Beneficial Financial Group

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Beneficial Financial Group is an insurance and financial services company based in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is a subsidiary of Deseret Management Corporation, which is in turn owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The company was founded in the early 20th Century<ref> Mission, Vision, and Values. beneficialfinancialgroup.com. Beneficial Financial Group. Retrieved on 2006-01-25.</ref> and as of fiscal year end 2005 had assets of $3.1 billion with yearly revenues of $600 million.<ref> Financial Information. beneficialfinancialgroup.com. Beneficial Financial Group. Retrieved on 2006-01-25.</ref> By way of comparison, it is approximately 5% of the size of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, a religious-oriented nonprofit investment company associated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, which has holdings of over $60 billion.<ref>Thrivent.com Facts. Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Note: The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has less than half the membership (4.9 million → ELCA Quick Facts) of the LDS Church (12 million → Statistical Information).</ref>

The Insurance side of the company was known for many years as the Beneficial Life Insurance Company.

Beneficial is certified by the Insurance Marketplace Standards Association for ethical business practices. It is a subsidiary of Deseret Management Corporation (DMC),<ref> Beneficial Role. beneficialfinancialgroup.com. Beneficial Financial Group. Retrieved on 2006-01-25.</ref> a for-profit management company of assets for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Beneficial holds an A+ (stable) rating from Standard & Poor's for financial strength.<ref> Insurance Ratings. standardandpoors.com. Standard and Poor's. Retrieved on 2006-01-25.</ref>

Location

The company headquarters for many years was in the Beneficial Life tower, directly above the ZCMI Center Mall. This office tower had the company name in large letters along the side, lit in blue at the top of the structure. The words Beneficial Life could be seen from quite a distance as the tower had an entirely unimpeded view of the Salt Lake Valley along the main artery known as State Street.

During the mid 1980's the Beneficial Life tower achieved notoriety when a rare breeding pair of Peregrine Falcons decided to take residence on the company letters on the north side of the building. While many people appreciated the falcons, they were not as popular with the pigeons (their prey) and the motorists who parked on the exposed parking level of the ZCMI Center Mall, where the remains of the falcon's meal would drop on their cars.

Around the year 2006 Beneficial moved to the former Kennecott building on an opposite corner of the same block. Both buildings will remain while almost the entirety of the block is torn down, along with neighboring blocks of downtown Salt Lake City, and turned into a new 1 billion dollar development called the City Creek Center.

References

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