Our Company

Aetna Insurance Company organized an annuity fund to sell life insurance in 1850. In 1853, the Annuity department separates from Aetna Insurance and is incorporated as Aetna Life Insurance Company. The company's first president is Eliphalet A. Bulkeley. The "Aetna" name is retained to take advantage of the good reputation of the original Aetna. The name was inspired by an 11,000-foot volcano on the eastern shores of Sicily, Mt. Etna, which was the most active volcano in Europe. Aetna begins offering participating life insurance policies, which paid dividends to policyholders just as the mutuals did, but gave Aetna the ability to better compete in the marketplace. Aetna launches its new product with an aggressive promotional effort, which included higher commission rates for agents. This shift in strategy caught the industry by surprise. With the outbreak of the Civil War, many companies were thinking of retrenching, not expansion. But the devastation of the battlefields combined with a prosperous wartime economy sparked a surge in life insurance purchases.