Skip to main content

History

why invest graphic

Early Beginnings

Voya Financial evolved from ING Group’s U.S. retirement, investment management and insurance operations. After some smaller initial U.S. business ventures, ING Group predecessor, Nationale-Nederlanden, started building a life insurance business in this country in the mid-1970s when it acquired a majority of Wisconsin National Life Insurance Company in 1975. This was followed by the acquisition of Midwestern United Life Insurance Company in 1976.

1977 - Acquisition Of Security Life Of Denver

The Security Life of Denver Insurance Company was established in 1928 as a life and health insurer. In 1940, it expanded into reinsurance and group insurance. It became part of Nationale-Nederlanden in 1977. In 2004, Southland Life of ING Group was added to Life of Denver.

1979 - Acquisition of Life Of Georgia (Sold In 2004)

Life of Georgia insurance company was acquired by Nationale-Nederlanden in 1979, resulting in a considerable increase in activities in the United States.

1997 - Acquisition of Equitable Of Iowa

Equitable Life Insurance Company of Iowa was founded in 1867 by 15 prominent citizens of Des Moines, Iowa. In 1888, co-founder F.M. Hubbell became president of the company. Many of his descendants would assume the same role, most recently Frederick S. Hubbell (1987), who retired as an Executive Board member of ING Group in 2006, and later joined the board of ING U.S., Inc. and Voya Financial, Inc.

1997 - Acquisition of Furman Selz

Furman Selz was founded in the U.S. in 1973 as a research-driven investment boutique. It was an employee-owned investment bank with offices throughout the United States and in London, Dublin and Tokyo. Furman Selz's investment banking, securities brokerage activities and asset management activities were integrated into various ING businesses.

2000 - Acquisition of Reliastar

ReliaStar's predecessor Northwestern National Life Insurance Company (NWNL) was founded in 1885 in Minneapolis. It grew into one of the largest financial services companies in the U.S., offering life insurance, annuities, mutual funds, group insurance and reinsurance. In 1967, it purchased North Atlantic Life Insurance Company of Jericho, NY. In 1977, it acquired Northern Life Insurance Company of Seattle. These companies were unified under the ReliaStar brand in 1995. The company continued to grow through acquisitions, including Pilgrim Funds, a mutual funds business acquired in 1999.

2000 - Acquisition of Aetna Financial Services

Aetna Life Insurance Company was incorporated in Connecticut in 1853. From 1861 Aetna began to expand its product range turning the company into a multiple-line insurer. In order to focus mainly on health insurance, Aetna started selling parts of its business.

2008 - Acquisition of Citistreet

CitiStreet was one of the nation's largest retirement plan recordkeepers, offering products and services for defined contribution, defined benefit and health and welfare plans. The "Citi" in CitiStreet originated as H.C. Copeland and Associates in 1976. Copeland administered and serviced retirement plans in the education, government and healthcare market segments. The "Street" in CitiStreet dates back to the mid-1970s, offering recordkeeping, fiduciary, investment-management, and communications services for a variety of plans. The two businesses were merged to become CitiStreet in April 2000.

2010 - ING Reinsurance and Three Broker-Dealers of ING Advisors Network Sold

As part of the company's "Back to Basics" effort, ING Group sold the U.S. group reinsurance business to Reinsurance Group of America, Inc. in January 2010. The following month, the company closed a deal with Lightyear Capital for the purchase of Financial Network Investment Corporation, Multi-Financial Securities Corporation, and PrimeVest Financial Services, which along with ING Financial Partners, Inc., collectively did business as ING Advisors Network. The three broker-dealers that were sold now operate at Cetera Financial Group.

2013 - New Brand Unveiled and IPO

After two years of transforming the strategy, financial profile, and culture of the company, ING U.S. begins trading as a public company on the NYSE under the ticker symbol VOYA, which represents its future brand identity, Voya Financial.

Download item year list
Download Description
Plans to Rebrand as Voya Financial(opens in new window)

2014 – Transition to Voya Financial

Voya Financial, Inc. debuts in April, while the balance of the operations will transition to the new brand by the third quarter. Voya is an abstract name coined from the word ‘voyage.’ The name reflects momentum and optimism. It reminds us that a secure financial future is more than just reaching a destination; it’s about a journey to financial empowerment, and having positive experiences along the way.

