Mission and history
Our history is what made us the industry leaders we are today. A lot has happened since we were created in 1983, and through the years our basic mission has remained constant.
We are passionate about…
Helping employers maintain
safe work environments
Restoring injured workers
to health and productivity
Avoiding unnecessary costs
Providing the very best
in customer service
Our mission
Inspiring safer workplaces by protecting workers from harm and helping the injured recover.
Our vision
To be the workers’ compensation partner of choice for agents, employers and workers through unrivaled service, expertise and commitment to workplace safety.
How we got our start
We began as a member-owned mutual company established by the State of Minnesota and quickly grew to an industry leader in Minnesota, and eventually the Midwest and beyond.
It started with rising costs and unpredictability in the 1970s and 1980s that caused insurers to get out of the Minnesota workers’ compensation market. In 1983, pressure from businesses and insurance agents resulted in Minnesota passing legislation that created a member-owned mutual state fund that would compete with other insurers in the market.
The State of Minnesota appropriated us $5.7 million in start-up capital that we were to repay with eight percent interest as soon as we became profitable. We paid it off in 1997, 16 years early.
SFM, then Minnesota State Workers’ Compensation Mutual Insurance Company, wrote its first policy on April 1, 1984. We have grown and changed a lot since then, but we’ve kept our emphasis on medical management, return to work, service excellence and innovation.
More about SFM’s mission and history
Quick rise to the top
- We started with 12 policies in 1984 and issued 537 policies for $4.1 million by the end of our first year in business
- Five years later we’d grown to 5,064 policyholders and $49.7 million in premium
- By 1991, we became Minnesota’s largest workers’ compensation insurer, serving nearly 5,500 employers
SFM today
With the expansion into states outside of Minnesota, today we are the leading workers’ compensation insurer in the Midwest, insuring more than 35,000 policyholders and retaining 93% of our customers year after year.
Our operations include:
- SFM Risk Solutions, a subsidiary that provides claims administration to self-insured employers
- CompRehab Inc., a subsidiary that helps return injured employees to work and provides rehabilitation services
- Schmidt, Scharfenberg & Hollick (SSH), an in-house law firm that represents SFM policyholders in litigation
- Superior Point, a subsidiary that is a servicing carrier for the Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Assigned Risk Plan.
Helping families affected by work injuries
Contributing to worthy nonprofits is a core value for SFM. In 2008, we started the SFM Foundation, a nonprofit that awards higher education scholarships to students whose parents were killed or seriously injured at work. Since its inception, the SFM Foundation has awarded $5.25 million in scholarship funds.
Related videos
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History of SFM
Duration: 3:41 -
Protecting workers from harm
Duration: 0:30 -
Helping keep employees safe, for everyone who depends on them
Duration: 1:30 -
Your trusted partner in workers’ comp coverage
Duration: 0:30 -
Partnering with SFM Mutual Insurance Company
Duration: 5:49 -
The SFM Difference webinar
Duration: 51:12
