Businessweek

CNA Financial Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in the property and casualty insurance business. The company's property and casualty and remaining life and group insurance operations are primarily conducted by Continental Casualty Company, The Continental Insurance Company, Western Surety Company, and Continental Assurance Corporation. Segments The company operates in two segments, CNA Specialty and CNA Commercial. Its non-core operations are managed in two business segments, Life & Group Non-Core and Corporate & Other Non-Core. CNA Specialty CNA Specialty provides professional and management liability and other coverages through property and casualty products and services, both domestically and abroad, through a network of brokers, independent agencies and managing general underwriters. CNA Specialty provides solutions for managing the risks of its clients, including architects, lawyers, accountants, health care professionals, financial intermediaries, and public and private companies. Product offerings also include surety and fidelity bonds and warranty services. CNA Specialty includes the following business groups: Professional & Management Liability provides management and professional liability insurance and risk management services, and other specialized property and casualty coverages in the United States. This group provides professional liability coverages to various professional firms, including architects, real estate agents, small and mid-sized accounting firms, law firms and technology firms. Professional & Management Liability also provides directors and officers (D&O), employment practices, fiduciary, and fidelity coverages. Specific areas of focus include small and mid-size firms, as well as privately held firms and not-for-profit organizations, where tailored products for this client segment are offered. Products within Professional & Management Liability are distributed through brokers, independent agents, and managing general underwriters. Professional & Management Liability, through CNA HealthPro, also offers insurance products to serve the healthcare industry. Products include professional liability and associated standard property and casualty coverages, and are distributed on a national basis through brokers, independent agents, and managing general underwriters. Key customer segments include long term care facilities, allied health care providers, life sciences, dental professionals, and mid-size and large health care facilities. International provides similar management and professional liability insurance and other specialized property and casualty coverages in Canada and Europe. Surety offers small, medium, and large contract and commercial surety bonds. Surety provides surety and fidelity bonds in all 50 states through a network of independent agencies. Warranty and Alternative Risks provides extended service contracts and related products that provide protection from the financial burden associated with mechanical breakdown and other related losses, primarily for vehicles and portable electronic communication devices. These products are distributed through and administered by a wholly owned subsidiary, CNA National Warranty Corporation, or through third party administrators. CNA Commercial CNA Commercial works with an independent agency distribution system and a network of brokers to market a range of property and casualty insurance products and services to small, middle-market and large businesses and organizations domestically and abroad. Property products include standard and excess property coverages, as well as marine coverage, and boiler and machinery. Casualty products include standard casualty insurance products such as workers' compensation, general and product liability, commercial auto and umbrella coverages. The company also offers specialized loss-sensitive insurance programs to those customers viewed as higher risk and less predictable in exposure. These property and casualty products are offered as part of its Small Business, Commercial and International insurance groups. The company’s Small Business insurance group serves its smaller commercial accounts and the Commercial insurance group serves its middle markets and larger risks. In addition, CNA Commercial provides total risk management services relating to claim and information services to the large commercial insurance marketplace, through a wholly-owned subsidiary, CNA ClaimPlus, Inc., a third party administrator. The International insurance group primarily consists of the commercial product lines of its operations in Europe and Canada. Also included in CNA Commercial is CNA Select Risk (Select Risk), which includes its excess and surplus lines coverages. Select Risk provides specialized insurance for selected commercial risks on both an individual customer and program basis. Customers insured by Select Risk are generally viewed as higher risk and less predictable in exposure than those covered by standard insurance markets. Select Risk's products are distributed throughout the United States through specialist producers, program agents, and brokers. Life & Group Non-Core The Life & Group Non-Core segment primarily includes the results of the life and group lines of business that are in run-off. The company services its existing individual long term care commitments, its payout annuity business, and its pension deposit business. The company also retains a block of group reinsurance and life settlement contracts. These businesses are being managed as a run-off operation. The company’s group long term care business, while considered non-core, accepts new employees in existing groups. Corporate & Other Non-Core Corporate & Other Non-Core primarily includes certain corporate expenses, including interest on corporate debt, and the results of certain property and casualty business in run-off, including CNA Reinsurance Company Limited, and asbestos and environmental pollution (A&EP). History CNA Financial Corporation was founded in 1853.