Dave Keith, se2 Chief Executive Officer Cody Foster, Advisors Excel Co-Founder
Outsourcing Giant: se² Security Benefit launched se2 in the early 2000s. David Keith has been se2 CEO since 2006. se2 has about 480 employees, most located in the main Security Benefit building in Topeka. The company’s clients include about 35 insurance companies, including Security Benefit Life. When an insurer brings out a new product, the insurer hires se2 to handle administration of the product. This way, the insurance company can cut costs up to 30 to 40 percent. Cost savings allows insurance companies to achieve greater returns. se2 management recently moved into the former Advisors Excel building at 1300 S.W. Arrowhead. Fifty employees are located there, but se2 expects that number to grow to 150 by year-end. Kiley said the retirement business is ratings sensitive. Ratings agencies are battling to get their credibility back because they had rated many mortgage back securities as A credit during the housing run-up, but later issued downgrades after discovering they were really subprime. Ratings agencies are slow to give upgrades, but ratings agencies have issued multiple upgrades to Security Benefit in recent years, due in part to assets doubling in three years to $26.4 billion at year-end 2013. Capital and surplus stand at an all-time record of nearly $1 billion. Security Benefit Life’s credit ratings were upgraded to bbb from bb+ in August 2013 by A.M. Best Co. Standard & Poors upgraded Security Benefit to A-. “I think Guggenheim and our investment team in our General Account get us better returns than the average insurance company,” Kiley said. “I know we have built highly differentiated products. We also built a new distribution model that is leaner and lower cost, less manpower intensive. I know by having se2 doing my administration, I am 30 to 40 percent lower cost administration.” Jackie Fox, Security Benefit vice president and chief administrative officer, said she expects 2014 to be another good year for Security Benefit. “We’re expecting continued success across all of our distribution channels,” Fox said. TK Michael Hooper is a freelance writer based in Topeka, KS. He can be reached at hoopervisor2@yahoo.com
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Winter 2013
Tk Business magazine