John F. Barrett, president, chairman and chief executive officer of Western & Southern Financial Group, has been included in The Business Journals’ The Influencer: Finance list. The list features 100 executives across the country who are making a notable impact on business and finance.
The Business Journals, a division of American City Business Journals, serves 43 markets with local business news. The Influencer: Finance list is one of three lists the Journals produced in 2018. Other list topics include real estate and law.
Barrett, president of Western & Southern since 1989, was chosen for the list based on Western & Southern’s growth under his leadership as well as his and the company’s involvement in significant development of downtown Cincinnati. The Business Journals' publication that serves the city where Western & Southern’s headquarters is located, the Cincinnati Business Courier, featured John Barrett in an article published on Apr. 20. The article is a Q&A between reporter Steve Watkins and Barrett about reasons for Western & Southern’s growth, downtown development and future plans.
Under Barrett’s leadership, Western & Southern has grown from a $5 billion Midwestern life insurance company into a highly respected national financial services enterprise and one of the strongest life insurance groups in the world with assets totaling $75.6 billion as of Aug. 31, 2018. Barrett’s vision has resulted in the tallest skyscraper in Cincinnati, the Great American Tower, as well as several downtown hotels, all developed by Western & Southern subsidiary Eagle Realty Group.
About Western & Southern Financial Group
Founded in Cincinnati in 1888 as The Western and Southern Life Insurance Company, and celebrating 130 years this year, Western & Southern Financial Group, Inc. (Western & Southern), a Fortune 500 company, is now the parent company of a group of diversified financial services businesses. Its assets owned ($48.3 billion) and managed ($26.2 billion) total $74.5 billion as of June 30, 2018. Western & Southern is one of the strongest life insurance groups in the world. Its six life insurance subsidiaries (The Western and Southern Life Insurance Company, Western-Southern Life Assurance Company, Columbus Life Insurance Company, Integrity Life Insurance Company, The Lafayette Life Insurance Company and National Integrity Life Insurance Company) maintain very strong financial ratings. Other member companies include Eagle Realty Group, LLC; Fort Washington Investment Advisors, Inc.;1 IFS Financial Services, Inc.; Peppertree Partners LLC;1 Touchstone Advisors, Inc.;1 Touchstone Securities, Inc.;2 W&S Brokerage Services, Inc.;2 and W&S Financial Group Distributors, Inc. Find more information on the Western & Southern family of companies. Western & Southern is the title sponsor of six major community events every year, including the Western & Southern Open, a premier event in the U.S. Open Series played each August by the world’s top-ranked professional male and female tennis players.
1 A registered investment advisor.
