J.G. Wentworth was founded in 1991 as a merchant bank specializing in transactions in the healthcare industry. In 1992, the company began to purchase New Jersey auto insurance deferrals from claimants who could not afford to wait twelve to eighteen months for their settlements. Prior to 1999 there was no regulation for structured settlements in the state of New York. Eliot Spitzer entered into a contract with J.G. Wentworth to help protect New Yorkers from selling their settlements at exorbitant rates. The agreement stipulated that J.G. Wentworth could receive a rate of no more than twenty-five percent of the annual discount rate of annuities it had purchased from citizens of the state of New York. At the time, a JGW executive told the New York Times that the firm sought the agreement because of the rate at which its business had grown. In May 2009, following the financial crisis, J.G. Wentworth's parent company, JGW Holdco LLC, entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company cited "liquidity problems amid a tightening credit market" as the catalyst for filing. In June 2009, JGW Holdco LLC received one hundred million dollars in equity from primary stakeholder JLL Partners, which allowed the company and its subsidiaries to emerge from bankruptcy. In 2011, J.G. Wentworth and Peachtree Financial Solutions, which also purchased structured settlement, annuity, and lottery payments, formed a new holding company, JGWPT Holdings LLC. The two companies continued to operate independently after the transition. In October 2013, the firm filed for an initial public offering, which was offered the subsequent month. The company was initially listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol JGWE. In 2015, J.G. Wentworth expanded their financial offerings with the purchase of WestStar Mortgage for forty-four million dollars in common shares and cash. In the same year, the company announced a partnership with Visa to offer a prepaid card to customers. In June 2016, J.G. Wentworth was delisted from the NYSE for failing to satisfy the continued listing rule. Later that month, the company began trading on the OTC Markets Group under the symbol JGWE. On November 8, 2017, J.G. Wentworth filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time in nine years. JGWE stock plummeted as much as eighty-seven percent on 10 November 2017. The company was expected to emerge from bankruptcy in or around January 2018 after coming to an agreement with lenders prior to filing.
Commercials and awards
The company is best known for its American daytime television commercials featuring the character of "Mr. Wentworth". More recent series feature Wagnerian opera singers. Taglines include "It's my money and I need it now!" and "It's your money; use it when you need it!" JGW has won several domestic and international awards for its television advertising, including a silver Davey award. The "Wagnerian Opera" commercial won two International Summit Awards for Best Humor and Best TV between US$75k and US$100k. In 2019, JG Wentworth is pleased to report that it was named in the category of IES Premier Sales Employer by The Institute for Excellence in Sales.
J.G. Wentworth brands and subsidiaries
J.G. Wentworth owns and operates under a number of brands. The main two brands owned by J.G. Wentworth are J.G. Wentworth and Peachtree. Additional brands and subsidiaries include:
