Evening journal., 1923-01-20
CONTINENTAL
LIFE'S GROWTH
Ranks With Leaders in New
Business and Insurance
in Force
OVER NINE MILLION
GAIN IN PAST YEAR


with head offices in the dupont
Building. Referring 10 the growth
Ol the Continental's business during
1922, one OF the leading business
journals OF the country states: I'VE
cry much doubt whether any other
life Insurance company in the United
States will be able to match these
figures OF proportional gains from
52l 10 1922 in new business written
and insurance in force" With its
millions OF assets. this insurance
C,mpany now rates as one OF the
largest business enterprises in the
state. With local management and
local ownership largely Il Is one OF
which Delawareans can Justly feel
proud.
Commenting at some length The
economic World says:
quite in accordance with our ex-
perience for a number OF years past,
Se first annual statement OF an
American insurance company, sum-
marking the results OF the business
lone by II In 1922. which has come
into our hands in these early days OF
1928 r. the Fifteenth Annual State
ment OF that always exceptionally in
t,resting younger life insurance COM
pany. the Continental Life Insurance
Company. OF Wilmington, Delaware.
- our readers know from what we
have had 10 say in our analyses OF
former annual statements OF this
-ompany. we have long felt the
greatest respect for the resolution, !
energy and skill with which Presi- /
dent Burnet and his associates in the I
Management OF the company's az
fairs have proceeded with the devel- |
.S2ment of n program designed to |
keep the underwriting and the finan-
cial sides OF the company's business I
N such balance and proportion that 4
The margin Of reserve financial /
strength should always be much in /
excess OF what is generally deemed /
necessary. while at the same time the 1
volume Of life insurance written
should fully reflect by its growth the |
steadily increasing financial capacity
Of the company to provide life insur-
ance protection of the most unim-
9eachable kind. We have been con-
sistently confident OF the entire sue
cess OF this program. and we have
frequently expressed the opinion
that no great number OF years would
be required 10 make its virtues so
widely appreciated that the business
OF the company would begin TO show
hat rapid cumulative increase from
year 10 year which presages ultimate
magnitude of an impressive order.
chat the company's business has now
reached the stage OF proportionallyl
r-nr-tr "a annual L. Z
" the Statement for 1922, n sum-
mary OF the principal items OF which
viii be found on another page Of this
naper. What first impresses a stu
dent OF American life insurance as
nc reads this summary IS that the
new business written by the company
in 1922 showed an Increase, as COM
pared with that written in 1921. p
which was vastly greater than that
achieved by the general body Of life $
Insurance companies in this country. ]
Complete figures for the life insur-
ance written by all the companies s
IN 1922 will, of course, not be avail 2
able for several months. but from
such statistics as have been compiled
81 the course Of the year Il seems
improbable that the average increase \
In new business in 1922, as compared n
v,ith 1921. will prove to have been a n
much as 5'per cent. and It may be b
found 10 have been considerably less :
than this. The s9.039.76S of new IN Z,
sirance written by the Continental n
Life Insurance Company in 1922. >
however. was no less than % per
cent more than the company wrote
in 1921; while the S4O,02O.467 OF in
surance which the company had in ,
fcsce on December 81. 1922. repre-
sented a net increase OF 10 per cent. :,
over the amount in force at the end Z
oh 1921. We very much doubt =
whether any other life insurance =
in the United States will be =.
abe to match these figures OF pro- d
portional gains from 1921 to 1922 in ~
new business written and in insur-
ance in force.
Upon this financial side the Con- r..
tinental Life Insurance Company has y
been no less exceptionally successful ,
dt-ing the past year. Here perhaps .
the most notable feature OF the COM p
pany's annual statement is that, not e
va hstanding the large amount OF o
new business written and the almost d
equally large increase in the amount
of. insurance in force-these in
rreases, OF course, involving heavy
additions 10 the company's actuarial c
reserves-both the accounting sur L
plls and the surplus TO policyholders n
are found to have increased by i'm Il
portant amounts during 1922. on g.
D. cember 81, 1922, the company's In
total admitted assets were S5.526.33O
an amount which was 145 per cent.
o' the total liabilities Of s3,S22,799-
DR. conversely, the total liabilities at W
he end Of 1922 were only 60 per s
cont. OF the total assets. At the end d
o. 1921 tho assets OF S4.56O.212 rep A
resented 143 per cent. OF the liabili- l.
.ies Of 3,195, ,100-or, conversely. the
bilities were equivalent TO 20 per
rent. of the assets. The significance
Df such an Improvement in the al C.
r ,ady exceedingly high proportion SO
borne by the assets TO the liabilities &C
as these figures show-and that in a s,
year when the reserve requirements a,
5ere greatly enlarged by a relative n,
V heavy gains the amount OF insur- :
lnce IN force-wlll be readily appre- pl
J. lted by all actuarles. As would be al
expected, the explanation OF this un- la
anticipated Improvement in the pro- IA
l?rtlon OF the assets to the liabilities d,
lppears In the figures for the COM Il
)any's surplus proper and surplus to III
lQEcyholders. The surplus proper &C
: found to have increased from al
1913, ,14S at the end OF 1921 to $751; su
~