Utah-based Security National Financial Corporation released their 2024 financial results earlier this week and CEO, President, and Chairman of the Board of the company Scott Quist made the following prepared remarks in the company’s press release on the subject:

“2024 marked another year of solid progress for our Company. Our Life Insurance Segment had its best operational year ever, delivering a 25% improvement over 2023 which was its previous best year ever.”

 

“2024 was our Cemetery and Mortuary Segment’s best year ever improving 5% over 2023 which was its previous best year ever. “

 

“It is instructive to note that our Utah based Cemetery and Mortuary group has received the “Best in State” award for the last 7 consecutive years, a very significant recognition of the quality services we provide.”

 

“Our Mortgage Segment delivered a solid performance, decreasing its loss by over $11 million dollars (64%) while increasing its revenue by over 8%. The mortgage industry as a whole continues to be profit challenged”

 

You can access the company’s press release on their 2024 financials here.

• For the year 2024 company revenues increased by 5.0% over 2023.  The company took in revenues of $334.5 million in 2024 as compared to $318.5 million in 2023.

• Earnings before Taxes for the company increased 109% for the same comparable period.  Earnings before Taxes in 2024 totaled $34.1 million in 2024 as compared to $16.3 million for 2023.

• The Cemetery/Mortuary division increased their revenue 3.4% to $33.0 million on the year as compared to $31.9 million for 2023.  Earnings before taxes for the Cemetery/Mortuary division increased by 4.9% to $8.86 million for 2024.

• Security National Financial Corporation has a presence in the Death Care business world operating funeral homes, cemeteries, preneed insurance, and insurance assignment businesses.  They operate outside the Death Care business world via their Mortgage segment.

Disclaimer–The author of this article for Funeral Director Daily is a shareholder of Security National Financial Corporation.

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“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”

There has been a lot written about the stock markets in the two weeks of the Presidency of Donald Trump.  So much seems to depend on what the item of the day with President Trump is and that item seems to move markets one way or another.

I’m an amateur investor and I pay attention to what is happening in the markets. I’m also a long-term investor and pick companies to invest in that I have researched and believe that their stock value (company value) will be worth more ten years from today than the company is worth today.

I’ve said before in this column that I’ve bought and held stocks for a long-term and have been rewarded for my patience in companies gaining  value over that time.  I have a certain group of stocks that I hold as my “Long-Term” or “Forever” stocks because I believe that the companies will gain value over time.

One such company is Service Corporation International. Regardless of what you think of SCI, the company has rewarded long-term shareholders with stock appreciation that has averaged 21.71% growth (not including dividends) over the past ten years according to Seeking Alpha data.

And, when I look at some of my other forever stock hold cornerstone companies such as Berkshire Hathaway, McDonalds, and Mastercard, I am reminded that, in relation to those companies, my investment in SCI has been every bit as rewarding as most of them.

However, when I checked on Wednesday, another stock I hold in the Death Care business and a part of the Death Care Index (DCI), Security National Financial Corporation (SNFCA), has provided an even better return over the past ten years than SCI.  I find that extremely interesting because SNFCA is no where near as well-known as SCI.  It is a company that seems to have a lot less public profile in the industry/profession than SCI, but seems to get the results just the same.

As you can see from the chart below, SNFCA has returned, according to Seeking Alpha, an annual return of 25.02% to its shareholders for the 10-year period ended February 4, 2025.

Ten-Year and Annual Average Stock appreciation growth of the DCI.  Exclusive of any dividends that may be paid.

Interestingly, Security National Financial is entering its 60th year of business in 2025.  Their website, which you can access here, tells that story.

The Security National Financial Corporation business model rests on three distinct legs — Security National Life Insurance Company which serves the Death Care profession through preneed and its C&J Financial unit which deals in assignment funding,  Memorial Mortuaries and Cemeteries which serves the consumer public with Death Care services, and Security National Mortgage Company which is a full-service lender offering in-house underwriting.

The company, which started out in a rented home in 1965, continues to be based in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Disclaimer — The author of this article for Funeral Director Daily is a shareholder of Service Corporation International, Security National Financial Corporation, and Carriage Services.

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“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”

Last week Funeral Director Daily published this article titled “Know your customer — How’s their credit”.  That article delved into the American consumer credit profiles and why, before extending credit, you needed to know the consumer you are dealing with. . . and how difficult that is in today’s market.

The article also looked into a hypothetical situation of what might happen if a family chooses $10,000 worth of services and then can only come up with about $2,000 in cash and or credit card credit to pay for those services.  It was mentioned that that would be a difficult discussion if it was taking place at the arrangement table prior to signing the statement of goods and services.

I mentioned that there are times when credit has to be extended and that situation might be one of them.  However, prior to that time you would have had to build a strong operating funeral home so you have the ability to extend this credit, without damaging your ability to pay your bills.

So, it is only natural that you do what you can to turn the services you conduct into cash as soon as possible so you have that strong base which allows you to pay suppliers and take the discounts, pay off your loans without penalties, and handle all payables on a current basis.

Most funeral homes look to their efforts in the preneed business as a guarantee of future business.  However, I also came to recognize preneed funding as, not only a market share guarantee in the future, but a great way to improve cash-flow along the way.  When we serviced preneed accounts at death many times we had the check for services on the way prior to us conducting the funeral service and in a business where cash is king that always let us build our cash which in turn allowed us to take maximum discounts and build greater profits.

Last week, however, I was also reminded of how fast that insurance assignements can get cash to your funeral home and work in the same way in strengthening your cash position.  And, many times insurance assignment funding, when accessed, has other intangibles that can make the cash even better than in a preneed account.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

A lot of funeral homes don’t use insurance assignment funding for funerals because they think the process of getting the money is cumbersome.  In today’s internet and cell phone world nothing could be farther from the truth.  Insurance assignment funding is a great way to get cash. . . as with preneed accounts, into your bank account many times before the service is even conducted.

Here’s what a lot of funeral home owners don’t understand about insurance assignment funding according to our friends at C&J Financial:

• About 6 in 10 families have insurance available to them
• Only about 16% access this insurance for “Funeral Payments”
• Families that do access their available life insurance for funeral costs spend 31% more on the death care services

So, if you want to get your cash quicker and at the same time allow families to know that they have more available for the funeral expenses, how about having one of the first questions at the arrangement conference be asking the family if you can help them access their life insurance proceeds as quick as possible?

The people at C&J will help with all the processing and in most cases can pay the funeral costs within 24 hours of verification of the policies. . . Quite simply, they will handle everything for you and get that cash to your funeral home very quick.

Some cynics might say that the financial issues should be left to the family, but I would argue that helping to unlock available funding to pay for the funeral services may be very welcome by the family and should be considered a “Service” you can provide to your families in need.

If you don’t have the arrow of “insurance assignments” in your quiver of tools to help families coping with loss, maybe it is time to look into it.  You can learn more about insurance funding here.

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“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”