Transamerica Corporation
| File:Transamerica2025Logo.svg | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Insurance Investments Retirement planning |
| Founded | 1928 |
| Founder | A.P. Giannini |
| Headquarters | Baltimore, Maryland, US |
Number of locations | 10 |
Area served | North America |
Key people | Will Fuller (CEO) |
| Products | Life insurance, Investment & Retirement services |
Number of employees | 6,800 (2023) |
| Parent | Aegon |
| Website | www |
Transamerica Corporation functions as an American holding entity overseeing life insurance and investment companies predominantly within the United States. It delivers life and supplemental health insurance, along with investment and retirement planning solutions. The company’s main office is located in Baltimore, Maryland, while its subsidiary, Transamerica Life Company, operates out of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Additional branches exist in Denver, Harrison (NY), Toronto, Philadelphia, and Knoxville. Since 1999, Transamerica has operated as a standalone subsidiary under the multinational insurer Aegon.
The Transamerica Institute, a nonprofit organization supported by Transamerica Life Insurance Company and its affiliates, includes the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies.
History
In 1904, entrepreneur A.P. Giannini founded the Bank of Italy in San Francisco. By 1928, he created Transamerica Corporation as a holding company to manage Bank of America and related financial interests, which then held assets exceeding $1.5 billion. Initially headquartered at 4 Columbus Avenue in San Francisco, the Bank of Italy merged with Bank of America, Los Angeles in 1928 and adopted the Bank of America name in 1930.
Transamerica expanded into life insurance in 1930 by acquiring Occidental Life Insurance Company, which had assets over $25 million and policies worth $150 million. This acquisition was a strategic step toward broadening its financial service offerings; Occidental was rebranded as Transamerica Occidental Life Insurance Company.
The corporation broadened its portfolio into media and transportation industries, owning entities such as United Artists film distributor, Transamerica Airlines, and Budget Rent a Car. In 1972, it completed the construction of the iconic Transamerica Pyramid skyscraper in San Francisco, which served as its headquarters for many years and continues to be a significant symbol of the brand despite no longer housing corporate offices.
Throughout the 1980s, Transamerica streamlined its focus exclusively on financial services by divesting from non-core sectors. United Artists was sold in 1981 to Kirk Kerkorian’s Tracinda Corporation. Following these divestitures, the company concentrated on three primary areas: insurance, investments, and retirement planning.
In July 1999, CEO Frank C. Herringer announced that Transamerica would be acquired by Dutch insurer Aegon. The Transamerica Occidental entity was consolidated into Transamerica Life Insurance Company in 2008.
In 2018, Transamerica launched a $2 billion digital transformation partnership with Tata Consultancy Services aimed at integrating policy administration systems; however, this initiative was discontinued in 2023 due to evolving market dynamics.
On January 14, 2025, Transamerica introduced a refreshed logo prominently featuring the Transamerica Pyramid in red. This update replaced logos used since the 1980s to strengthen brand recognition focused on serving middle-income Americans.
Products and services
Transamerica delivers a range of offerings in insurance, retirement, and investment sectors. Its portfolio of life and health insurance comprises term life, whole life, universal life, variable universal life, accidental death, and final expense coverage. Additionally, the firm provides an assortment of mutual funds and annuity products.
The retirement segment administers both defined benefit and defined contribution plans, which include 401(k), 403(b), and 457 plans, as well as profit-sharing arrangements, cash balance plans, Taft-Hartley plans, multiple employer plans, pooled employer plans, retirement plan exchanges, nonqualified deferred compensation options, and rollover IRAs. Complementary services encompass plan recordkeeping, participant communication strategies, fiduciary risk management, open investment architecture, and compliance assistance.
In December 2020, Transamerica declared its decision to discontinue sales of variable annuities with benefit riders and fixed index annuities while also withdrawing from the standalone long-term care insurance market.
Partnerships
Transamerica fosters third-party research and thought leadership initiatives through collaborations with organizations such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology AgeLab. Previous partnerships have included the American Heart Association, Stanford University's Center on Longevity, Georgetown University's AgingWell Hub, and the Alzheimer's Association.
The company has also sponsored professional golfers Zach Johnson—who served as the 2023 US Ryder Cup captain and boasts 12 PGA TOUR victories—and Azahara Muñoz, recognized as the 2009 LPGA Rookie of the Year. Notably, Johnson's hometown of Cedar Rapids is where many Transamerica employees reside.
Foundations
Transamerica backs two nonprofit entities: the Aegon Transamerica Foundation and the Transamerica Institute. Founded in 1994, the Aegon Transamerica Foundation offers financial support to community-based nonprofits and encourages employee volunteerism. It received the 2013 Corporate Citizenship Award for establishing Iowa’s inaugural urban farm.
The Transamerica Institute concentrates on research and public awareness campaigns related to health, wellness, employment, financial education, longevity, and retirement planning. Its operational branch—the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies (TCRS)—examines trends and prospects within retirement preparedness and financial security.
See also
External links
- Pages with broken file links
- Holding companies of the United States
- Life insurance companies of the United States
- Investment companies of the United States
- Companies based in Baltimore
- History of San Francisco
- Holding companies established in 1928
- Financial services companies established in 1928
- American companies established in 1928
- 1999 mergers and acquisitions
- American subsidiaries of foreign companies
- Holding companies disestablished in 1999
- Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange
- 5
- Companies of the United States by year of establishment