# Western & Southern Financial Group

Western & Southern Financial Group, also commonly referred to as Western & Southern, is the Cincinnati, Ohio-based parent company of a diversified group of financial services subsidiaries with $112.2 billion in assets owned and managed as of Dec. 31, 2023. It is a Fortune 500 company at No. 284. As of June 2024, it held a "AA- Very Strong" rating from Standard & Poor's, a "A+ Superior" from A.M. Best, a "AA Very Strong" from Fitch, a "Aa3 Excellent" from Moody's, and a "96 out of 100" Comdex ranking.
Through its subsidiaries, Western & Southern offers a variety of financial services such as life insurance, annuities, mutual funds, retirement planning and investment management. Subsidiaries include Western & Southern Life Insurance Co, Western-Southern Life Assurance Co, Columbus Life Insurance Co, Gerber Life Insurance Company, Integrity Life Insurance Co, National Integrity Life Insurance Co, Lafayette Life Insurance Co, IFS Financial Services, Fort Washington Investment Advisors, Touchstone Investments, Eagle Realty Group, Fabric by Gerber Life and W&S Financial Group Distributors.

## History

Western & Southern served as title sponsor of the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament until 2023. The new owner of the tennis tournament, Beemok Capital, renamed it the Cincinnati Open in 2024. This tennis event contributes more than $80 million in annual economic impact in the Greater Cincinnati community.
Western & Southern played a key role in the development of the Great American Tower at Queen City Square project in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. The city’s tallest office tower was completed in 2011.
In May 2013, Western & Southern signed a controversial agreement with Cincinnati Union Bethel to purchase the historic Anna Louise Inn in downtown Cincinnati. In 2014, Western & Southern Financial Group, owner of many properties within the Lytle Park Historic District asked the city to remove the historic status of several historic buildings. The company hopes to remove sections of the district in order to build new office space.
In 2015, Western & Southern became the title sponsor of the annual WEBN fireworks show that takes place along the Ohio River as part of Riverfest over Labor Day weekend each year. Some 500,000 people gather to watch the fireworks along the Ohio River on both Ohio and Northern Kentucky riverfronts. They also watch them on jumbotron TVs at Fountain Square.
In 2018, Western & Southern acquired the Gerber Life Insurance Company from Nestle for $1.55 billion, along with a long-term intellectual property license in connection with financial services.
In November 2019, Western & Southern Financial Group promoted John Bultema as CEO of Lafayette Life Insurance Co.
On 9 March 2020, Legacy Marketing Group formed a strategic partnership with Western & Southern Financial Group to create and sell Western & Southern subsidiary Integrity Life Insurance Company's proprietary fixed indexed annuity products.
In 2022, Western & Southern acquired Fabric Technologies and later renamed it Fabric by Gerber Life.
A study released in March 2023 by the University of Cincinnati Economic Center showed that Western & Southern supported 188,715 jobs, $13.6 billion in earnings and a total economic output of $27.4 billion.
Western & Southern dates back to the founding of The Western and Southern Life Insurance Company in 1888.