Western & Southern Life to Hire 1,100 in 2013

CINCINNATI, April 30, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Western & Southern Life, which is celebrating 125 years since its founding in 1888, has launched an aggressive recruiting initiative aimed at hiring more than 1,100 financial representatives in 2013. 

With 182 offices across the United States, the company's financial representatives provide middle-income Americans access to life insurance, annuities, investments and retirement strategies.

"This is one of the largest recruiting drives we've ever embarked on as a company," said Anthony M. Garcia, president of W&S Agency Group. Garcia credits a new business model with creating the opportunity for increasing national growth. "We are definitely in growth mode and have the infrastructure in place to make this happen."

Western & Southern Life's growth plan leverages results from a recent survey of prospective clients that shows middle market consumers prefer to purchase life insurance and retirement savings products face-to-face from knowledgeable, well trained financial representatives in their own communities.

The company is specifically targeting individuals transitioning out of the military, women, individuals with a multicultural background as well as college graduates. "Western & Southern Life has found that these groups possess many of the qualities that translate effectively into financial services careers," said Luc P. Sicotte, vice president of field human resources for Western & Southern Life. "We welcome other applicants as well such as professional, mid-career changers."

As part of Western & Southern Financial Group -- a Fortune 500 family of companies that is one of the eight highest-rated life insurance groups in the world -- Western & Southern Life delivers financial representatives access to award-winning training, professional selling tools, and a company paid defined pension plan. "Our compensation and benefits package combined with a robust product portfolio is a competitive advantage in the marketplace and thus gives our financial representatives the best career opportunity in the industry," Garcia added.

Interested candidates can visit www.wslife.com/careers for more information about career opportunities or contact their local Western & Southern Life office.

About Western & Southern Life
The Western and Southern Life Insurance Company (Western & Southern Life), and its wholly owned subsidiary Western-Southern Life Assurance Company, are both members of Western & Southern Financial Group and offer life insurance, interest-sensitive life insurance, fixed annuities, retirement strategies and personalized needs analysis for individuals, families and businesses in the middle-income market. With 182 field offices nationwide that comprise W&S Agency Group, plus WSLife.com and a state-of-the-art call center known as the Client Relationship Center, both companies are licensed in 43 states and the District of Columbia. For financial tools, career opportunities and product information, see WSLife.com.

About Western & Southern Financial Group

Beginning as The Western and Southern Life Insurance Company in 1888 in Cincinnati, Western & Southern Financial Group (Western & Southern) is marking its 125^th anniversary in business and is now a Fortune 500 diversified family of financial services companies with assets owned and managed in excess of $60 billion as of Dec. 31, 2012. Western & Southern's six life insurance subsidiaries (The Western and Southern Life Insurance Company, Western-Southern Life Assurance Company, Columbus Life Insurance Company, Integrity Life Insurance Company, The Lafayette Life Insurance Company and National Integrity Life Insurance Company) maintain the following financial strength ratings: Standard & Poor's AA+ Very Strong (currently the highest rating held by any life insurance company and making Western & Southern one of the eight highest-rated life insurance groups in the world), A.M. Best A+ Superior, Fitch AA Very Strong and Moody's¹ Aa3 Excellent. All of Western & Southern's life insurance companies have a Comdex Ranking of 97. Other member companies include Eagle Realty Group, LLC; Fort Washington Investment Advisors, Inc.;² IFS Financial Services, Inc.; Peppertree Partners LLC; ² Touchstone Advisors, Inc.;² Touchstone Securities, Inc.;³ W&S Brokerage Services, Inc.; ³ and W&S Financial Group Distributors, Inc. For more information on the Western & Southern family of companies, visit www.westernsouthern.com. Western & Southern is the title sponsor of the Western & Southern Open (www.wsopen.com) tennis tournament, a premier event in the U.S. Open Series featuring the world's top-ranked professional male and female players.

1 Lafayette Life is not rated by Moody's.

2 A registered investment advisor.

3 A registered broker-dealer and member FINRA/SIPC.

For current ratings, please visit http://www.westernsouthern.com/industry.asp

SOURCE Western & Southern Financial Group