Download item year list
Download Description
Becoming Voya Financial in 2014(opens in new window)
ING U.S. Officially Becomes Voya Financial(opens in new window)

2018 – Sale of The CBVA Business

Voya Financial completed the sale of its Closed Block Variable Annuity (CBVA) and Fixed and Fixed Indexed Annuities Business to a consortium of investors led by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, LLC, Crestview Partners, and Reverence Capital Partners. With the completion of this transaction, Voya can focus on its higher-growth, higher-return, capital-light Retirement, Investment Management, and Employee Benefits businesses while significantly reducing market and insurance risk. As part of the transaction, Voya Investment Management will serve as the preferred asset management partner. The completion of the transaction reinforces our commitment to generating further value for our shareholders and delivering great solutions to our customers as America’s Retirement Company.

Download item year list
Download Description
Voya Announces Sale of its CBVA segment(opens in new window)
Voya Financial Completes Annuities Transaction(opens in new window)
Investor Presentation(opens in new window)

2019 - Sale of Individual Life and Other Closed Blocks

Voya Financial completed the divestiture of substantially all of its individual life insurance and other legacy non-retirement annuities businesses. The closed blocks of business have been acquired by Resolution Life US, a new holding company established by Resolution Life Group. With the completion of this transaction, Voya has simplified its portfolio of businesses, reduced market and interest rate risk, and freed up capital. Voya is now fully focused on leveraging its core strengths in serving the workplace and institutional clients to achieve further organic growth across our Retirement, Investment Management, and Employee Benefits businesses.

In connection with the transaction, Voya Investment Management (IM) has been appointed investment manager over approximately $20 billion of core fixed income and specialty assets associated with the closed blocks. Voya IM will also serve as one of the preferred asset management partners for Resolution Life. This arrangement aligns with Voya IM’s focus on providing experienced long-term asset management expertise to serve the needs of insurance companies.

Download item year list
Download Description
Voya announces Sale of Individual Life and Other Closed Blocks(opens in new window)
Voya Financial Completes Individual Life Transaction(opens in new window)
Investor Presentation(opens in new window)

2022 - ACQUISITION OF ALLIANZ GLOBAL INVESTORS US ASSETS AND FORMATION OF INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIP

Voya Financial acquired certain assets and teams comprising the substantial majority of Allianz Global Investors U.S. business to incorporate into Voya’s Investment Management business.  Voya Investment Management and AllianzGI also formed a long-term, strategic distribution partnership whereby AllianzGI will distribute Voya Investment Management’s investment strategies outside the U.S. and Canada. The international expansion opportunity further diversified Voya Investment Management’s client base by adding international and retail clients to an already strong group of U.S. institutional investors and advisors. AllianzGI’s diverse, global reach, enables Voya Investment Management business to offer attractive U.S. asset-based investment strategies to an even larger client base. After the transaction Voya and Allianz Group held 76% and 24%, respectively, economic stakes in Voya’s asset management business. At closing, the assets that have transferred to Voya represent approximately 95% client asset retention since the transaction was initially announced.

https://investors.voya.com/news/news-details/2022/Voya-Financial-announces-definitive-agreement-with-Allianz-Global-Investors/default.aspx

2023 - ACQUISITION OF BENEFITFOCUS

Voya Financial acquired Benefitfocus, an industry-leading cloud-based benefits administration technology company that serves employers, health plans and brokers. Benefitfocus serves the leading brokerage and consulting firms in the health and benefits industry and, through its employer and health plan customers, touches more than 25 million lives on its platform. The acquisition of Benefitfocus accelerates Voya’s strategy in health and wealth solutions, adding broad-based benefits administration capabilities that extend its reach across workplace benefits and savings. Benefitfocus presents a strong foundation for customer-centered growth, with Voya’s technology resources, digital capabilities, and operational expertise driving significant client service and value-creation opportunities. The combination of the two companies will drive significant client service, a connected experience with customers and partners in the workplace benefits industry, and value-creation opportunities for shareholders.

https://investors.voya.com/news/news-details/2022/Voya-Financial-to-acquire-Benefitfocus-Inc/default.aspx

2023 - Voya India

Voya acquired full ownership of its Indian joint venture, establishing a subsidiary company branded Voya India. Voya India provides significant value for Voya Financial and its customers by enabling 24/7 operations processing, greater automation, faster speed to market and enhanced performance, agility, efficiency and innovation.

2025 – Acquisition of OneAmerica, Inc. retirement business

Voya acquired the OneAmerica Financial, Inc. full-service retirement plan business. As a result of the acquisition, Voya’s Wealth Solutions business now serves approximately 60,000 retirement plans supporting nearly 8 million participants, with Wealth Solutions Defined Contribution client assets now growing to $670 billion. The acquisition advances Voya’s growth strategy in Workplace Solutions by adding strategically attractive scale to Voya’s full-service retirement business within Wealth Solutions.