Primerica opens office in Syracuse

CNY Business Journal (1996+), Oct 19, 2007 by Martino, Kristina

SYRACUSE - After four years working for Citisolutions Financial Ltd., in the United Kingdom, Whittington Bingham opened a Primerica office in Syracuse in early October.

Bingham - regional vice president of Primerica Financial Services, a Citigroup Company - bought the 11,000-square-foot building at 947 N. Salina St., of which he will use about 1,000 square feet for his financial-services office. He is planning to rent the remaining space to other businesses. Bingham purchased the building from Richard Lobevero. It is assessed at $105,000, according to the Onondaga County Office of Real Property Tax Services.

Bingham is an independent representative of Primerica, he says. Each Primerica representative opening an office pays the expenses, Bingham says. He declined to disclose financial information about thebusiness start-up but says costs include the office and basic office necessities. Once approved by Primerica, Bingham says the company also provides materials such as paperwork, applications, and legal support to each office.

Citigroup (NYSE: C) owns Georgia-based Primerica. New York City - headquartered Citigroup has more than $1 trillion in assets, according to the Primerica Web site. Primerica offers services including life insurance, mutual funds, variable annuities, loans, long-term-care insurance, legal services, car insurance, and homeowners insurance.

Prior to relocating to the United Kingdom, Bingham says he operated a Primerica office in New York City and planned to expand to Syracuse before Citigroup asked him to move to the United Kingdom to open offices.

"I've been planning to come here for four years," Bingham says. "I will be operating from here and in Canada."

Bingham says he plans to also work in Canada. The main Primerica office is located in Mississauga, Ontario (near Toronto).

Bingham plans to hire one full-time front desk employee for the downtown Syracuse office, and he continues looking for potential independent agents. He has not hired any employees as of early October and says he doesn't know how many agents he will hire. Bingham plans to open four offices in two years.

The regional vice president declined to disclose financial projections for the first year, but says he hopes to do well enough that he can promote two new independent representatives to regional vice presidents by the end of the year. He also hopes to open additional offices in Auburn and Poughkeepsie.

Primerica started in 1977 as a small insurance company and now employs more than 100,000 licensed representatives and over 26,000 licensed mutual-fund representatives internationally, according to the Primerica Web site.