A billion-dollar financial services firm led by an African-American woman has partnered with a local company to bring to St. Louis its focus on helping working-class minorities understand and invest in life insurance, health insurance and financial planning.
Vikki Pryor, president and chief executive office of New York-based SBLI USA Mutual Life Insurance Company, Inc., said the company’s subsidiary, S.USA Life Insurance Company, Inc., partnered with Kathy Conley-Jones of The Conley Financial Group to open an office in St. Louis. Conley-Jones is African American.
Marquis Miller, vice president of business development for S.USA, said the company focuses on insuring minority and working-class communities and
wanted to expand to St. Louis because of the city’s demographics. The S.USA subsidiary is licensed in 49 states as well as District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
Miller said the Conley firm, which has been in business 18 years, will identify clients and lead local outreach efforts for S.USA, including financial empowerment classes. The firm will hire several people who are licensed in life, health and property casualty, said Kathy Conley-Jones, president of The Conley Financial Group. S.USA will provide marketing and claims payments.
“If you meet the requirements, are ethical and want to help people plan their future, come join with me,” Conley-Jones said.
Pryor said Conley-Jones is well-suited to bring SBLIUSA to St. Louis for four reasons. “There is an obvious knowledge and sensitivity to the community that we serve and the community at large. There is an alignment of values and mission,” Pryor said. “She wants to help her community and her city. And fourth, she is a very nice person.”
‘Life insurance is a must’
Pryor – who is the first African-American woman to lead a major insurance company, according to Black Enterprise magazine – said working with the Conley-Jones company is a great opportunity because they share the same vision to empower and educate minority communities about financial services and financial literacy.
Conley and Pryor both agree that educating African Americans about the importance of insurance is a top priority.
“Our products are part of a basic plan, and having life insurance is a must,” Pryor said. “Sometimes, we don’t want to think of our own demise, but you have to think of it in terms of planning for the future.”
S.USA also offers children’s policies, Pryor said.
Forty percent of African Americans who earn between $25,000 and $100,000 are underinsured or uninsured, Pryor said. If a breadwinner in an African-American family dies, Pryor said, it changes the “playing field” dramatically.
“When we lose a breadwinner, it is the difference between being able to keep our homes,” Pryor said. “It is the difference between being able to send our children to college.”
Despite the growing use of financial services and products among whites as a way to build and secure wealth, African Americans and Latinos lag sorely behind. According to a survey by the market research firm, the Polling Company Inc., major life insurance firms have abandoned minority communities.
The survey found that 92 percent of African Americans and 82 percent of Hispanics said they believe life insurance is essential, as compared to 72 percent of whites. But only 39 percent of African Americans own a life insurance policy, which is well under the national average of 47 percent. The study found that low incomes and the lack of availability of minority life-insurance agents were the main reasons these consumers had no life insurance.
Pryor is working to reverse the trend. According to the company’s customer and market Statistics, 35.7 percent of its clients are people of color. Of that, 18.3 percent are African-American. And 60.6 percent of the policy holders are women.
Conley-Jones is excited about educating people of color and women about the importance of insurance and financial planning. “Insurance is like putting on armor,” Conley-Jones said. “My job is to make sure our clients are protected.”
SBLI USA has more than $15.5 billion of insurance in force and more than $1.4 billion in assets, including $122 million in surplus capital. The company has about 200 employees and more than 300,000 policyholders.