. for other uses see allstate disambiguation . allstate corporation type public traded as nyse all s & p 500 component industry insurance founded april 17 1931 ; 85 years ago 1931 04 17 1 headquarters northfield township illinois u.s. key people thomas j. wilson chairman president and ceo products auto home life motorcycle renters boat landlord condo off road vehicle business insurance retirement and investment products and banking services . revenue us 35.239 billion 2014 2 operating income us 2.367 billion 2014 2 net income us 2.746 billion 2014 2 total assets us 110.3 billion 2015 3 total equity us 22.304 billion 2014 2 number of employees 40 200 may 2015 4 parent sears 1931 1993 subsidiaries encompass insurance company esurance allstate india website www.allstate.com an allstate agent in moncton new brunswick canada the allstate corporation is the second largest personal lines insurer in the united states behind state farm and the largest that is publicly held . the company also has personal lines insurance operations in canada . allstate was founded in 1931 as part of sears roebuck and co. and was spun off in 1993 . 5 the company has had its headquarters in northfield township illinois near northbrook since 1967 . 6 7 its current advertising campaign in use since 2004 asks are you in good hands the corporate spokesperson is dennis haysbert . contents 1 history 2 corporate leadership 2.1 ceos 2.2 current leadership 3 advertising 3.1 good hands 3.2 allstate s stand 3.3 mayhem 3.4 social media 4 organization 5 sponsorship 5.1 allstate arena 5.2 college football 5.3 sugar bowl 5.4 allstate wrigleyville classic 5.5 allstate afca good works team 5.6 soccer 5.7 nascar 6 awards and recognition 7 products available 7.1 insurance products 7.2 wealth transfer 7.3 financial products 8 environmental record 8.1 environmental initiative results 9 criticism 9.1 auto insurance claims 9.2 homeowners claims 9.3 catastrophe exposure management 9.4 from good hands to boxing gloves 9.5 use of colossus 10 see also 11 references 12 external links history edit in 1925 sears held a national contest to decide the name of a new brand of car tires . after over two million name submissions allstate was chosen as the winner ; the trademark was adopted the very next year . the tires success in both the catalog and retail stores prompted sears chairman general robert e. wood to praise the allstate tire s contribution to sears retail store success . 1 the idea for allstate insurance company came during a bridge game on a commuter train in 1930 when insurance broker carl l. odell proposed to wood his neighbor the idea of selling auto insurance by direct mail . the idea appealed to wood and he passed the proposal to the sears board of directors which approved it . allstate insurance company named after sears tire brand went into business on april 17 1931 offering auto insurance by direct mail and through the sears catalog . 8 this was in line with one of the objectives of a company to sell automobile insurance in the same manner as sears sold its merchandise . 9 lessing j. rosenwald was allstate s first board chairman and odell was named vice president and secretary . 10 in 1933 at the century of progress world s fair in chicago allstate s richard e. roskam sold insurance at a booth in the sears pavilion . in 1934 allstate opened its first permanent sales office in a chicago sears store . 11 in 1941 only about a quarter of u.s. drivers had auto liability insurance . this led to the state of new york passing a law which established the financial responsibility of drivers for damage or injuries resulting from auto mishaps . that law inspired legislation in other states and by the mid 1950s nearly every state had some sort of financial responsibility law on its books . 8 in 1949 the allstate headquarters building was completed at 3245 w. arthington street in chicago . 12 the mid rise building is currently vacant as of 2013 and in danger of demolition . the building is noted for its early post war mid rise construction . this location was vacated at some point when the company relocated in the post war years . the company s you re in good hands with allstate slogan was created in 1950 by allstate s general sales manager davis w. ellis . at the end of the decade it was used in the company s first network television advertising campaign which featured actor ed reimers . 10 allstate added products throughout the 1950s including fire insurance in 1954 and homeowners and life insurance in 1957 . allstate began selling insurance to canadians in 1953 . allstate insurance company of canada was incorporated in 1964 . 8 in 1952 and 1953 sears also sold an automobile called allstate . in 1967 the company s home office was moved from skokie to northbrook illinois . allstate continued to sell additional types of insurance to customers throughout the decade including worker s compensation insurance in 1964 surety bonds in 1966 inland marine coverage in 1967 and a business package policy in 1969 . 10 the brand itself expanded in the 1950s and 1960s and could be found on a variety of products like fire extinguishers and motor scooters . in 1952 an allstate car was produced but it was a flop ; it was pulled from stores by 1953 . the allstate brand was eventually limited to insurance tires and car batteries by the late 1960s before becoming insurance only in the mid 1970s . 1 in 1991 the company went public 5 before becoming completely independent in 1995 . 1 in 1984 neighborhood office agent program was introduced to make agents more accessible to customers in 1985 allstate began to move agents out of sears stores and locate agents in neighborhood offices . in june 1993 19.8 percent of allstate became public through a stock offering . allstate became completely independent in june 1995 when sears spun off the remaining 80 percent stake in the company distributing 350.5 million shares of allstate stock to its stockholders . 