Knights of Columbus Climbs 29 Spots on Fortune's List of Top Companies

The Knights of Columbus has moved up 29 places in Fortune’s® annual ranking of America’s 1000 largest companies this year according to the recently released Fortune® list.

Fortune’s® 2011 list ranks the Knights of Columbus – a fraternal benefit society – at 900 in total revenues. It ranked 929 last year.

The organization also rose 21 spots on the list of most profitable companies, moving to 725 this year, up from 746 in 2010 on Fortune’s® list.

Last month, the Knights surpassed $80 billion of life insurance in force – twice the amount of insurance in force slightly more than a decade ago, when CEO Carl Anderson took the helm. The organization also has more than $17 billion in assets under management.

“There is no more highly rated North American insurer than the Knights of Columbus. We have every confidence in our continued success because we have a fundamentally solid business model, which continues to serve us well,” said Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson. “Despite the difficult economic conditions in the United States, the Knights of Columbus has maintained its strength, has enjoyed record years of growth, and has improved its standing relative to the insurance industry as a whole. We foresee similar success going forward.”

The Knights of Columbus has enjoyed record growth during the last several years – despite the weakness of the overall economy – and is one of only five life insurers that holds the top rating from both A.M. Best (A++) and Standard and Poor’s (AAA).

The Knights of Columbus was established in 1882 as a fraternal benefit society, with one of its primary aims to enable members to protect their families with life insurance. Today, the K of C has more than 1.8 million members in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Central America, the Caribbean, Philippines and Poland.

One of the most active charitable groups in the United States, Knights of Columbus members last year set records by providing nearly 69 million hours of charitable service and more than $151 million in donations to charitable causes. Cumulative figures show that, during the past decade, the K of C has donated more than $1.36 billion to charity, and provided nearly 640 million hours of volunteer service in support of charitable initiatives.