurance Society. Its purpose was to offer financial protection to Americans during the credit union movement.^[8] After World War II, TruStage Financial Group grew rapidly and expanded many of its services. TruStage Financial Group began selling insurance products in 1983. It now serves over 30 million consumers across its lending, retirement, and wealth management products.^[8]

Locations

TruStage Financial Group employs nearly 3,700 people in offices in Waverly, Iowa; Great Bend, Kansas; Fort Worth, Texas; and Madison, Wisconsin; as well as field employees located throughout the United States. There are 1,900 employees working in Madison, Wisconsin, the company's world headquarters.^[9]

The company's international locations include the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and Trinidad and Tobago.^[10]

Services

TruStage Financial Group^[9] sells a variety of insurance and investment products designed for credit unions and their members, including the following:

• Insurance and payment protection services offered by TruStage Financial Group include the following commercial and personal services.
  • Commercial: Bond, collateral protection, management and professional liability, plastic card, business automobile, IT/cyber solutions, mortgage insurance, property and business liability, workers compensation, and executive benefits
  • Personal: Credit insurance, debt protection, guaranteed asset protection, mortgage payment protection, mechanical repair coverage, life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment, health insurance, and auto and home insurance
• Lending services include loan generation marketing, lending document management, compliance services, and lender development programs.
• Wealth management and retirement services include broker/dealer services, pension and 401(k) plans, mutual funds, managed accounts, variable annuities, fixed annuities, and immediate annuities.

TruStage

TruStage is the brand name of a group of insurance products provided by TruStage Financial Group. TruStage is the insurance arm of TruStage Financial Group, which is rated "A" (Excellent; 3rd highest out of 16 possible ratings) by credit rating agency A.M. Best as of February 2017.^[11]

TruStage Financial Group first registered the TruStage brand trademark in 2010, and it was first used commercially in 2013.^[12] The TruStage brand first sold insurance products commercially in 2013.^{[citation needed]} It exceeded $1 billion in consumer coverage in 2017,^[13] and exceeded $6 billion in 2018.^[14]

TruStage also offers community service awards to students, such as the Community Spark Award.^[15]

Products

TruStage offers a range of insurance products, including whole and term life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment insurance, auto insurance, and property insurance. All products have various coverage amounts and age requirements.^[16]

TruStage life insurance products include:^[17]

• Simplified whole life insurance: requires medical exams or questioning and pays a cash benefit if a person dies.
• Guaranteed acceptance whole life insurance: does not require medical exams or questioning and pays a cash benefit if a person dies.
• Term life insurance: guarantees payment of a death benefit during a specified time period.

Additional TruStage insurance products include:

• Accidental death and dismemberment insurance (underwritten by CMFG Life Insurance Company):^[18] pays a cash benefit if a person dies or is seriously injured in an accident.
• Auto insurance (underwritten by Liberty Mutual and Esurance):^[19] offers coverage for cars, motorcycles, boats or watercraft, ATVs or off-road vehicles, and recreation vehicles (RV).
• Home insurance (underwritten by Liberty Mutual and Esurance):^[20] offers coverage for homeowners, renters, or condo residents and their property.

Labor negotiations

Since February 2022, TruStage Financial Group and 450 employee members of OPEIU #39 have been negotiating a successor labor agreement to replace the previous agreement that expired March 31, 2022.^[21] Talks broke down in January 2023, with the union alleging the company was no longer engaging in good faith bargaining over union member priorities including fair compensation, pay equity, job security assurances against outsourcing, remote work protections, retirement security, and affordable health care.^[22] In February and March 2023, the union filed unfair labor practice (ULP) charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against the company asserting refusal to bargain, bad faith bargaining, refusal to furnish information, subcontracting unit work, retaliation against workers for union activity, all of which are prohibited by federal law.^[23] All of the ULPs filed during that time were later determined to be without merit and either dismissed or withdrawn, according to NLRB case data.^[24][25] On April 19, 2023, 87% of union members voted on whether to allow the union's bargaining committee to authorize a strike within 30 days if no labor agreement is reached. The measure was approved with 92% member support.^[26] Workers ratified a new contract in December 2023 that runs through March 2028 and includes pay raises of 15.5% retroactive to 2022 and a 13.25% pay raise over the four-year contract period.^[27][28]

References

1. "CUNA Mutual revenue up 8.3% in 2017". Retrieved March 16, 2019.
2. CUNA Mutual Group 2014 annual report
3. "2017 YEAR IN REVIEW - CUNA Mutual Group". Retrieved March 16, 2019.
4. "CUNA Mutual revenue up 8.3% in 2017". Retrieved March 16, 2019.
5. "CUNA Mutual Group". Fortune. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
6. TruStage (official site)
7. Credit union meeting. The Pantagraph, (Bloomington, Illinois), November 30, 1989.
8. "CUNA Mutual Group History". Funding University.
9. About Us - CUNA Mutual Group
10. Cuna Caribbean Insurance
11. "A.M. Best Affirms Credit Ratings of Subsidiaries of CUNA Mutual Holding Company". February 28, 2018.
12. "CUNA Mutual GroupMemberCONNECT Program" (PDF). Trustage.
13. "CUNA Mutual Group's TruStage Online Term Life Solution Exceeds $1 Billion in Coverage Just 10 Months After Introduction". Cision PR Newswire (Press release).
14. "CUNA Mutual's TruStage hits $6 billion in issued coverage". Credit Union Journal. September 5, 2018.
15. Middleton, Heather (November 30, 2018). "Local student, 12, wins Community Spark Award". Henry Herald.
16. Groenfeldt, Tom (July 19, 2017). "Using Advanced Tech To Provide Life Insurance Online In Minutes". Forbes.
17. TruStage life insurance
18. TruStage accidental death and dismemberment insurance
19. TruStage auto insurance
20. TruStage home insurance
21. Gunn, Erik (April 25, 2023). "Contract dispute, strike vote challenge community image of Madison-based CUNA Mutual". Wisconsin Examiner. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
22. Herman, Alice (April 25, 2023). "CUNA Mutual workers move closer toward their first-ever strike". Tone Madison. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
23. Cestkowski, J. T. (May 10, 2023). "CUNA workers raise money and pressure ahead of a looming strike deadline". Tone Madison. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
24. "Case Search | National Labor Relations Board". www.nlrb.gov. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
25. "NLRB Withdraws Labor Complaint Against TruStage, Other Investigations Continue". cutimes.com. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
26. Yahr, Natalie (April 25, 2023). "CUNA Mutual union authorizes strike over unfair labor practices". The Cap Times. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
27. Yahr, Natalie (December 17, 2023). "TruStage union workers get 15.5% raises in ratifying new contract". The Cap Times. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
28. Leavins, Abigail (June 4, 2024). "TruStage workers reflect on contract a year after going on strike • Wisconsin Examiner". Wisconsin Examiner. Retrieved November 13, 2024.

External links

• CUNA Mutual Group (official website)
• TruStage (official site)