Viking Magazine - September 2013 - 12

then, that's what a fraternal benefit
society does, she adds.
As not-for-profit, tax-exempt
organizations, fraternal insurance
companies use their business
operations to support a larger mission.
In Sons of Norway's case, it's
a cultural one: " to promote and to
preserve the heritage and culture of
Norway, to celebrate our relationship
with other Nordic countries,
and provide quality insurance and
financial products to our members. "
In 2012 alone, lodge and
cultural activities got a $1.2 million
boost from the insurance side
of the organization.
Krause says other financial support
goes to lodges as well. They
qualify for reimbursement of up
to $400 when they host a member
recruitment event that includes a
financial benefits counselor on the
program. Some of the lodges she
works with make use of that benefit
every year.
Len Carlson, a member of Synnove
Nordkap 1-008 in St. Paul,
leads Sons of Norway's insurance
operation as director of agencies
and notes that there's also a revenue
sharing program with lodges.
A small percentage of insurance
revenues goes directly back to
lodges annually based on the
number of lodge members who
own Sons of Norway products.
Those members are " insuring
their own future, and they're also
ensuring the future of the lodge
system and Sons of Norway, "
Carlson says. That's one thing
that distinguishes Sons of Norway's
insurance operation from
for-profit companies, but it's not
the only one.
More Main Street
Than Wall Street
" We're a very conservative
company overall, " says Sons
of Norway CEO Eivind Heiberg,
and he's proud to make
the claim, especially after the
economic fallout in recent years
from risky investments made by
some Wall Street firms. " We have
a very conservative investment
policy " for our financial holdings,
says Heiberg, who belongs
to Synnove Nordkap 1-008 in St.
Paul, Minn., " and the products
we offer are conservative in
nature. In addition to our sound
life insurance products, we offer
fixed annuities that don't bump
up and down along with the
stock market. "
Money from insurance
premiums and other sources is
invested for Sons of Norway in
a portfolio of low-risk bonds.
Krause finds it's an approach
that fits with members' own
conservative investing style.
" They want to know that their
money is going to be safe, " she
says, " and that they don't have
to lose sleep if Wall Street
has a bad day. "
Sons of Norway has never
changed its careful approach or its
mission as an insurance provider
and a promoter of Norwegian
culture and heritage. But the insurance
part of the mission hasn't
always been as apparent to some
members. Reasons for that go
back almost a century.
Even as Sons of Norway was
forming in Minneapolis, there were
Norwegian immigrants with similar
ambitions on the West Coast,
especially the Seattle area. In 1903,
they formed their own society,
the Grand Order of the Sons of
Norway of the Pacific Coast. When
the two organizations negotiated
a merger in 1909, insurance was
made a voluntary part of membership
rather than a requirement for
becoming a member.
Teaching Financial Literacy
There are signs that Sons of Norway's
financial products will be key
to connecting with a next generation
of members.
At the federal and state level, efforts
have begun around the United
States to improve people's financial
literacy, especially young consumers.
State and Federal governments
are looking for partners to help in
that effort, and in Minnesota, the
governor and the state's commissioner
of commerce have taken an
interest in Sons of Norway's new
NorwayConnects.org fraternal initiative,
which launched last winter.
continued on page 14...
PHOTOGRAPHY (BOTTOM) BY PASI AALTO / TYIN
http://www.NorwayConnects.org
Viking Magazine - September 2013

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