CINCINNATI, April 20, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Columbus Life Insurance Company (Columbus Life) of Cincinnati, Ohio, has been approved for membership at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati (FHLBank). Rated A++ Superior by A.M. Best Co. (highest of 16 ratings; rating held since June 2005 for superior ability to meet ongoing insurance obligations), Columbus Life is the 22nd insurance company to join the FHLBank and is among more than 180 insurance companies in the 12-district FHLBank System. Columbus Life, with $2.5 billion in assets, is a member of Western & Southern Financial Group (Western & Southern), a Fortune 500 company with assets owned, managed and under its care in excess of $42 billion as of December 31, 2008.
Membership allows Columbus Life to take advantage of the FHLBank's product line of financial services including low-cost advances, which can be used for funding agreements and general asset/liability management as well as financing.
Columbus Life becomes the second Western & Southern company to join FHLBank, after Western-Southern Life Assurance Company joined in 2006.
"We are pleased to have such a high-quality insurance company as a member of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati," said David Hehman, CEO of the FHLBank. "This relationship better positions our two companies to expand and support the housing finance market."
"Columbus Life believes that membership in the FHLBank is important for both organizations," said J.J. Miller, president and CEO of Columbus Life. "We are pleased to have joined FHLBank and look forward to a long and productive partnership."
About Western & Southern Financial Group
Western & Southern Financial Group (Western & Southern) is a Cincinnati-based diversified family of financial services companies with assets owned, managed and under our care in excess of $42 billion as of Dec. 31, 2008. A Fortune 500 company, Western & Southern has received A.M. Best's highest rating of A++ Superior for financial strength, Standard & Poor's AA+ rating (one of the 10 highest-rated life insurance groups in the world), Fitch's AA+ rating and Aa3 (Stable) from Moody's. With a heritage dating to 1888, the group's affiliates include The Western and Southern Life Insurance Company; Western-Southern Life Assurance Company; Capital Analysts Incorporated(1, 2); Columbus Life Insurance Company; Eagle Realty Group, LLC; Fort Washington Investment Advisors, Inc.(1); Fort Washington Savings Company(3); IFS Financial Services, Inc.; Integrity Life Insurance Company; The Lafayette Life Insurance Company; National Integrity Life Insurance Company; Todd Investment Advisors, Inc.(1); Touchstone Advisors, Inc.(1); and Touchstone Securities, Inc.(2). For more information, visit www.westernsouthern.com. Western & Southern is the title sponsor of the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters and Women's Open tennis tournaments.
1 A registered investment advisor. 2 A registered broker-dealer and member FINRA/SIPC. 3 Member FDIC. Ratings refer to the financial strength of the insurance company and not to the safety, stability or performance of any investment product.
About the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati
The FHLBank is a $98 billion congressionally-chartered wholesale regional bank providing financial services for residential housing and economic development to 728 member financial institutions located in Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee. It has contributed $301 million for the creation of 47,489 units of lower-income housing through its Affordable Housing Program since 1990, and $9.9 million to help 1,177 persons become first-time homebuyers through the American Dream Homeownership Challenge. The FHLBank System includes 12 district Banks, is wholly owned by its 8,100 member institution stockholders and does not use taxpayer dollars.
This news release may contain forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, the effects of economic market conditions on demand for the FHLBank's products or the financial condition or results from operations of Columbus Life, legislative or regulatory developments concerning the FHLBank System, competitive forces and other risks detailed from time to time in the FHLBank's and Columbus Life's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements speak as of the date made and are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results or developments may differ materially from the expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements, and the FHLBank and Columbus Life undertake no obligation to update any such statements.