ALLIED GROUP INC
8-K, 1998-05-05
FIRE, MARINE & CASUALTY INSURANCE
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                                  UNITED STATES
                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549



                                    Form 8-K
                                 CURRENT REPORT


     Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934




                           Date of Report May 5, 1998
                        (Date of earliest event reported)


                               ALLIED Group, Inc.
             (Exact name of registrant as specified in its chapter)

             Iowa                         0-14243                42-0958655
(State of other jurisdiction of         (Commission           (I.R.S. Employer
 incorporation or organization)         Fine Number)         Identification No.)


    701 Fifth Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa                            50391-2000
 (Address of principal executive offices)                         (Zip Code)


                                  515-280-4211
               (Registrant's telephone number including area code)



                The total number of pages contained herein is 7.





<PAGE>
                                       2





Item 5.  Other Events.

Attached hereto and  incorporated  herein is the press release dated May 5, 1998
which is filed as Exhibit 20.4 to this Form 8-K  announcing  an amendment to the
Second Amended and Restated Reinsurance Pooling Agreement.








Item 7.  Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(c)  Exhibits.

     10.65     Third Amendment to the Second  Amended and  Restated  Reinsurance
               Pooling Agreement, dated May 5, 1998.

     20.4      Press release dated May 5,1998.






                                   SIGNATURES



Pursuant  to the  requirements  of the  Securities  Exchange  Act of  1934,  the
registrant  has duly  caused  this  report  to be  signed  on its  behalf by the
undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

                                          ALLIED Group, Inc.
                                             (Registrant)



                        /s/                Jamie H. Shaffer
                  --------------------------------------------------------------
                                     Jamie H. Shaffer, Treasurer
                  (Principal Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer)


Date:  May 5, 1998

<PAGE>
                                       3                          
                                                                   EXHIBIT 10.65

                                 THIRD AMENDMENT
                       TO THE SECOND AMENDED AND RESTATED
                          REINSURANCE POOLING AGREEMENT

         WHEREAS,  the  undersigned  parties  (Participants)  entered  into  the
above-captioned   agreement  (Agreement)  on  December  14,  1992  and  executed
amendments thereto on February 18, 1993 and February 10, 1995;

         WHEREAS, the Participants desire to enter into a third amendment to the
Agreement pursuant to Section 8.1 thereof; and

         WHEREAS,  the  amendments  set out  hereinbelow  were  approved  by the
Coordinating  Committee  and the board of directors of ALLIED  Mutual  Insurance
Company on May 4, 1998 and by the boards of directors of AMCO Insurance Company,
ALLIED Property and Casualty Insurance Company, and Depositors Insurance Company
on May 5, 1998;

         NOW,  THEREFORE,  in  consideration  of the foregoing and of the mutual
covenants and  agreements  set forth herein,  the  Participants  hereby agree as
follows;

        1. Effective  January 1, 1998,  Section 3.8 of  the Agreement is deleted
        therefrom in its entirety;

        2. Effective on the date of this amendment, Section 3.7 of the Agreement
        is hereby  amended  by  deleting  therefrom  in its  entirety  the final
        sentence thereof, as added by the Second Amendment thereto;

        3.  Effective  July  1,  1998,  Exhibit  C to the  Agreement,  which  is
        captioned  "Administrative  Fee" and which is  incorporated by reference
        into Section 3.7 thereof, is amended as follows:

            A. Subsection 2 of Exhibit C is deleted in its entirety and replaced
            with the following;

               "7.5% of Adjusted Earned  Premiums+  multiplied by its Applicable
               Participation Percentage (6.75% for unallocated LAE and 0.75% for
               investment expense)"

            B. The  following is added to the  definitions  of Adjusted  Written
            Premiums  and  Adjusted  Earned  Premiums  by  insertion  at the end
            thereof:

               "and  those  premiums  written  by the Square  Deal  Division  of
               Mutual"

