Travelers 2006 Annual Report Download - page 5

In Saint Paul, the company makes contri-
butions to the Minnesota Private College
Fund, which supports low-income students
pursuing teaching careers; the Metropolitan
State University Foundation, which grants
scholarships to low-income students; and
the Council for Opportunity in Education,
which educates students and families
about the college process.
In Hartford, projects receiving grants
included the Connecticut Pre-Engineering
Program, a sponsor of mathematics, science,
technology and engineering programs; the
Greater Hartford Consortium for Higher
Education and its Career Beginnings pro-
gram, which encourage young people to
pursue their goal of attending college; and
CONNTAC, which provides scholarships
for adults who overcome obstacles to pur-
sue higher education. The company sup-
ports similar programs in several locations
nationwide, including Baltimore, Chicago,
Denver, New York and Southern California.
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distributor network. For instance, our ability to help
self-insuring large entities reduce workers’ compen-
sation loss costs is second to none, so we are
deploying that strength to other areas of our busi-
ness to selectively pursue new opportunities.
To facilitate all of these strategies and to encourage
the flow of knowledge across our organization, we
made two structural changes during 2006. First,
we realigned our commercial insurance businesses
into two new segments – Business Insurance and
Financial, Professional & International Insurance.
This change was designed to both maximize our
franchise potential and maintain our important focus
on industry and product specialization. Second,
we have formed a bridge between our national
enterprise level and each local underwriting office
by creating 14 Regional President positions and
enhancing our Enterprise Development group,
which provides centralized resources to enhance
agents’ and customers’ experiences. The Regional
Presidents are general managers of their geo-
graphic regions, drawing upon their extensive local
experience with distributors and customers. Their
role is more than just sales; it is one of total cus-
tomer management.
These regional leaders, supported by Enterprise
Development, are changing the way we think about
our business. Our perspective has evolved from
an intense product focus to a “total solutions” view,
which enables our distributors to access and mar-
ket our full set of product and service capabilities.
Since the Regional Presidents’ primary concern
is the success of the entire franchise rather than
specific goals of an individual unit, they have the
authority to react to the economic and competitive
demands unique to their regions. Simply put, they
are ensuring that we deliver products and nurture
relationships with the responsiveness of a regional
carrier, while backing those local efforts with the
resources of a leading national franchise.
Business Initiatives
Over the last few years, we have undertaken many
significant initiatives to capitalize upon the scale,
resources and reach that we enjoy as one of the
leading national underwriters. One of these initia-
tives, Quantum AutoSM , our sophisticated multivari-
ate pricing product for personal auto insurance,
has resulted in profitable growth that outpaced the
broader market in 2006. The roll-out of this complex
product was made possible by our depth of finan-
cial, human and data resources.
In June 2006, we launched a national advertising
campaign to clarify and strengthen our brand
under a single name – Travelers – along with our
tag line, “Insurance In-synch.
SM” “In-synch” is more
than an advertising slogan; it is a mindset and a
commitment to operate in lockstep with our distrib-
utors’ and customers’ needs. The campaign has
had a galvanizing impact on our distributors and
our employees.
Looking ahead, we understand that it is increasingly
not just what we “manufacture” in terms of products,
but also how we deliver both products and services
that attract potential distributors and customers.
Wilson G. Bradshaw
President of
Metropolitan State University
“When Travelers learned about our efforts
to convince under-served urban students that a college
education is affordable and achievable, they stepped
up with grants that demonstrate their commitment
to expanded college access.”
Wilson G. Bradshaw