prev

next
Executive Perspective
February 13, 2008

To Our Shareholders:

Property casualty insurance is your company's main business. Our distinctive approaches to underwriting and investing have made it a consistently profitable business for Cincinnati Financial Corporation and produced steadily increasing dividends for you, our shareholders.

We are one of more than 2,000 U.S. stock and mutual insurer groups that offer individuals and businesses various types of property and casualty coverages. That number makes for a truly competitive marketplace. Competition has been intensifying due to cyclical pressure in our industry, leaving every insurer scrambling for ways to grow in a lower-pricing environment. Broader financial and economic trends also suggest that nearterm opportunities may shrink for companies in our industry.

We see the challenges. Yet we believe the operating philosophy your company has in place will continue to be effective now, as in the past. That philosophy determines and directs the responses and initiatives that help us stand out in any environment or any part of an economic or industry cycle.

Notice Card

Notice Card

Notice cards mailed by March 24 tell how to easily obtain the Proxy Statement and vote online, by phone or through the mail. In early April, a second Notice mailing includes a proxy card to simplify voting by mail.

Through The Cincinnati Insurance Company and its local independent agent representatives, your company has become one of the 25 largest, based on premium volume, among the 2,000 insurer groups. We have successfully responded to our customers' needs, and we have worked to earn their business. By identifying and deepening the strategic commitments that allowed us to achieve that rank, we can find opportunities to grow and prosper in any environment.

You'll read more about the philosophy behind those commitments in the following pages. In summary, that philosophy leads us to differentiate ourselves by helping agents and policyholders experience relationships based on knowledge and trust - not mere transactions.

The same principle applies to shareholder relationships. We're pleased with new regulations that allow us to post online rather than mail thousands of bulky paper documents, including the full Annual Report on Form 10-K. However, our pleasure goes beyond the potential to reduce costs and environmental impacts. The real benefit is that we can reallocate some effort and savings to mailing several smaller, more digestible messages to you in 2008, giving you an easier way to gain insight into your company and consider how we can prosper together in the future.

Respectfully,

/S/ John J. Schiff, Jr.

John J. Schiff, Jr., CPCU
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
/S/ James E. Benoski

James E. Benoski
Vice Chairman, President, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Insurance Officer



This report contains forward-looking statements that involve potential risks and uncertainties. For factors that could cause results to differ materially from those discussed, please see the most recent edition of our safe harbor statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. To view or print the edition in effect as of this report's initial publication date, please view this document as a printable PDF.