            C. Subsections 3 and 4 of  Exhibit C are deleted  therefrom in their
            entirety.

<PAGE>
                                       4


        4.  Effective January 1, 1999,  Exhibit C to the Agreement is amended as
        follows:

            A. Subsection 1 is deleted in its  entirety  and  replaced  with the
               following:

               "Commencing  on  January 1, 1999,  its  Applicable  Participation
               Percentage  multiplied  by that  percentage  of Adjusted  Written
               Premiums* which is the product of Adjusted Written  Premiums* and
               a percentage equaling the average underwriting expense (excluding
               commissions and premiums taxes) incurred by the  Participants and
               the Square Deal  Division of Mutual  during the Annual  Statement
               years 1994 through 1998."

            B. Subsection 2 is deleted in its  entirety  and  replaced  with the
               following:

               "Commencing  on  January 1, 1999,  its  Applicable  Participation
               Percentage  multiplied by the total of (i) total unallocated loss
               adjustment  expense  incurred by the  Participants and the Square
               Deal Division of Mutual for that Annual  Statement  year and (ii)
               0.50% of Adjusted Earned Premiums+."

            C. The following is added to the Exhibit as Subsection 3:

               "The foregoing  notwithstanding,  for Annual Statement years 1998
               through 2000, no Affiliated  Company shall be required to pay the
               Pool  Administrator in any year an Administration  Fee calculated
               pursuant  hereto which is greater than that it would have paid if
               the Administrative Fee had been calculated  pursuant to the terms
               of the Agreement as they existed prior to execution of this Third
               Amendment."

        5.  Effective January 1, 2000,  Exhibit C to the Agreement is amended by
        (i)  striking  the  phrase  "1994  through  1998"  from the last line of
        Subsection  1 and by  replacing  it with  "1995  through  1999" and (ii)
        striking the phrase "0.50% of Adjusted  Earned  Premiums+" from the last
        line of Subsection 2 and by replacing it with "0.25% of Adjusted  Earned
        Premiums+."

        6. Effective January 1, 2001, the Agreement shall be amended by deleting
        Section 3.7 and Exhibit C therefrom  in their  entirety and by replacing
        Section 3.7 with the following:

               "For each Annual Statement year commencing on or after January 1,
               2001,  the  Pool  Administrator   shall  be  reimbursed  by  each
               Affiliated  Company  for  those  Company  Specific  Expenses  and
               Non-Pooled Items paid by the Pool Administrator on its behalf. In
               addition thereto,  each Affiliated  Company shall pay to the Pool
               Administrator  an amount  equaling its  Applicable  Participation
               Percentage of the  Participants',  including Square Deal Division
               of Mutual, total Administrative Expenses."

<PAGE>
                                       5




         IN WITNESS HEREOF,  the  undersigned  parties hereto have executed this
amendment on the 5th day of May, 1998.
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
<S> <C>                                          <C> 

ALLIED Mutual Insurance Company                  AMCO Insurance Company

By: /s/  Douglas L. Andersen                     By: /s/  Douglas L. Andersen
   ---------------------------------------          ---------------------------------------
Its: President and Chief Executive Officer       Its: President and Chief Executive Officer
     -------------------------------------            -------------------------------------

ALLIED Property and Casualty                     Depositors Insurance Company
Insurance Company

By: /s/  Douglas L. Andersen                     By: /s/  Douglas L. Andersen
   ---------------------------------------          ---------------------------------------
Its: President and Chief Executive Officer       Its: President and Chief Executive Officer
     -------------------------------------            -------------------------------------
</TABLE>



<PAGE>
                                       6


                                                                   EXHIBIT 20.4

                               ALLIED GROUP, INC.
                             ANNOUNCES BOARD ACTIONS

Des Moines,  Iowa,  May 5,  1998--ALLIED  Group,  Inc.  (NYSE  symbol GRP) today
announced three actions by its Board of Directors. The first was an amendment to
the  pool  administration  provisions  of  the  pooling  agreement  between  the
Company's  property-casualty  segment and ALLIED Mutual Insurance  Company;  the
amendment  was also  approved by the Board of  Directors of ALLIED  Mutual.  The
second was the approval of a stock repurchase program. The third was declaring a
second-quarter dividend of $0.13 per share that will be payable June 26, 1998 to
stockholders of record on June 12, 1998.

