American Family Insurance has renamed the Ameriprise Auto & Home business it paid $1 billion for a little over a year ago.
The new name is “CONNECT: Powered by American Family Insurance.” State regulators recently approved the name change, according to an Aug. 4 American Family announcement. The CONNECT brand will cover products underwritten by American Family Connect Property and Casualty Insurance Company and American Family Connect Insurance Company. A third American Family entity – The American Family Connect Insurance Agency, Inc. – places policies with affiliated and unaffiliated insurers.
American Family said the CONNECT rebrand furthers its goal of transforming from a regional insurance company that sold products through exclusive agency owners to a national multi-line multi-distribution channel insurance group.
CONNECT sells auto, homeowners, renters, umbrella and some specialty insurance lines in 44 states and the District of Columbia, mostly through strategic partnerships. Those partnerships include wholesaler retailer Costo and Ameriprise Financial, the company said.
Jessie Stauffacher, the CONNECT CEO, said in prepared remarks that the transition has “been seamless to our partners and customers, and exciting for our employees.”
Ameriprise Financial sold its Ameriprise Auto & Home division to American Family in April 2019. The $1.05 billion cash deal dipped to $950 million after a payment to an affinity partner.
What American Family purchased: an insurer based in De Pere, Wisconsin with 1,700-plus employees that produced $1.1 billion in annual direct premium written as of 2019.
Source: American Family