Guardian

  • Reasonable consumers acting reasonably recognize sales pitches and ordinarily discount them accordingly.
  • In addition, to acknowledge that consumers understand that future interest rates will affect their future premium rates is reasonable and even respectful of individual intelligence, personal accountability and good common sense (see, Fischel & Stillman, supra, at 16).

1999 - LC - Gaidon vs Guardian, New York
https://www.law.cornell.edu/nyctap/comments/i99_0179.htm

But, as usual, Guardian did not jump on the bandwagon before considering the implications for the policyholder.

  • Simply put, it found UL sorely lacking.
  • The problem here was that UL policies were too flexible.
  • Premiums were too easily skipped and face values too easily reduced.
  • Commissions fluctuate too much for the liking of career agents.
  • Moreover, due to the uncertainties of the cash flows, insurers who sell UL policies cannot invest as long-term and hence, ceteris paribus, they reap lower investment returns.
  • Finally, Guardian's strategy for selling insurance, now as it had been in the past, was to emphasize the safety of insurance over the potential windfalls from investment.
  • It was a conscious strategic choice that kept Guardian from becoming swept up in industry trends that may not have the policyholder's best interests at heart.

2004 - Book - Mutually Beneficial: The Guardian and Life Insurance in America, By Robert E. Wright, George David Smith, David Smith - 512p

John C. Angle: I would like to begin by reciting for you one case example.

  • Most of you are probably aware that the net worth of savings and loans in the United States have declined by 7% during the first 7 months of this year, at the rate of 1% a month.
  • An examination of the assets of these institutions shows that almost 9% of their assets consist of advances from the Federal Home Loan Bank at interest rates of 16-20% and that they also have significant holdings of negotiated rate certificates of deposit or repurchase agreements.
  • The Board of Directors of the Guardian Life includes three economists, all three of whom sit on the boards of mutual savings banks in New York.
  • As they go from a meeting of a particular savings bank to our Board, they carry with them a concern over our ability to meet immediate demands for our individual life policy cash values which are not yet encumbered by policy loans.

1981 - SOA - The Impact of Inflation on Insurance and Annuity Reserve Valuation: The C-3 Risk, Society of Actuaries - 44p