The Life Insurance Company of Virginia is a life insurance company founded in Petersburg, Virginia, in 1871. Known colloquially as “Life of Virginia”, the company went through several major acquisitions over the years before ultimately becoming Genworth Financial one of the leading financial security companies.
Company History
Life of Virginia was founded by two dozen Petersburg investors in March 1871, when the Virginia General Assembly passed an act of incorporation for the “Life Insurance Company of Virginia.” With A.G. McIlwaine as the company’s first president, and D’Arcy Paul and D.B. Tennant serving as vice presidents, the company began offering its first policies to local customers. The Life Insurance Company of Virginia then expanded to Richmond, and with general agent F.W. Chamberlayne, significantly increased their customer-base. Within a decade, the company gained customers from Baltimore, New York City, and New Orleans, and soon moved their headquarters to the capital city of Richmond, Virginia.
By the early twentieth century, the Life Insurance Company of Virginia offered an array of products, including whole life annuities through its “Ordinary Division”, term life products, endowment policies, and limited payment policies through its “Intermediate Division”, and a set of products for the workplace through an industrial arm.
The company began its series of acquisitions and reorganizations in 1986, when Life of Virginia was purchased by the Combined Insurance Company of America (AON Corporation) for $557 million. In 1995, GE Capital acquired most of AON Corporation’s life insurance business, including Life of Virginia, and in 2003, Genworth Financial was formed out of several GE Capital businesses.