thumb|Unum's headquarters in Chattanooga, Tennessee
Unum Group (stylized as uṅu̇ṁ) is an American insurance company headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Founded as Union Mutual in 1848 and known as UnumProvident from 1999–2007, the company is part of the Fortune 500. Unum Group was created by the 1999 merger of Unum Corporation and The Provident Companies
As of 2018, Unum was the third-largest disability insurer in the United States. Unum also offers other insurance products including accident, critical illness and life insurance as well as workplace leave management and mental health. In 2022, Unum insured about 45 million individuals through group policies The company issued its first policy, which covered the life of founder and company president Elisha B. Pratt for $5000 (), on October 1, 1849. Union Mutual remained headquartered in Boston until 1881, when the state of Maine passed a law that required the principal office and headquarters of all insurance companies incorporated by the state to be located within the state. In 1969, Union Mutual established the insurance industry's first downstream holding company, which facilitated the company's continued expansion and diversification. Union Mutual also established its group disability business in the 1960s.
Union Mutual became the first major mutual insurance company to demutualize in 1986. Union Mutual, now renamed Unum, began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in November 1986. The company later acquired Duncanson & Holt, a reinsurer and insurance underwriter for the accident and health insurance sectors. In 1993, Unum acquired the Colonial Companies, parent company of Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company. Colonial focused on individual insurance products, including accident, cancer and life insurance policies. Within a few months, the company’s founders became concerned that a single disease epidemic would bankrupt the company. Mutual Medical Aid and Accident purchased back all outstanding medical-aid policies and reincorporated as Provident Accident Insurance Company. Provident only issued accident policies.
In 1892, Thomas Maclellan and John McMaster purchased a 50% stake in the company for $1000. The two men purchased the remaining 50% equity in 1895 and Maclellan was the company's sole owner and president by 1900. Robert Jardine Maclellan, the son of Thomas and Helen Maclellan, and the maternal grandson of railroad promoter Robert Jardine, assumed the presidency of Provident following his father's death. Provident began selling life insurance the following year, in 1917, and the first life insurance policy issued by the company covered Robert Maclellan's life. Chandler had previously served as a senior executive at NationsBank. Provident also increased its focus on individual disability and life policies with the 1997 acquisition of the Paul Revere Corporation, a Worcester, Massachusetts-based provider of individual disability insurance, from Textron for $1.2 billion. The purchase of Paul Revere made Provident the nation's largest provider of individual disability policies. Then-Unum chairman and chief executive James Orr was retained in as chairman and CEO of UnumProvident, which was headquartered in Portland, Maine. The company sold Provident National Assurance, a holding company for its life insurance and variable annuity business, to Allstate in 2001. In 2002, UnumProvident relocated its headquarters from Portland, Maine to Chattanooga, Tennessee. The former Provident Companies was headquartered in Chattanooga. Unum stated that "only 2% of the policyholders who filed a claim with the company last year [2001] were found not to be disabled, an amount consistent with prior experience."
UnumProvident acquired Sun Life Financial's United Kingdom-based group insurance business in 2003. Thomas Watjen replaced Orr as UnumProvident’s chief executive later that year. The settlement related to Unum's handling of disability claims and required the company "to make significant changes in corporate governance, implement revisions to claim procedures and provide for a full re-examination of both reassessed claims and disability insurance claim decisions after the January 2005 effective date of the RSA." The review was completed in 2008, and resulted in a 41.7% reversal, "in whole or part", and an additional $676.2 million of benefits paid nationwide by Unum. The state of Maine press release announcing the result, praised regulators for their work, and the company for coming into compliance.
In 2007, UnumProvident was renamed Unum. The Unum moniker was last used by the Unum Corporation prior to the 1999 merger. According to numbers released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics that were cited by the report, two-thirds of American workers do not carry disability insurance policies. In addition, the report found that, among other things, workers know little about disability insurance, despite expecting financial hardship if they were to become unable to work. and continued to digitize its finance operations, and to invest in technology, in the U.S. and abroad during the following decades.
Richard McKenney has led Unum as its CEO since April 1, 2015. Unum UK entered the dental insurance market with acquisitions of National Dental Plan, then Starmount Life, in 2015 and 2016, respectively.
From 2019, Unum Group has been named annually among The Civic 50 by Points of Light.
In 2022, Unum Group provided coverage to about 45 million people with 10,937 employees, and reported revenue of $11.991 billion.
Corporate structure and company culture
thumb|right|Unum Group's Worcester office at One Mercantile Place in downtown [[Worcester, Massachusetts]]
Unum Group is headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee,
During the 2010s, Unum collaborated with Oxford Economics, among others, to analyze staff engagement and retention, subsequently designing policies and adding benefits to nurture company loyalty. It continually develops policies and programs that target inclusivity, compliance security. and environmental sustainability.
The company is a long-time participant of the Maine Heart Walk, with COO Mike Simonds serving as the event’s chairman in 2021. Unum Group has been named annually to several Forbes’ lists, including America’s Best Largest Employers and America’s Best Employers for Diversity,
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Year !! Revenue (USD Billion) !! Gross Profit (USD Billion) !! Net Income (USD Billion)
|-
| 1994 || 3.62 || 3.62 || 0.155
|-
| 1995 || 4.12 || 4.12 || 0.281
|-
| 2000 || 9.43 || 9.43 || 0.564
|-
| 2005 || 10.44 || 9.52 || 0.513
|-
| 2010 || 10.19 || 9.89 || 0.886
|-
| 2015 || 10.73 || 10.39 || 0.867
|-
| 2020 || 13.16 || 13.16 || 0.793
|-
| 2021 || 12.01 || 11.80 || 0.981
|-
| 2022 || 11.99 || 11.52 || 1.41
|-
| 2023 || 12.39 || 11.93 || 1.28
|-
| 2024 || 12.79 || 6.01 || 1.78
|}
Awards
- Forbes' America's 100 Most Trustworthy Companies 2013
- Forbes' America's Most Reputable Companies 2012–2013
- Newsweek's Green Companies 2012
- Center for Political Accountability recognition 2011
- Dow Jones Sustainability North American Index 2010-2012
- Human Rights Campaign Corporation Index 2009-2011
- UK Corporate Adviser Awards – Best Group Risk Provider 2012–2013