CNA Financial Corporation (NYSE: CNA) is a financial corporation based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and noted for its 600-foot (180 m) tall red headquarters building, CNA Center. Its principal subsidiary, Continental Casualty Company (CCC) was founded in 1897. CNA (the parent company) was incorporated in 1967. The primary business focus of CNA is to provide commercial property and casualty insurance to businesses and professionals. CNA markets its products and services primarily through independent agents and brokers.
CNA itself is 89% owned by a holding company, Loews. This holding company also has interests in offshore oil and gas drilling rigs, natural gas transmission pipelines, tobacco, and in hotel operations.

CNA Financial Corporation (CNAF), incorporated in 1967, is an insurance holding company. The Company’s core business commercial property and casualty insurance operations operate in two segments: CNA Specialty and CNA Commercial. Its non-core businesses are managed in two business segments: Life & Group Non-Core and Corporate & Other Non-Core. The Company’s insurance products primarily include commercial property and casualty coverages. Its services include risk management, information services, and warranty and claims administration. Its products and services are marketed through independent agents, brokers and managing general underwriters to a wide variety of customers, including small, medium and large businesses, associations, professionals and other groups.
CNA SPECIALTY
CNA Specialty provides professional liability and other coverages through property and casualty products and services, both domestically and abroad, through a network of brokers, independent agencies and managing general underwriters. CNA Specialty provides solutions for managing the risks of its clients, including architects, lawyers, accountants, health care professionals, financial intermediaries and public and private companies. Product offerings also include surety and fidelity bonds and vehicle warranty services.
CNA Specialty includes four business groups: Professional & Management Liability, International, Surety, and Warranty and Alternative Risks. Professional & Management Liability provides management and professional liability insurance and risk management services and other specialized property and casualty coverages in the United States. This group provides professional liability coverages to various professional firms, including architects, real estate agents, small and mid-sized accounting firms, law firms and technology firms. Professional & Management Liability also provides D&O, employment practices, fiduciary and fidelity coverages. Products within Professional & Management Liability are distributed through brokers, agents and managing general underwriters. Professional & Management Liability, through CNA HealthPro, also offers insurance products to serve the healthcare delivery system. Products include professional liability and associated standard property and casualty coverages, and are distributed on a national basis through brokers, agents and managing general underwriters. Customer segments include long term care facilities, allied health care providers, life sciences, dental professionals and mid-size and large health care facilities.
International provides similar management and professional liability insurance and other specialized property and casualty coverages in Canada and Europe. Surety consists primarily of CNA Surety Corporation (CNA Surety) and its insurance subsidiaries and offers small, medium and large contract and commercial surety bonds. CNA Surety provides surety and fidelity bonds in all 50 states through a combined network of independent agencies. It owns approximately 61% of CNA Surety.
Warranty and Alternative Risks provides extended service contracts and related products that provide protection from the financial burden associated with mechanical breakdown and other related losses, primarily for vehicles and portable electronic communication devices. These products are distributed through and administered by a wholly owned subsidiary, CNA National Warranty Corporation, or through third party administrators.
CNA COMMERCIAL
CNA Commercial works with an independent agency distribution system and a network of brokers to market a range of property and casualty insurance products and services to small, middle-market and large businesses and organizations domestically and abroad. Products include standard and excess property coverages, as well as marine coverage, and boiler and machinery. Casualty products include standard casualty insurance products such as workers’ compensation, general and product liability, commercial auto and umbrella coverages. It also offers pecialized loss-sensitive insurance programs to those customers viewed as higher risk and less predictable in exposure.
The Business insurance group serves smaller commercial accounts and the Commercial insurance group serves middle markets and larger risks. In addition, CNA Commercial provides total risk management services relating to claim and information services to the insurance marketplace, through a wholly owned subsidiary, CNA ClaimPlus, Inc., a third party administrator. The International insurance group primarily consists of the commercial product lines of its operations in Europe, Canada, as well as Hawaii.
CNA Select Risk (Select Risk) includes excess and surplus lines coverages. Risk provides specialized insurance for selected commercial risks on both an individual customer and program basis. Select Risk’s products are distributed throughout the United States through specialist producers, program agents and brokers.
LIFE and GROUP NON-CORE
The Life & Group Non-Core segment includes the results of the life and group lines of business that are in run-off. It retains block of group reinsurance and life settlement contracts.
CORPORATE and OTHER NON-CORE
Corporate & Other Non-Core primarily includes certain corporate expenses. This also includes interest on corporate debt, and the results of certain property and casualty business in run-off, including CNA Re and A&EP.



