Funeral Director Daily

Mortuary Science Student signs to play Hockey at Michigan State

By Funeral Director Daily / May 3, 2018 /

This 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…

Cremation Society of New Hampshire Expands into Vermont

By Funeral Director Daily / May 2, 2018 /

The 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…

Great Western earns Credit Rating Upgrade

By Funeral Director Daily / May 1, 2018 /

Earlier 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…

Park Lawn CEO Interview

By Funeral Director Daily / April 30, 2018 /

If you are at all interested in learning about Canadian death care public company Park Lawn Corporation we came across this recent interview of their CEO Andrew Clark on the Capital Ideas portion of Small Cap Power.  It is a 4 minute interview that you can reach at the 12:00 minute mark of the program.…

A Cautionary Tale of Ownership Partners

By Funeral Director Daily / April 30, 2018 /

Every day people around the world dream of owning their own business and having the ability to be in charge of their own destiny.  It is the way capitalism and the freedom to invest in your dream works.  However, sometimes a partner is necessary to help a budding entrepreneur make the reach for a down…

Service Corporation Reports 1Q 2018

By Funeral Director Daily / April 27, 2018 /

It is earnings time for public companies and today we are reporting on what Service Corporation International reported in their 1st  Quarter report of 2018.  You can see their complete press release, including financial information, here. In essence, Tom Ryan, SCI’s CEO, made the following statements: “. . .earnings per share growth of 9 cents…

Cemetery Issues in the News

By Funeral Director Daily / April 27, 2018 /

I found a couple of items in the news about issues at cemeteries or proposed cemeteries and either one is worthy of editorial space, but since they were both in the news at the same time and it is the Friday issue of Funeral Director Daily, I am presenting them both to you to read…

Carriage Services Reports 1Q 2018

By Funeral Director Daily / April 26, 2018 /

  On Tuesday, April 24, publicly owned death care industry company, Carriage Services, announced its 1st Quarter 2018 results.  You can read their press release with financials included here.  The company announced record revenues of $73.4 million for the quarter.  That is a 7.7% increase over the same period of a year ago. Funeral Director…

Pre-Need: Defensive Strategy or Offensive Weapon?

By Funeral Director Daily / April 26, 2018 /

Recently I was reading a business plan of a public company funeral home consolidator and when talking about how they look at the pre-need market, they mentioned that they look at Pre-Need as a “defensive posture” for holding on to call volume.  That was interesting to me because I have always looked at Pre-Need as…

Assurant Financial Strength Affirmed

By Funeral Director Daily / April 25, 2018 /

While not specific to the death care portion of their industry, A.M. Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of A (Excellent) for the U.S. property/casualty subsidiaries of Assurant, Inc.  The credit rating company has also affirmed the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings of Assurant at bbb+.  Best continues that the outlook of these Credit…