The Outlook Group has joined Precoa
We share a common belief and vision for how preneed can help all families experience a meaningful funeral service for those they love. Individually, we had each made tremendous progress sharing this message throughout the country, but together we knew we could do so much more. This merger of talents, capabilities, and people allows us to create something better together and positively impact the profession more than we could on our own.
Generally speaking, every merger is an acquisition of some kind. Precoa is technically acquiring the Outlook Group, but this is really about two companies coming together with a combined vision and mission to make a positive impact on the funeral profession. Finances did not drive this decision. It is a merger of talents, people, and capabilities to create something better together than we could on our own.
Combining Precoa’s ProActive model with the Outlook Group’s innovative marketing programs and wealth of experience throughout funeral service will exponentially increase our ability to pre-arrange all families. We are excited to see what new projects and programs come out of the collaboration of some of the most caring, passionate professionals in preneed.
The nature of our relationships with both NGL and Physicians Mutual have changed, of course, but both providers are very understanding of the reasoning and of the mutual benefit. Fundamentally, both companies support this decision as well as its underlying principle — to help more families.
Precoa’s exclusive, proprietary insurance product will continue to be backed by NGL’s 100+ years of financial strength and stability. Our longstanding relationship with the Madison, Wisc.-based mutual company enters its seventh year this spring.
Outlook Group’s exclusive relationship with Physicians Mutual Insurance Company will transfer fully to Precoa, which becomes the sole marketing partner for Physicians Mutual’s preneed insurance division. In business for more than 110 years, Omaha, Neb-based Physicians Mutual has been funding preneed insurance policies since 2012.
We have spent the last few years shoring up our processes and making improvements across the board. We believe we’ve never been in a better position for an opportunity like this. We’ve added two satellite Funeral Planning Centers and solidified other areas in our home office operations.
Additionally, Outlook Group’s entire field management team has joined Precoa and will continue to oversee their existing accounts, now with additional support from Precoa personnel. We are committed to providing the same exemplary service to both our current partners and Outlook Group accounts that they’ve come to expect.
Following the launch, Tyler will transition into a leadership position at Precoa as a Vice President of Business Development. In this position, Tyler will help lead a team responsible for creating new funeral home relationships and managing industry relationships. He will be in the forefront sharing Precoa’s vision for preneed and our profession.
Yes. Outlook Group’s founder (and Tyler Anderson’s father), Charles Anderson, still owns and operates three funeral homes, a crematory, and a Life Celebration Center. Tyler’s sister, is also a licensed funeral director working as an Advance Funeral Planner in their family firms.
The majority of support functions in the Franklin office will eventually move to the Precoa’s headquarters in Portland. However, there are several key support functions in Franklin that will continue for some time to maintain a smooth transition for all current Outlook Group clients and Advance Funeral Planners.
We believe that everyone deserves to experience meaningful funeral service for those they love. Preneed gives us the best platform to champion the benefits of service. Sharing the importance of ceremony and connection while the person is living so that they make decisions that will benefit the loved ones they’ll leave behind.
We strive to offer the highest quality preneed in America. This means that our services are not limited to the sale of policies. While the strength and stability of our insurance product is essential to our offerings, preneed beyond the policy includes the service, education, and healing each family experiences.
PORTLAND, Ore. – Precoa (the Preneed Company of America) and The Outlook Group have announced a landmark agreement, coming together to better share the healing power of funeral service with more families nationwide. Precoa’s acquisition of The Outlook Group will unite two of the nation’s leading preneed companies under one name. Both were among the three recently named Preferred Providers for preneed by Selected Independent Funeral Homes.
“We have an opportunity to take what Outlook Group has done really well, what Precoa has done really well, and create something better than the individual parts,” Outlook Group CEO & President Tyler Anderson said. “In the long run, this is going to provide greater opportunity for the people within Outlook Group and Precoa, greater resources for our advanced planners, greater service to our funeral homes, and a better experience for the families they serve.”
Anderson said cultural synergy was a key factor in his decision to bring the thriving companies together.
“What I found in meeting the people of Precoa was a company culture that leads with love, values kindness, values craftsmanship, and is always progressing,” he said. “Outlook Group is proud to be joining Precoa. Ultimately, we are all one family. We are a Precoa family.”
Precoa President Michael Hornibrook said as he learned more about Outlook Group and its leadership, it became clear how their family history of at-need service benefitted their preneed work.
“The first thing that caught my attention was their focus on the families,” Hornibrook said. “They really cared about making sure the family understood the importance of funeral service. That was their priority. They weren’t driven by a commission. They had a higher purpose.”
Precoa’s formal acquisition of The Outlook Group will be finalized in the late spring of 2017. The Franklin, Ohio-based company will continue to serve its 108 funeral home partners, as well as agents and families with the additional support of Precoa’s Portland, Ore. headquarters and integrated ProActive Preneed® system.
Precoa’s exclusive, proprietary insurance product will continue to be backed by NGL’s 100+ years of financial strength and stability. The longstanding relationship with the Madison, Wisc.-based mutual company enters its seventh year this spring.
Meanwhile, Outlook Group’s exclusive relationship with Physicians Mutual Insurance Company will transfer fully to Precoa, which becomes the sole marketing partner for Physician Mutual’s preneed insurance division. In business for more than 110 years, Omaha, Neb.-based Physicians Mutual has been funding preneed insurance policies since 2012.
“Looking to the future, the question is how are we going to impact more families and the preneed profession as a whole,” Hornibrook said. “For us, it goes beyond more preneed policies. It’s about those families we serve and the way we do it. It’s educating them about why funeral service is so important.”
503.244.7755
1.877.244.0999 (toll-free)
503.244.7585 (fax)
13221 SW 68th Parkway, #100
Portland, OR 97223 (map)