Let's Offer Consumers Stability: Foresters' New CEO

Matt Berman, the new chief executive officer at Foresters, has taken over an insurer where life insurance is still the main course, not the appetizer.

The 150-year-old, Toronto-based fraternal insurer sold its annuity business in 2020.

Berman noted in an interview last week that Foresters could return to the annuity market. But, for now, he said, “We’re long on longevity risk. That’s our bread and butter.”

He believes that the simplicity of life insurance makes it a great fit for the times.

“I don’t think our world has gotten any less complex,” Berman said. “Consumers are looking for stability.”

What it means: Foresters could help put life back in life insurance.

Foresters: Foresters is a member-owned company with 2.7 million certificates and contracts in force in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. It generated $1.2 billion in revenue in 2022 on $16 billion in assets, according to the latest available annual report.

In the United States, the company sells term life, whole life, universal life and accidental death insurance through independent distributors.

Member benefits include $2,000 volunteer work support grants and extra benefits for children who become orphans when members die.

Matt Berman: Berman worked for AIG, AXA and Zurich before joining Foresters in 2017 as a strategy executive.

He was Foresters’ chief distribution officer in early 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began.