The purchase created the biggest independent casualty/property agency in the state of Indiana. CNO Financial ranked 608 on the Fortune 1000 with 2014 revenues of $4.1 billion. Although several regional securities firms laughed Hilbert and his five-page business plan back into the street, by the early 1980s he had raised $3 million in capital. Bristol also stated that he encouraged three of the loan originators working under him at Conseco to resign and come to work with him at North American. We review the district court's denial of a motion for judgment as a matter of law de novo, applying the same standard as the district court. Consequently, we agree with the district court that the lead sheets and the information contained in Conseco's customer loan files constitute trade secrets within the meaning of the Missouri Uniform Trade Secrets Act.6. You sign a promissory note that you'll pay it back per the agreed schedule, and the lender secures the loan with a Deed of Trust that's filed at the courthouse. KKR, Varde and Deutsche buy GE Capital consumer finance arm for $6.3 billion. So, we purchased a mobile home in 1997 and it was financed through Greentree Financial. Copyright (c) 2022 Company-Histories.com. Mo. In other words, the movant cannot use a Rule 50(b) motion "as a vehicle to introduce a legal theory not distinctly articulated in its close-of-evidence motion for a directed verdict." Newsletters: Get local news delivered directly to you, Chemic alum among NU's top hitters, outfielders. Rockport Pharm., Inc. v. Digital Simplistics, Inc., 53 F.3d 195, 197-98 (8th Cir. When Conseco went hunting for acquisition candidates, it looked for organizations with sound asset portfolios. Conseco Fin. Hilbert had an unusual background for a chairman of a major financial institution. Your lender or insurer may use a different FICO Score than the versions you receive from myFICO, or another type of credit score altogether. You can reach us on phone number (480) 361-0034, fax number or email address . 1971) (stating that it is "generally held that an agent's malice is imputable to the corporation making the latter liable for malicious, willful or criminal torts of its agents or employees within the scope of their employment"). Also, North American's senior manager, Wade Hershel, received faxes containing Conseco loan documents originating from Conseco's St. Louis branch office from loan originators with this clandestine dual-employment status. Moreover, despite the company's stock price troubles, total revenues continued to grow; for the nine months ended September 30, 1999, revenues reached $5.92 billion, up from $5.75 billion for the comparable period in 1998. Walsh, 332 F.3d at 1159; LeSueur Creamery, Inc. v. Haskon, Inc., 660 F.2d 342, 346 n. 7 (8th Cir. Shearson Lehman Brothers advised Lincoln Income Life Insurance. Conseco stock hit a high of. Conseco endured a string of disparaging articles in major business journals in the early 1990s that questioned its integrity. As Conseco increased its value and expanded its asset base, suspicions about its performance began to wane in 1993 and 1994. Conseco was investing tens of millions of dollars into new entertainment-related projects late in 1993 and 1994, including some riverboat gambling proposals. Conseco generates potential customer leads through a computerized database, which Conseco developed, that analyzes financial information from over forty million individuals.2 Conseco's computer program identifies individuals who might "benefit" from its debt-consolidation services and compiles a list of the potential customers, which is sent to Conseco's branch offices throughout the country in the form of "customer lead sheets. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment based on your own personal circumstances and consult with your own investment, financial, tax and legal advisers. After nearly two years since its last acquisition, Hilbert raised $68 million in June 1989 to purchase National Fidelity Life Insurance Co. The district court, however, denied Conseco's remaining request for injunctive relief relating to North American's solicitation of its employees. A potential obstacle to approval emerged this week when the Securities and Exchange Commission filed an objection to Conseco's disclosure statement and reorganization plan. Conseco rounded out the year with two additional purchases--Colonial Penn Group, which sold life insurance to elderly American citizens, and Washington National Corp., a provider of life and health insurance and annuities. 2 Who bought out Conseco Finance Servicing Corp? Satisfied with its recipe for acquiring and improving insurance companies, Conseco stepped up its acquisition efforts in 1986. "CNO Financial Group, Inc. (CNO) Income Statement", "CNO Financial, Form 8-K, Annual Report, Filing Date May 11, 2015", Form 10-K of CNO Financial Group for 2012, Shareholders Overwhelmingly OK Conseco Name Change, "America's 50 Most Trustworthy Financial Companies", YouTube - 1998 - Commercial - Conseco Direct Life - formerly Colonial Penn Life - starring Ed McMahon, "CNO Financial, Form T-3, Filing Date Mar 31, 2003", "CNO Financial, Form 8-K, Current Report, Filing Date Sep 15, 2003", "Insurance Firm Conseco Files for Bankruptcy", "CNO Financial, Form 10-K, Annual Report, Filing Date Feb 20, 2015", "CNO Financial, Form 8-K, Current Report, Filing Date May 12, 2010", "CNO Financial Group Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2014 Results", "Insurance Company CNO Sells India Operations To Cognizant", CNO's Ownership of Washington National Insurance Company, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=CNO_Financial_Group&oldid=1151599318, This page was last edited on 25 April 2023, at 01:33. Lyn-Flex West, Inc. v. Dieckhaus, 24 S.W.3d 693, 697-698 (Mo.App.1999). We see them around but we don't know what goes on behind the scenes. By 1989, Conseco's assets were valued at $5.2 billion. The company's net income increased 46 percent in 1992 to $170 million, and 75 percent in 1993 to $297 million. No matter what type of lien release it is that you need help with, whether, on a property, vehicle, unpaid taxes, or more, DoNotPay is the legal expert that you can rely on. Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author. Conseco was founded in 1987 by Hilbert as a financial services company. 2d 809 (1996). The Conseco organization continued to add value to its holdings in the early 1990s and to achieve success with both CCM and CCP. North American responds that the Conseco employees engaged in these acts because of Conseco's financial woes, and that they were simply concerned about their livelihood. Continuing on its acquisition splurge, Conseco entered into agreements to merge with Kemper Corporation, an insurance company much larger than Conseco, for about $2.6 billion. Walsh, 332 F.3d at 1158. The following year Conseco increased its share to 90 percent. North American management consented to the document duplication by its employees. [citation needed] In 1986 Conseco acquired Lincoln Income Life Insurance Company for $29 per share or $32.3 mil. 2d 674 (2001). Who bought out Conseco Finance Servicing Corp? Privacy Policy. 2001). Initially, we must determine whether Conseco's lead sheets and the information contained in its customer files constitute trade secrets under the Missouri Uniform Trade Secrets Act. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, E. Richard Webber, J. Mathias v. Accor Economy Lodging, Inc., 347 F.3d 672, 676 (7th Cir. Conseco also filed a motion seeking a preliminary injunction and a permanent injunction to prevent the "raiding" of its employees. The Carmel, Ind.-based company expects to reduce costs by more than $150 million in an attempt to restore the Conseco Finance unit, and the overall company, to profitability. These files were located in Kattleman's office at North American until he returned them to Conseco, as ordered by the district court in its TRO. Andrey is a coach, sports writer and editor. In arguing that the lead sheets are not "trade secrets," North American principally relies on Vigoro Indus., Inc. v. Cleveland Chem. Consequently, he was employed by both companies during this two week period. Hilbert could not understand why industry insiders continued to hold reservations about Conseco. In some instances, the former Conseco office managers also took their staffs of loan originators with them to North American. If specificity is lacking, judgment as a matter of law may neither be granted by the district court nor upheld on appeal unless such a result is "`required to prevent manifest injustice.'" Conseco, Inc. provides insurance, investment, and lending services to more than 12 million customers. A review of the record leaves us with no doubt that the jury had sufficient evidence before it (albeit conflicting evidence) to conclude that North American had engaged in unfair competition and caused damage to Conseco. On appeal, North American questions not whether Conseco proved sufficient connection of its damages to North American's alleged wrongful conduct but whether Conseco proved it had incurred damages at all. They also bought life insurance company Colonial Penn later that year, changing their name to Conseco Direct Life. In 1998 Conseco placed additional effort on building brand awareness. The Supreme Court described the first Gore guidepost-the degree of reprehensibility of the defendant's conduct-as the most important indicium of the reasonableness of a punitive damages award. St. James Press, 2000. This handbook states that "non-public information about customers, dealers, and others is strictly confidential.". Despite Hilbert's insistence that Conseco's success reflected a commitment to sound business practices, skepticism continued. Such an objection7 is simply not sufficient to preserve, and certainly cannot be read to encompass, the legal theories underlying North American's Rule 50(b) motion and this appeal (submissibility of the claim). It quickly moved Lincoln's headquarters from Memphis to Conseco's burgeoning offices in Carmel, Indiana. Principal Competitors: Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; New York Life Insurance Company; The Prudential Insurance Company of America. In Vigoro, the court noted that if the contacts had been located throughout the country the information would have been considered to be a trade secret. 