OUR HISTORY
It all began in 1925 with our roots firmly planted in agriculture.
Since then, COUNTRY Financial® has been adding products and services to meet the changing needs of our clients.
Watch our history unfold
Our History
1925
We took our first steps toward providing financial security when the COUNTRY Mutual Insurance Company® began selling fire and lightning insurance.
1926
We added crop hail and farm equipment insurance to our offerings to help our clients protect the things that were important to their livelihood.
1927
Adding auto insurance allowed us to provide our clients another important piece of financial security.
1929
We moved another step closer to providing financial security to our clients by adding COUNTRY Life Insurance Company®.
1935
Our first female representative was hired. At this time, we had an agency force of 100 and rate books and pencils were the tools of the trade.
1953
In May of this year, COUNTRY Preferred Insurance Company® incorporated and began officially doing business in June of the same year.
1961
Our downtown Chicago office became too small and too far from our clients by the end of the 1950s. Our home office relocated to Bloomington, IL and opened in September, 1961.
1965
The addition of COUNTRY® Capital Management Company, a registered broker dealer, allowed us to offer our clients securities product, which has grown to include mutual funds, variable annuities, variable life insurance and 529 College Savings Plans.
1997
Building on one of our guiding principles – putting people first – we made our client service center available 24 hours a day.
2010
85 years young and still helping our clients protect what matters most. Over the years, we have grown to serve clients in both rural and urban settings in many states across America.
Our Growth
1964
Mid-America Fire and Marine Company was purchased, adding Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma to our area of operation.
1980
Product, service and geographic expansion put COUNTRY Financial® on the map beyond Illinois in the 80s.
1998
We formed an alliance with Middlesex Mutual Assurance Company, Middletown, CT.
2001
In 2001, Mutual Service Insurance (MSI) joined COUNTRY Financial®, adding four states to a new Central Region.
2005
An alliance was formed with the Cotton States Insurance Group, Atlanta, GA, operating in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Tennessee.
2006
In 2006, we formed an alliance with Holyoke Mutual Insurance Company in Salem (Salem, MA) and started a new marketing initiative under the name
MiddleOak®.
Our Brand
1942
Farmers Mutual Reinsurance Company was chartered in 1925 by the Illinois Agricultural Association® (IAA) as a reinsurance company for county Farm Bureaus in Illinois. The 1942 logo was a circle with triangle points displaying the IAA's initials.
1945
COUNTRY Life Insurance Company was formed in 1929. To charter, the company asked farmer members to pledge $100 to get the company started. The 1945 logo used stylized descriptive text as its brand.
1972
Prior to 1959, our insurance services (Country Life, Country Mutual, etc.) weren't marketed together. The Country Companies was the first name used to identify all of them. The corporate color was blue, with the C’s often being shown in blue.
1986
In 1979, The Country Companies became simply COUNTRY COMPANIES and the corporate color was changed to green. The new color and hard edged business font reflected our emphasis on financial services in addition to insurance. This 1986 version is a simplified version of a 1982 logo.
2000
The 2000 logo was used as a transition to the oval, a shape preferred by consumer focus groups. The goal of the transition was to make the word COUNTRY more prominent and rely on the oval to make our brand easy for consumers to identify.
2002
The word "Companies" was reduced in size. The tagline "Insurance & Financial Services" was added to help clients identify that we were more than an insurance company.
2008
The next step in our brand development was to use COUNTRY alone in the oval. The word "Financial" took the place of "Insurance & Financial Services" to identify us, making the word COUNTRY and the oval shape even more prominent.
2014
Our logo today brings "COUNTRY" and "Financial" together to help people who aren't familiar with us understand what we do.
Our Companies
COUNTRY Mutual Insurance Company®
COUNTRY Mutual Insurance Company and its subsidiaries, COUNTRY Preferred Insurance Company® and COUNTRY Casualty Insurance Company® collectively, offer auto, home, farm and business insurance. Today, these companies provide coverage for more than 1.4 million vehicles and 700,000 homes.
COUNTRY Trust Bank®
COUNTRY Trust Bank offers investment management, trust, and retirement planning services.
COUNTRY Life Insurance Company®
COUNTRY Life Insurance Company and its subsidiary, COUNTRY Investors Life Assurance Company®, collectively offer a variety of life insurance policies and annuities. Presently, these companies together have more than $70 billion of life insurance in force.
COUNTRY® Capital Management Company
COUNTRY Capital Management Company is a registered broker dealer offering securities products including mutual funds, variable annuities, variable life insurance, and 529 College Savings Plans.
Learn more about who we are
The Leadership Team
Our History
Where We Do Business
Diversity and Inclusion NOT FDIC-INSURED
May lose value
No bank guarantee
Registered broker/dealer offering securities products: COUNTRY® Capital Management Company, 1705 N Towanda Ave, PO Box 2222, Bloomington, IL 61702-2222, 1-866-551-0060. Member FINRA/SIPC
For product and service information, read our Terms & Conditions.
Investment management, retirement, trust and planning services provided by COUNTRY Trust Bank®. Please see our Terms & Conditions for more information about COUNTRY Trust Bank and its affiliates.
Auto, home and business insurance policies issued by COUNTRY Mutual Insurance Company®, COUNTRY Casualty Insurance Company® or COUNTRY Preferred Insurance Company®, Bloomington, IL.
Life insurance policies issued by COUNTRY Life Insurance Company® and COUNTRY Investors Life Assurance Company®, Bloomington, IL.