In the midst of the restructuring, Chookaszian retired as chairman and CEO of the insurance operations but remained on the board of directors. Replacing him in February 1999 was Bernard L. Hengesbaugh, who had been executive vice-president and chief operating officer. In October of that year, CNA sold the bulk of its personal lines--including its auto and homeowners insurance lines&mdashø the Allstate Corporation. Hengesbaugh also launched a plan to improve the profitability of the company's commercial underwriting by asking CNA's independent agents to demand rate increases as high as 15 percent for property and casualty insurance policies. Clients that balked were dropped. In early 2000, CNA announced that it was exploring the sale of its life insurance and life reinsurance businesses, in a further move away from personal insurance. In October of that year the company announced that it would sell its life reinsurance unit to MARC, the U.S. life subsidiary of Munich Re; a deal involving the life insurance unit, however, had yet to be found. Meanwhile, CNA announced in March 2000 an offer to purchase the 38 percent of CNA Surety it did not already own, but two months later the plan was scrapped because of increasing stock prices among property-casualty insurance firms. Despite some false starts, it appeared that Hengesbaugh had a solid plan in place for an early 21st century turnaround for CNA Financial.
Principal Subsidiaries: American Casualty Company of Reading, Pennsylvania; CNA Casualty of California; CNA Reinsurance Company, Ltd. (U.K.); CNA Surety Corporation (62%); Columbia Casualty Company; Convida, Inc. (Bahamas); Continental Assurance Company; Continental Casualty Company; Continental Insurance Company of New Jersey; Firemen's Insurance Company of Newark, New Jersey; First Insurance Company of Hawaii; National Fire Insurance Company of Hartford; National-Ben Franklin Insurance Company of Illinois; Pacific Insurance Company; RSKCo Claims Services, Inc.; The Buckeye Union Insurance Company; The Continental Insurance Company; The Fidelity and Casualty Company of New York; Transcontinental Insurance Company; Transportation Insurance Company; Valley Forge Insurance Company; Valley Forge Life Insurance Company; Western National Warranty Corporation.
Principal Competitors: American International Group, Inc.; The Allstate Corporation; CIGNA Corporation; The Chubb Corporation; GEICO Corporation; The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America; John Hancock Financial Services, Inc.; Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company; Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; Nationwide; New York Life Insurance Company; The Prudential Insurance Company of America; Reliance Group Holdings, Inc.; The St. Paul Companies, Inc.; The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc.; Travelers Property Casualty Corp.; USAA.



Statistics:
Public Company, 86.9 Percent Owned by Loews Corporation
Incorporated: 1967
Employees: 18,600
Total Assets: $62.5 billion (2000)
Stock Exchanges: New York Midwest Pacific
Ticker Symbol: CNA
NAIC: 524126 Direct Property and Casualty Insurance Carriers; 524113 Direct Life Insurance Carriers; 524114 Direct Health and Medical Insurance Carriers; 524130 Reinsurance Carriers

Key Dates:

1897: Continental Assurance Company of North America is founded to offer accident and health coverage.
1900: Continental Assurance is renamed Continental Casualty Company.
1911: Continental Assurance Company is formed to sell life insurance.
1956: Continental Casualty acquires 67 percent of National Fire Insurance Company, creating Continental-National Group.
1963: American Casualty Company is acquired, creating the Continental-National American Group.
1967: The group is reorganized under a new holding company, CNA Financial Corporation; a diversification drive is soon undertaken.
1974: Loews Corporation acquires 83 percent of CNA's stock; company begins selling off non-insurance operations.
1975: CNA ranks as the 17th largest insurer in the United States.
1989: CNA ranks as the eighth largest insurer in the United States.
1995: CNA acquires the Continental Corporation.
1999: Company sells the bulk of its personal lines to Allstate.


OVERALL
Beta: 1.96
Market Cap (Mil.): $8,308.20
Shares Outstanding (Mil.): 269.31
Annual Dividend: 0.40
Yield (%): 1.30
FINANCIALS
CNA.N Industry Sector
P/E (TTM): 13.11 2.69 26.21
EPS (TTM): 112.02 -- --
ROI: -- 0.09 4.63
ROE: 6.16 1.69 9.08

Name Age Since Current Position
Motamed, Thomas 62 2009 Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer
Mense, D. Craig 59 2004 Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President
Wilson, Peter 51 2009 President & Chief Operating Officer - CNA Specialty of CNA Insurance Companies
Lindemann, Robert 57 2010 President, Chief Operating Officer - CNA Commercial of CNA insurance Companies
Szerlong, Timothy 58 2010 President - Worldwide Field Operations of CNA Insurance Companies
Kantor, Jonathan 55 1998 Executive Vice President, General Counsel, Secretary
Pontarelli, Thomas 61 2009 Executive Vice President and Chief Administration Officer of CNA Insurance Companies
Fay, George 62 2010 Executive Vice President - Worldwide Property & Casualty Claim of CNA insurance Companies
Haefner, Larry 54 2008 Executive Vice President & Chief Actuary of CNA insurance Companies
Rosenberg, Joseph 77 1995 Director
Tisch, James 58 1985 Director
Tisch, Andrew 61 2006 Director
Zonis, Marvin 74 1993 Independent Director
Randel, Don 70 2002 Independent Director
Liska, Paul 55 2004 Independent Director
Montemayor, Jose 60 2007 Independent Director

Address:
CNA Plaza
333 South Wabash Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60685
U.S.A.
 
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