The pooling  agreement  provides that pool  participants  cede to AMCO Insurance
Company,  the  ALLIED  Group,  Inc.  subsidiary  named  as  pool  administrator,
premiums,  losses,  and certain  expenses  and assume from AMCO an amount of the
pooled  property-casualty  business equal to their participation percentage (64%
for the Company's  property-casualty  segment, 36% for ALLIED Mutual).  Prior to
the amendment, AMCO paid certain underwriting,  unallocated loss settlement, and
premium  collection  expenses for the pool  participants and was reimbursed on a
set  percentage-of-premiums  basis.  Having  AMCO  assume  the  risk of  expense
volatility rewarded the Company if efficiencies were achieved and allowed ALLIED
Mutual to benefit from a stable, predictable expense ratio.

As the Company's  operations became more efficient,  the difference  between its
expense ratio and ALLIED Mutual's widened.  Recently, the gap began closing. The
amended  agreement  accelerates  movement toward  convergence and eliminates any
difference in expense ratios by 2001. The amendment is effective in 1998 and was
filed  on a Form  8-K  with the  SEC.  The two  Boards  acted  to phase  out the
difference  in expense  ratios so all  parties to the  pooling  agreement  would
continue to qualify for a pooled rating from A.M. Best.



<PAGE>
                                       7






To estimate the impact on future earnings per share,  Company management assumed
third and fourth  quarter 1998 earnings will be the same as first  quarter's and
calculated  the  effect  of the  amended  agreement  to be a $0.01 per share per
quarter reduction. Using the same assumption and calculation, Company management
estimated  the amended  agreement  will reduce 1999  earnings by $0.04 per share
each quarter.

The ALLIED Group, Inc. Board also approved a stock repurchase program to acquire
up to 250,000 shares of Company  common stock over the next twelve  months.  The
repurchases will be made from time to time in compliance with Rule 10b-18 of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Completion of the program will depend on market
conditions.  The  program is not a request or an offer for or in  response  to a
tender offer or any other offer for Company  shares.  The Company may  terminate
the program at any time.  As of April 30,  1998,  the  Company had 30.6  million
shares of common stock outstanding.

At the 1998 ALLIED Group, Inc. Annual Meeting of Stockholders held today,  three
members were elected to the Board of Directors:  James W.  Callison,  Richard O.
Jacobson, and John P. Taylor. They will serve until the 2001 Annual Meeting.


The estimates of reductions in future  earnings  discussed in this press release
are  forward-looking  statements  within the meaning of the  Private  Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (Reform Act). These forward-looking statements are
made  pursuant to the safe harbor  provisions  of the Reform Act.  Investors are
cautioned  that there are important  factors that could cause actual  results to
differ materially from those in these forward-looking statements.  These factors
include,  but are  not  limited  to,  (1)  heightened  competition--particularly
intensified  price  competition,  (2) adverse state and federal  legislation and
regulations,  (3) changes in interest  rates  causing a reduction of  investment
income,  (4) general  economic and business  conditions  that are less favorable
than expected,  (5)  unanticipated  changes in industry trends,  (6) adequacy of
loss reserves, (7) catastrophic events or the occurrence of a significant number
of storms and wind and hail losses,  and (8) other risks  detailed  from time to
time in the Company's reports.

ALLIED Group,  Inc. is a regional  property-casualty  insurance  holding company
specializing in personal lines. The Company's property-casualty subsidiaries use
independent  agencies,  exclusive  agencies,  and direct  response  marketing in
central and western states.




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