Securian Financial halts insurance marketing to NRA members

Securian Financial Group has joined a growing list of businesses that have ended promotions with the National Rifle Association.

"After thoughtful review, we have decided to discontinue marketing our insurance products as a National Rifle Association benefit," the company said in a statement. "We have asked the NRA to remove our information from their website."

The move was first reported by Minnesota Public Radio.

The St. Paul-based company is a provider of insurance, investment and retirement planning products. Securian last week reported strong financial results for 2017, with full-year profit up 28 percent and sales up 5 percent.

In January, it announced an expansion to its products that are sold through affinity groups and associations like the NRA. Those products included term life, accidental death, cancer, hospital indemnity and travel accident insurance.

Specific terms of its relationship with the NRA, as with other such groups, are confidential, a company spokesman said.

A few dozen companies around the country have ended or scaled back promotions for members of the NRA after the Feb. 14 shooting that killed 17 at a Parkland, Fla., high school.

The trade group has long touted such promotions as a benefit to members. But last week, the First National Bank of Omaha said it would stop issuing an NRA-branded Visa card. Other businesses, including rental car companies and major airlines like United and Delta, followed.

The NRA continues to offer other types of insurance programs, including firearms insurance, to its members. The NRA doesn't precisely disclose how many members it has, but group executives have said it is around 5 million.

Evan Ramstad • 612-673-4241