1998). Most persuasively, North American contends that the "exacting" nature and quality of proof needed for recovery of lost profits in Missouri required Conseco to prove net profits by introducing evidence "of the cost and expense of operating the business during these periods." According to Missouri law, a "trade secret" is information-including but not limited to-technical or nontechnical data, a formula, pattern, compilation, program, device, method, technique, or process that derives independent economic value, actual or potential, from not being generally known to, and not being readily ascertainable by proper means by other persons who can obtain economic value from its disclosure or use. Counsel who presented argument on behalf of the appellee was David G. Wasinger of St. Louis, MO. learn how over 7,000 companies got started! A number of these now former employees testified (at the preliminary injunction hearing) that because Conseco was leaving the subprime lending market, they worried about their future, especially considering the fact that they worked on commission. The lead sheets are a product of a specialized-and apparently quite effective-computer program that was uniquely Conseco's. Because we have found adequate evidence of the existence of a trade secret, we need not address North American's argument. It did not, and by failing to do so, North American forfeited its argument to the extent that it was not forfeited by the failure to assert those grounds in their Rule 50(a) motion, We agree with the district court that the common-law claim of unfair competition has likely been replaced by the statutory offense described in the Missouri Trade Secrets Act. By slashing the fat and inefficiency out of his new purchase, Hilbert was able to return the ailing insurer to profitability after only one year. The partnership, CFN Investments, and GE Consumer Finance emerged as winning bidders in a 21-hour auction that ended about 5 a.m. CST Wednesday at the Chicago offices of Conseco's bankruptcy lawyers. This financial advisor is listed on Financial Advisory Firms under Financial Advisory Services - Financial Services. Who bought GE Consumer Finance? The net worth of North American is approximately $3.6 billion.9 Here, the jury awarded punitive damages of $18 million and compensatory damages of $3.5 million, resulting in a 5.14 to 1 ratio. For its first assignment of error, North American directs our attention to Conseco's unfair competition claim that is founded on North American's alleged misuse of Conseco's trade secrets.5 North American argues that the district court erred in its initial decision to submit this claim to the jury and then in its subsequent declination to grant a judgment as a matter of law. More details on software and accessibility are available at WebAIM.org. [citation needed], In 1986 Conseco acquired Lincoln Income Life Insurance Company for $29 per share or $32.3 mil. Download the app today and be amazed at how much you can accomplish using a single app. But if the lender of record has ceased to exist, it falls to the current holder of the mortgage to release the lien. In 1987, it added Western National Life Insurance to its portfolio at a cost of $262 million. Conseco's 1989 annual report boasted that it had eliminated 83 percent of the employees from one of its acquisitions. For visitors with visual disabilities, access to this website, including our FICO Data Privacy Policy, is available through assistive technologies, such as BrowseAloud, JAWS, VoiceOver, Narrator, ChromeVox, and Window-Eyes. Indeed, Conseco had closed thirty of its 150 branch offices within the previous year. Its insurance subsidiaries provide life insurance, annuity and supplemental health insurance products to more than four million customers in the United States. (formerly Conseco, Inc. (from Consolidated National Security Corporation)) is a financial services holding company based in Carmel, Indiana. Copyright 2023 Consumers Unified LLC. In 1998, Conseco purchased the former Greentree Financial, one of the largest financiers of mobile homes, in an attempt to diversify into consumer financial services. State Farm Mut. In addition to avoiding real estate and junk bonds, Conseco's portfolio managers steered away from other risky and trendy investment vehicles of the 1980s, particularly Guaranteed Investment Contracts. [14], In 2015 February, CNO Financial sold its Hyderabad-based India operations to Cognizant.[15][16]. In early August 2000, Conseco sent a letter notifying North American's legal department of the misconduct by Scott Bristol and his loan originators and asking that it stop. The Title Company involved (god I hope there is one involved) will pull their old deal file and figure out what went wrong. Conseco . P. 50 in its request for judgment as a matter of law and thus has not preserved this argument for appeal. Ins. Importantly, the company had eliminated much of its debt burden by 1994. Id. It moved that concern's headquarters from Dallas to Carmel. Green Tree was best known, however, as the leading U.S. lender for mobile home purchases. One of the biggest losers in the bankruptcy is the Thomas H. Lee Company, a Boston firm that specializes in investing in troubled companies, which bought $500 million in Conseco convertible. We agree. In addition to its insurance and financial management divisions, which accounted for more than 85 percent of Conseco's operations in 1993, the company was broadening its scope to include some nontraditional ventures. If colloquy between counsel and the trial court fleshes out the motion, it may provide the opposing party with the requisite notice. Go to the courthouse and find the trustee listed on the trust deed. Total revenues, after dropping from $3 billion in 1993 to $2.36 billion in 1994, climbed steadily, rising to $3.56 billion in 1995 and $3.79 billion in 1996.
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