Catholic United Financial Merger

Catholic United Financial is the second fraternal organization to announce its intention to join the Trusted Fraternal Life family of brands. Trusted Fraternal Life was established in March 2024 by Catholic Financial Life to achieve its vision of being the innovative leader in fraternal partnerships and consolidation while growing existing business, and engaging more people to enjoy financially secure, purposeful lives.

Catholic United Financial is headquartered in Arden Hills, Minnesota, and was founded in 1878 when ten parish-based fraternal societies united to help care for families left destitute by the deaths of husbands and fathers. Catholic United Financial has nearly $1 billion in assets and 75,000 members concentrated in Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Iowa and Wisconsin. Their mission is to financially protect and connect members in faith and joyful service at every step of life’s journey.

We’ve been collaborating with Catholic United Financial on various initiatives for years and this merger is a natural next step.

Additionally, joining with Trusted Fraternal Life will bring even greater financial strength and more product offerings to Catholic United Financial members and ensure its brand, volunteer network, and support of Catholic community-building activities will continue and have a path for growth.

Economies of scale are necessary to be relevant, to compete, and to grow. Those economies will further enhance the Society’s financial strength and allow for continued investments in products, services, technology and charitable impact.

Established in March 2024 by Catholic Financial Life, Trusted Fraternal Life’s purpose is to facilitate consolidation in the fraternal sector, while preserving unique brands and traditions and achieving the necessary scale to be relevant, to compete, and to grow. It is one of the oldest and financially strongest fraternals in the United States—the organization’s financial strength rating was upgraded to an “A” with a stable outlook in 2023 by the Kroll Bond Rating Agency.

Fraternal organizations that join the Trusted Fraternal Life family of brands will maintain the essence of their brand identity while achieving economies of scale, pursue growth opportunities in different markets and make an even greater community impact.

It’s similar to how Coke is part of the Coca-Cola Company. The Coca-Cola Company has many brands including Coke, Dasani, Gold Peak Tea, Powerade and Minute Maid. Trusted Fraternal Life is like the Coca-Cola Company with multiple brands.

Both the Catholic United Financial and Trusted Fraternal Life Boards of Directors unanimously approved the merger agreement. However, that agreement needs to be ratified by Catholic United Financial delegates at their business convention in September. Assuming a positive vote, we would seek regulatory approval fourth quarter of 2024 and work toward a January 1, 2025 effective date.