Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1922-01-16
CONTINENTAL LIFE
MAKES FINE SHOWING
1927 Report Best In History Of
Company; Wilmington In
otitutlons


In . notable member OF
the group OF younEor life insurance
In the United States.
In view OF the great severity OF the
business depression from which
tho country was suffering through
out the whole OF the past year
and the unavoidable effects OF this
depression upon the operations OF
the life insurance companies In
general, especially a. regards tho vol
ume OF new business written, II was
to have been expected that a. tho an
nuai statements OF the compa MES for |
1921 began to appear. after the turn
of the year. they would be found from
the outset 10 compare more or less
unfavorably--at least. on the face of
the figures-with tho annual state
ments for 1919 and 1920, which were
the banner years in the entire history
OF American life insurance. Accord
ingly, IL Is Mt once n surprising and
an impressive fact that tho annual
statement Of the Continental Life In
surance Company for 1921. so far
from comparing unfavorsbly with the
excellent statements Of the company
for the two preceding years. should
show really substantial gains, both
absolute and relative, at every essen
tial point. For those who have fol-
! lowed attentively the work OF Presi-
dent Burnet and his associates In the
earlier years OF the company's lie,
and who have observed with what
skill and prudence they provided the
company with an unshakable founda-
ton upon which O life Insurance
structure Of any magnitude might
later be reared, there IL OF course no
cause for astonishment at tho past
years achievement OF tho institution.
Commenting upon the 1921 report
OF the Continental, the Economic
World says: The exceptional intel
hgence with which the affairs Of the
company were guided and ITS policies
determined In the preliminary stages
of it's development, and the unremit-
ting energy with which It's operations
were extended as rapidly a. was pos
sible without the slightest departure
from the principles OF financial and
actuarial conservatism, have simply
the way OF business which does not
, suffer from the shocks OF circum'
stance-even circumstances OF 40 alb
normal and violently disturbing y kint
as the country and the world have
been experiencing since the culnjna
. ton and collapse OF tho postwar
. boom" towards the end OF 1920 ant
, In 1921.
THE new paid-for life insurance
written by the Continental Life In
surance Company in 1921 aggregate,
1888, les. as compared with &7,i0s,l<
OF new insurance written IN 1870
D gain for 1921 OF s225,o2T, or approx
mately per cent. A II is now esti
!, mated, on the basis OF the asures re
4 ported by large percentage OF tn
: life insurance companies for the frs
i eleven months OF 1921. that the tots
4 new business written in 1921 by a
e the life companies in the Unite
n States will prove TO have been some
n thing like II per cent smaller tina
e that written in 1920, 1t Will he see
: that the past years record Of the Cor
tinental Life Insurance Company
= this regard Ia not far from 20 per Gel
4 better than that Of tho entire body
: American life insurance institution
y Enjoying this pre-. ,rtionally lars
volume Of new business In 1921, II
q companys life insurance in force roi
d sharply during the year, standing c
J. December 81, 1921 at $35,377.75S, {
% compared with t31,57s,ss on Decen
1Qo0 hn In ho fu-a
month being t3,s0S,765, or approx
raRtely IL per cent. From these II
ures It may be deduosd that tho cor
4 pany's total loss in Outstanding 4
suranee through examinations of pc
cies by reason OF deaths, mAturil
;. endowments. cancellations and laps
~ of policies. ETC., was $500 ,403; or,
! put IT in another way, that OF tho to,
"a new business written in 1921, abo
!. 4S.1 per cent was required to orrs
ON the examinations Of policies for t
causes just mentioned and about 8
of per cent remained as net addition
Is the insurance in force. This Is
a excellent record for year OF 81
list economic yicissitudes as 1921.
ID Turning now the the financial pc
ist ton of the company, II should
noted at the start that tho oalan'
sheet as of December 81, 1921, sho
no departure from the policy VIII
President Burnett has held to rssolu
Gs l., fron, tho ,,,,a Whom m, comma
raj was organized, namely, that or ma
~. tanning All excess Of Assets over l.
'' bilities far exceeding any proport
that is usual In the conduct OF life
surance companies in this or any OF
country. At tho end OF 1871 We |
wn the total admitted assets Of the CT
on pany standing at 34,560,2l2, or
&c per cent OF its total liabilities, o
conversely, the total liabilities sta
~ Ing at So, H5 100. or only 10 per c
-. Of the assets. At the end OF 1920
total assets were s3,sl6,S5s and
lJ1 total liabilities were t25s9,21s, 30 I
the increase In the assets during
was soc 35s and the increase In
liabilities was s605.5S2. Accordin
the present annual statement sh
ate an excess OF assets over liabilities
the amount OF t1,S65,112, whsrea
year ago the excess WINS &l,S27.63S
nds 4, ,n,srsst 10 not. that =, ~. sx
NFe of assets shown by the balances 81
of December S1,ls2l.-an excess wi
CT course in its totally corstit'
'e the company's surplus to pol
~ holders,---the capital stock is re
~, scented by $65l.0l0 and the sur
p'' proper il s7l4,102; whereas in
not go -, - .es. zoo
the surplus proper a. t673,l%s,
evident, therefore, that the CONF
toh IL gradually repurcha sing and reti
,var it's capital stock, process whic
fo,,rsa imDrOtes thu Yala tive pos