8 in 1993 allstate went public when sears sells 19.8 % of the company . at the time it was the largest ipo to date . in 1996 their website www.allstate.com was launched . in 1999 allstate unveiled a new business model that created a single contract for exclusive independent agents selling allstate insurance . it also created a network of call centers . in 1999 allstate purchased the personal lines division of cna financial 13 and subsequently renamed it to encompass insurance company which is written by independent insurance agents as opposed to the direct writing that constitutes the core part of its business . 14 in 2003 actor dennis haysbert became allstate s spokesman using the tagline that s allstate s stand . 15 in 2010 the actor dean winters became a part of allstate s campaign mayhem personifying the pitfalls like collisions and storm damage that can befall drivers . in 2012 allstate solutions private limited also called allstate india was inaugurated in bangalore which is a technology and operations centre to provides software development and business process outsourcing services to its us parent . 16 allstate s bangalore operation is focused on the areas of business intelligence analytics testing and mobility . corporate leadership edit 17 ceos edit since going public in 1993 thomas j. wilson 2007 present edward liddy 1999 2006 jerry d. choate 1995 1999 wayne e. hedien 1993 1994 current leadership edit thomas j wilson chairman ceo the allstate corporation matthew winter president the allstate corporation and ceo allstate life insurance don civgin president emerging business thomas clarkson president allstate west territory allstate personal lines mary jane fortin president allstate life and retirement sanjay gupta executive vp marketing innovation and corporate relations suren gupta executive vp allstate technology & strategic ventures harriet harty executive vp human resources guy hill executive vp product integration & management susan lees executive vp general counsel secretary katherine mabe executive vp allstate brand distribution david prendergast president allstate east territory glenn shapiro executive vp claims steven e. shebik executive vp cfo interim chief investment officer steven p. soreson executive vp product operations advertising edit good hands edit allstate s slogan you re in good hands was created in the 1950s by allstate insurance company s sales executive davis w. ellis based on a similar phrase he used to reassure his wife about a doctor caring for their child . it has been the slogan ever since 1950 . in the 1960s and 1970s tv print and radio advertising featured allstate s spokesman ed reimers . reimers was often shown making the cupped hand gesture . for 22 years he remained the spokesman . 18 a study in 2000 by northwestern university s medill graduate department of integrated marketing communications found that the allstate slogan you re in good hands ranked as the most recognizable in america . 19 allstate s stand edit beginning in 2003 as policy growth slowed allstate s television commercials used spokesman dennis haysbert . the ads were intended to carry the message that allstate s service was superior to that from low cost providers geico and progressive . 20 mayhem edit beginning in 2010 allstate used dean winters as mayhem mean to personify the hazards drivers face . the ads conclude with haysbert asking are you in good hands 21 social media edit in january 2011 allstate released the lines 22 a multi episode tv drama web series starring actors teresa cesario kyle sandgate blix jackson schultz bridgette pechman chase maser and corey doyle cast as high school seniors . the series filmed in the style of a television drama depicts the cast in common situations facing teens with respect to driving texting while driving in particular . the series appears aimed at promoting interest and support in favor of responsible teen driving and road safety in general . the lines spans a total of 8 episodes each 6 8 minutes in length . allstate and other large corporations are attracted to the rapid growth of social media for use in their advertising campaigns . organization edit allstate corporation owns and operates 18 companies around the united states canada and india . 23 based in san francisco california esurance inc. based in northbrook illinois allstate fire and casualty insurance company allstate insurance company allstate indemnity company allstate life insurance company allstate property and casualty insurance company encompass insurance company based in bridgewater new jersey allstate new jersey insurance company allstate new jersey property and casualty insurance company based in hauppauge new york allstate life insurance company of new york based in st. petersburg florida castle key insurance company castle key indemnity company based in irving texas allstate county mutual insurance company allstate texas lloyd s based in jacksonville florida american heritage life insurance company based in markham ontario allstate insurance company of canada based in bangalore india allstate solutions private limited based in pune india allstate solutions private limited sponsorship edit allstate arena edit main article allstate arena allstate holds naming rights to the allstate arena in rosemont illinois near the company s headquarters . college football edit allstate sponsors branded field goal nets at over 67 colleges and universities . for each field goal and extra point kicked allstate donates into collegiate general scholarship funds . to date those donations exceed 2.9 million . allstate also sponsors branded nets during field goals and extra points at over 20 college bowl games including the allstate sugar bowl and the bcs national championship game . additionally allstate is a partner of the southeastern conference and its 20 sports including football . 24 sugar bowl edit since 2007 allstate has been the title sponsor of the sugar bowl one of the four games that make up the bowl championship series . the game