Company DescriptionSecurity National Financial Corporation engages in the life insurance, cemetery and mortuary, and mortgage businesses. The company's Life Insurance segment is involved in selling and servicing lines of life insurance, annuity products, and accident and health insurance. It offers various life insurance products, including funeral plans and interest-sensitive life insurance, as well as other traditional life, accident, and health insurance products; annuity products comprising single and flexible premium deferred annuities, and immediate annuities; and diver's accident policies. This segment also cedes and assumes various risks with various authorized unaffiliated reinsurers pursuant to reinsurance treaties. Its Cemetery and Mortuary segment operates eleven mortuaries and five cemeteries in Utah; one cemetery in California; and four mortuaries and one cemetery in New Mexico. This segment also offers plots, interment vaults, mausoleum crypts, markers, caskets, urns, and other death care related products; and provides professional services of funeral directors, opening and closing of graves, use of chapels and viewing rooms, and use of automobiles and clothing. The company's Mortgages segment originates and underwrites residential and commercial loans for new construction, existing homes, and real estate projects primarily in Florida, Nevada, Texas, and Utah. It offers residential mortgage lending services to real estate brokers and builders, as well as directly with consumers. Security National Financial Corporation was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.
How the Company Makes MoneySNFCA generates revenue and earnings through multiple operating segments:
1) Life insurance operations
- Premiums: The company collects premiums on life insurance policies (including final expense and preneed insurance).
- Investment income on the insurance portfolio: Premiums are invested primarily in a portfolio of invested assets; the spread between investment returns and policy/claim costs is a key driver of profitability.
- Policy charges/fees (where applicable): Depending on product structure, the insurer may earn policy-related fees (e.g., administrative charges) in addition to premiums.
- Underwriting margin: Earnings are influenced by mortality experience, persistency (policy lapse rates), and expense management versus pricing assumptions.
2) Death care (cemetery/mortuary) operations
- At-need sales: Revenue is earned when funeral, cremation, cemetery, and related services and merchandise are delivered at the time of death.
- Preneed sales: The company sells preneed funeral/cemetery contracts; revenue is recognized in accordance with applicable accounting rules, typically when goods/services are provided, while customer funds may be held in trust or funded via insurance depending on contract structure and regulation.
- Ancillary products and services: Additional revenue can come from related cemetery property sales, interment rights, markers/monuments, and service fees.
3) Mortgage banking operations
- Gain on sale / origination-related income: The company originates residential mortgages and may sell them into the secondary market, earning gains on sale and/or origination fees.
- Servicing income (if retained): If mortgage servicing rights are retained, the company can earn ongoing servicing fees, subject to prepayment/valuation dynamics.
- Interest income (where applicable): To the extent loans are held for a period (e.g., warehouse/held-for-sale pipeline), interest and related income may be earned.
4) Title insurance operations
- Title insurance premiums and escrow/closing fees: The company earns revenue from issuing title insurance policies and providing escrow/settlement services in connection with real estate transactions.
- Underwriting/agency economics: Earnings depend on transaction volumes (purchase/refinance activity), premium rates, claim levels, and operating leverage.
Key factors affecting earnings across segments include interest rate levels (affecting insurance investment income and mortgage activity), housing market transaction volumes (mortgage and title), mortality and lapse experience (life insurance), and regulatory requirements for insurance and preneed/trust arrangements.