Pacific Life - History

History

Pacific Mutual Life was founded in 1868 by former California Governor Leland Stanford in Sacramento, CA. Stanford also was the first policy holder of the company. After Stanford died and his university (Stanford University) was strapped for money, his wife used the money from the policy to pay for professors. Starting in 1885, Pacific Mutual Life began issuing accident insurance, this was an innovative move for a life insurance company at the time. In 1906, Pacific Mutual Life merged with Conservative Life, a Los Angeles, CA based life insurance company. Following the San Francisco, CA fires and earthquake of 1906, Pacific Mutual Life's Board of Directors moved the company to Los Angeles, CA. During the Great Depression, the company was hit with hard times and in 1936 in an effort to save both the policy holders and the company the Insurance Commissioner, Samuel L. Carpenter, encouraged the policy holders to become part owners of the company through mutualization. In 1955, Pacific Mutual Life became the first company west of the Mississippi River to use the brand new technology of Univac I. At Pacific Mutual Life's one hundredth birthday the company celebrated with keynote speaker, Ronald Reagan. In 1971, the company started Pacific Investment Management Company (PIMCO). The company moved its headquarters to their current Newport Beach, CA location in 1972 when management decided that Newport Beach would provide a higher standard of living for their families. In 1997, the company dropped mutual from its name, changing it to Pacific Life Insurance Company. This reflects the company structure's change from a mutual ownership to a mutual holding company structure. Also in 1997, the company adopted the humpback whale as symbol of the company because of the whale's persistence, performance, and strength. The Pacific Life Foundation was established in 1984 and is headquartered in Newport Beach, CA. At year-end 2011, the Foundation's trust principal was approximately $63.5 million. In 2011, $5.5 million was contributed to over 400 agencies in the areas of health and human services; civic, community, and environment; education; and arts and culture and $5.6 million is committed through 2012.