Knights of Columbus Insurance

Metro Omaha, Nebraska

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Statement on Financial Services Markets and the Knights of Columbus

by Carl A. Anderson, Supreme Knight

The upheaval in the financial markets in recent days has caused a great deal of concern virtually everywhere, among financial services professionals, regulators and consumers alike. Every major financial institution has been affected by the turmoil because of the complexity of our economy, and we are no exception.

But I report to you today that there is no reason to be concerned about the value of your Knights of Columbus annuity or life insurance. Because of our very conservative approach to investing our $14 billion in assets, the impact on the Knights of Columbus has not been material, in other words, it has been minimal – far smaller than for many other organizations and the industry as a whole. We have purposefully avoided investing in the highly complex and speculative investments that have brought disaster to some of America’s most well known companies.

What Standard & Poor’s said of us just one month ago when they reaffirmed our AAA rating for the 16th consecutive year remains true today. Our “liquidity is viewed as extremely strong, reflecting an asset portfolio that consists primarily of high-quality, investment grade bonds.” S&P also stated that our “investment portfolio has very strong credit quality” and our capital adequacy is “among the strongest in the industry.” This is the case today. Our capitalization is, and remains, “extremely strong.”

Our surplus stood at more than $1.7 billion on June 30 of this year, providing an unusually large cushion of protection against turmoil of the sort we have seen in recent weeks.

One crucial area continues to set us completely apart from those firms which have incurred enormous debt. We have no debt on our balance sheet. Our strong cash flows and extremely strong financial position makes it unnecessary for us to borrow funds at all.

As a result, our financial condition remains extremely strong, and you can be certain that you are fully protected by one of the strongest and most reliable insurance programs in the entire industry.

Also, please advise your Councils to follow this protocol when having your candidates attend another Council's 1st Degree:

1) Contact the hosting GK. This way you can make sure the 1st Degree is still scheduled.

2) Have the proposer or someone from you council bring the candidate to the 1st Degree

A) Arrive at least 15 - 20 min before the 1st Degree

B) Bring the pre-approved Form 100

C) Someone has to vouch for him! If the candidate arrives unescorted, unannounced, and unknown, he may be asked to leave.

3) Either bring or make sure there are enough initiation kits (Rosary, pin & book).

If you don't, be prepared to reimburse the hosting Council for the initiation kit(s).

Using this protocol as a common courtesy will prevent any unnecessary embarrassing and awkward moments and thus insuring that the 1st Degree will be an "Experience of a Lifetime".

Attention Council Officers:  If your council is hosting an upcoming First Degree, please e-mail me with the details so they may be posted here for all to benefit.  E-mail: tim.heller@kofc.org

State Calendar of Major Degrees in Nebraska: http://www.nebraskakofc.org/statecncl/degcal2.html

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Send mail to tim.heller@kofc.org with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 2007 Tim A. Heller, Knights of Columbus
Last modified: April 11, 2009