Funeral Director Daily
In a release from A.M. Best that you can read here the company has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) and the Long-Term Credit Ratings (ICR) of the life and health subsidiaries of Assurant, Inc. The FSR rating was affirmed at A- (Excellent) and the ICR rating was a-. The company’s outlook was listed as…
Read MoreAdams County Coroner James Keller has came up with a controversial policy concerning the payments for indigent services in his county. You can read about the situation from NBCChicago.com here. The story relates how Coroner Keller has the family sign over the rights for the deceased to his office. He then cremates the deceased and…
Read MoreColorado lawmakers are expected to vote today on a bill that will make owning a mortuary or crematory and also owning a body broker business at the same time illegal. You may have been following the happenings at Sunset Mesa Funeral Directors of Montrose, Colorado, this past winter that has prompted this action. According to…
Read MoreHillenbrand Industries reported 2nd quarter results last week. Hillenbrand, long known as the parent company of Batesville Caskets, has been, of late, driven by its entry into the Processed Equipment arena. The company reported a net loss for the quarter which was the result of taking a $63 million dollar charge against the carrying value…
Read MoreDeath care conglomerate Matthews International, based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, posted their 2nd quarter earnings report of Fiscal Year 2018 last week. Here’s what President and CEO Joseph C. Bartolacci said of the report, “The company’s results for the fiscal 2018 second quarter were in line with our internal expectation and we are on track to…
Read MoreIf you have followed the death care industry in Australia you would see that large public companies InvoCare and Propel Funeral Partners are seeking to gain market share via acquisitions. This is nothing new in the funeral industry where unit “roll-ups” have been in vogue since the 1960’s. If you are a free-market person you…
Read MoreI present you this article published yesterday from investor opinion site Seeking Alpha on the potential upside of StoneMor Partners. It is a good read and, like most articles pertaining to the death care industry, there is something to take from it. Funeral Director Daily take: I will tell you, however, as a 35 year industry…
Read MoreThis article does not have a great deal to do with the business of death care, but when something good happens to people in funeral service we think it is okay to tell our colleagues. Tawas (Michigan) Area High School Senior Mason Buresh recently signed to play hockey in the Big Ten for Michigan State…
Read MoreThe Phaneuf Funeral Homes and Crematorium announced last month, according to this article in The Manchester Link, that they had purchased the Ker Westerlund Funeral Home which has served the Brattleboro, Vermont, area for more than 150 years. The Phaneuf family of operations also includes the Cremation Society of New Hampshire and this location will…
Read MoreEarlier this year we told you of the acquisition of pre-need provider Great Western Insurance Company by the American Enterprise Group of Des Moines, Iowa. As of April 25, 2018, A.M. Best has completed their ratings on Great Western Insurance Company post acquisition. A.M. Best has upgraded, in a report you can read here, the…
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