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Legal & General America, based in Frederick, Maryland, is the U.S. insurance arm of the British multinational corporation Legal & General. Legal & General America offers life insurance, retirement planning, and claim settlement services to customers in the United States.

Legal & General America (LGA) is one of three Legal & General Group businesses in the U.S., alongside Legal & General Retirement America (LGRA) and Legal & General Investment Management America (LGIMA).

Companies that reside under Legal & General America include:
 * Banner Life Insurance Company
 * William Penn Life Insurance Company

From Government Employees Life Insurance Company (GELICO) to Legal & General America
Government Employees Life Insurance Company (GELICO), the company that became Banner Life Insurance Company, was chartered in 1949. GELICO was part of the Government Employees Group founded by Leo Goodwin, a member of the Texas banking industry.

In 1966, Government Employees Group was honored by the Newcomen Society, an organization founded to study societal factors which 'contributed to the progress of mankind.' GELICO ranked in the top 12 percent of U.S. life companies issuing an average policy of $2,400 with an average annual premium of $50. By 1975 GELICO had assets of $124 million and $1.7 billion of insurance in force, and was among a select group of companies to be rated A+ (superior) by A.M. Best in 1976, a rating Legal & General America has maintained ever since.

Banner Life Insurance Company
Legal & General Group acquired GELICO as a wholly owned subsidiary in 1981. The name officially changed to Banner Life Insurance Company in 1983, signifying its flagship position with Legal & General in the U.S.

William Penn Life Insurance Company
In 1963, "Modern Life Insurance Company" was founded. Its name changed in 1975 to William Penn Life Insurance Company of New York, offering individual life insurance in the State of New York. William Penn Life Insurance Company of New York was purchased in 1989 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Banner Life Insurance Company. Until May, 2015, William Penn maintained a physical office location in Garden City, New York. Today, the staff works remotely and all business processes have been merged to support both Banner Life and William Penn business as one.

Legal & General America - Present
By 2019 Legal & General America had more than 1.3 million policyholders and was noted as a top five provider of term life insurance in the U.S., issuing more than $57 billion in new coverage. The Legal & General America operating companies claimed over $5 billion in assets and $759 Billion of Coverage in force at year-end 2019.

Legal & General America’s operating performance is backed by financial strength ratings from three of the world's influential ratings agencies. In July 2019, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings reaffirmed a AA- financial strength rating LGA shares with their parent company, assessing its operations as “core” to Legal & General Group. In December 2019, A.M. Best reaffirmed an A+ rating for Banner Life and William Penn.

LGA Timeline

 * 1949: Government Employees Life Insurance Company (GELICO), later called Banner Life Insurance Company, is chartered.
 * 1963: Modern Life Insurance Company is founded.
 * 1975: Modern Life Insurance Company name is changed to William Penn Life Insurance Company of New York.
 * 1981: GELICO acquired by Legal & General Group Plc as a wholly owned subsidiary.
 * 1983: The name Government Employees Life Insurance Company (GELICO) is changed to Banner Life Insurance Company.
 * 1989: William Penn Life Insurance Company of New York is purchased as a wholly owned subsidiary of Banner Life Insurance Company.
 * 1995: Banner Life joins the National Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies (NAILBA)
 * 2011: Legal & General America marketing identity is simplified under one name to align with the global brand.
 * 2015: Legal & General Retirement America (LGRA) is established to provide pension de-risking solutions for companies in the US.