The C&F Annual Reports Starting in 1964, C&F published detailed annual reports — so we have a record in management’s own words as to what they were thinking about the business (or at least, their own words cleaned up by the investor relations team). Some of the quotes are historically interesting, as they reflect on management’s reaction to then-current events. With the benefit of hindsight, some are inadvertently funny. Honestly, it was hard to read many of the statements made by prior CEOs. Why? Because I have said the same things — and I know how it worked out for them. Even so, it is better than just making up quotes! You can picture the 1960s as a montage with a flurry of activity. C&F was growing and diversifying — they were buying companies, forming new business units, restructuring — all while doing their part to advance the insurance industry against a backdrop of broader social changes. Here are a few excerpts from the 1967 report that give a feel for that time: “The automobile has become a necessity. The public feels it has a right to drive, and therefore a right to insurance protection. Not only that, but each driver feels he should be provided with adequate protection at a price he can afford to pay, while each insurance company is desperately seeking to make an underwriting profit on this all-important segment of its portfolio. Lack of strictly enforced traffic safety laws and of demanding driver’s license standards, court congestion, skyrocketing medical costs, attorneys’ fees, increased cost of garage repairs, higher-powered engines, the greed for speed — all are component parts of the problem.” “Fire-bombed businesses and homes, looting and general destruction triggered by riots took on new meaning with the shocks at Newark and Detroit, plus 89 other riots receiving less publicity (estimated loss sustained by insurance industry $75 million). It is our strong belief that no one segment of the economy (Insurance) should be expected to bear all or most of the financial consequences resulting from catastrophic riots, civil disorders, or any other social problem, especially one of great magnitude.” “Our industry has long been concerned by the political and economic pressures on it to write flood insurance, which has never been written freely due to the obvious selection against the insurer.”
There’s also a look ahead in that 1967 report: “One major problem, with which we are all confronted, is the higher cost of claims, due primarily to inflation … However, the industry welcomes these challenges, for meeting them means a better world tomorrow.”
Annual report covers over the years.
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