Allstate says thanks but no thanks to TARP funds

The Allstate Corp. of Northbrook, Ill., today declined the Department of the Treasury’s approval to participate in TARP. On Thursday, the carrier was among the six insurance companies granted the preliminary nod from the Treasury Department to partake in the Capital Purchase Program, a component of the Trouble Asset Relief Program. Allstate then reviewed its participation in the program and turned away from the help. “We applaud the administration’s decision to include insurers in the U.S. Treasury’s programs,” Thomas J. Wilson, chairman and chief executive of Allstate, said in a statement. “Given Allstate’s strong capital and liquidity positions, however, we will not participate in this program.” The carrier had $12.2 billion in equity and $23.1 billion in cash and liquid assets in its investment portfolio at the end of the first quarter — the result of steps the Allstate took to manage its capital, Mr. Wilson said in the statement. Allstate is the second company out of the six carriers approved by TARP to refuse the government’s help. Ameriprise Financial Inc. of Minneapolis turned up its nose at the Treasury Department’s offer last Friday.