The Independent Order of Foresters,

operating as A trade name, trading name, or business name, is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is a "fictitious" business name. Registering the fictitious name w ...

Foresters Financial, is a

fraternal benefit society A benefit society, fraternal benefit society, fraternal benefit order, friendly society, or mutual aid society is a society, an organization or a voluntary association formed to provide mutual aid, benefit, for instance insurance for relief f ...

headquartered in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

that provides

life insurance Life insurance (or life assurance, especially in the Commonwealth of Nations) is a contract between an insurance policy holder and an insurer or assurer, where the insurer promises to pay a designated beneficiary a sum of money upon the dea ...

and other financial solutions in Canada, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. As of 2022, Louis Gagnon has served as the company’s President and CEO.

History

Foresters traces its origins to a British

Friendly Society A friendly society (sometimes called a benefit society, mutual aid society, benevolent society, fraternal organization or ROSCA) is a mutual association for the purposes of insurance, pensions, savings or cooperative banking. It is a mutua ...

, a mutual organization caring for the sick. Membership was originally gained by combat, first with

quarterstaff A quarterstaff (plural quarterstaffs or quarterstaves), also short staff or simply staff is a traditional European pole weapon, which was especially prominent in England during the Early Modern period. The term is generally accepted to refer t ...

s, then with swords and finally with cudgels, until initiation by combat was abandoned in 1843.Foresters in Marin County, California
(freemasonry.biz) In 1834, the Royal Foresters formed a Friendly Society, the

Ancient Order of Foresters The Foresters Friendly Society is a British friendly society which was formed in 1834 as the Ancient Order of Foresters. As of 31 December 2016, the society had approximately 75,000 members. Its head office is located in Southampton, England. ...

(AOF). The IOF in the United States became independent of the AOF in 1874.135th Anniversary (1874-2009)
The expansion of the Independent Order of Foresters (IOF) into Canada in 1875 is attributed to a prominent doctor and community leader,

Oronhyatekha Oronhyatekha (10 August 1841 – 3 March 1907), ("Burning Sky" or "Burning Cloud" in the Mohawk language, also carried the baptismal name Peter Martin), was a Mohawk physician, scholar, and a unique figure in the history of British colonialism. ...

. Of

Mohawk Mohawk may refer to: Related to Native Americans * Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York) *Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people * Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been ...

descent, he was born in 1841 at Six Nations near present-day

Brantford, Ontario Brantford ( 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by Brant County, but is politically separate with a municipal government of its own that is fully independe ...

, Oronhyatekha ("Burning Sky") was baptized Peter Martin and later attended Oxford, where he became a medical doctor. Dr. Oronhyatekha held the office of Supreme Chief Ranger (now called "International Fraternal President") from 1879 until 1906; he died in 1907.Our Story
at Foresters135.com Foresters membership reached 257,000 in 1906. Through the 20th century it amalgamated with various other fraternal organizations, including the Ontario part of one of the oldest, the

Ancient Order of United Workmen The Ancient Order of United Workmen (AOUW) was a fraternal organization in the United States and Canada, providing mutual social and financial support after the American Civil War. It was the first of the "fraternal benefit societies", organizati ...

, acquired in 1926, the Modern Brotherhood of America, acquired in 1931, and the

Order of Scottish Clans The Order of Scottish Clans was a fraternal and benevolent society The dual purpose of the Order was to provide life and disability insurance to Scottish immigrants and their descendants, and also to preserve the culture and traditions of Scotland ...

, acquired in 1971. Like other friendly societies and fraternal organizations of the time, Foresters helped transform the

insurance industry Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...

by extending insurance benefits to the average working family. In addition to admitting women as full members, Foresters provided orphan benefits to the children of deceased Foresters members. , Foresters supported various community causes in Canada, the US and UK, through direct investment in national and local community partnerships, branch funding and educational scholarships. In partnership with nonprofit KaBOOM!, Foresters has helped build more than 150 playgrounds across the U.S. and Canada since 2006. In April 2019,

Macquarie Group Macquarie Group Limited () is an Australian global financial services group. Headquartered and listed in Australia (), Macquarie employs more than 17,000 staff in 33 markets, is the world's largest infrastructure asset manager and Australia' ...

’s investing division agreed to buy $12.3 billion in assets from Foresters Financial, including Foresters’ First Investors mutual funds business. In the same year, the company sold its U.S broker-dealer to Cetera Financial Group, in efforts to focus on life insurance. In May 2019, Foresters sold its Canadian money management unit, Foresters Asset Management, to Fiera Capital Corp. In October 2019, the company sold Foresters Financial Holding and Foresters Life Insurance and Annuity Company to Nassau Financial Group. In July 2021, Foresters invested in a capital project to transform the UK London Office. As part of Foresters sustainability roadmap, Renewable Energy Generation Assets and Energy Saving Products were utilised. The investment will reduce the CO₂ Emissions by up to 10,000kg per year.

Life insurance plans

Foresters Financial offers a term life insurance policies: Term 10, Term 20, Term 30 and EZ term. Foresters Financial has 2 types of whole life insurance: Advantage Plus II whole life and Non-Par whole life. Foresters Financial offers 2 critical illness insurance plans: Live Well and Live Well Plus. There are also multiple riders as well: Term riders, Spousal term riders, Child term rider, Accidental death benefits rider, and Disability waiver of premium rider.

Corporate structure

Foresters acquired Unity Life of Canada in 2008, which subsequently rebranded as Foresters Life Insurance Company in January 2012. As of 2014, Foresters Financial operated a separate UK division based in South London. In October 2020, Foresters Financial merged with

distributor Canada Protection Plan. With the

merger Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspec ...

, Canada Protection Plan was

rebranded Rebranding is a marketing strategy in which a new name, term, symbol, design, concept or combination thereof is created for an established brand with the intention of developing a new, differentiated identity in the minds of consumers, investor ...

as "Canada Protection Plan, a Foresters Financial company."

References

External links

*{{official, https://www.foresters.com/ Financial services companies established in 1874 Organizations established in 1874 Fraternal orders Mutual organizations Philanthropic organizations based in Canada 1874 establishments in Canada Life insurance companies of Canada

History

Life insurance plans

Corporate structure

See also

References

External links