In addition to underwriting fire insurance, the association served as mediator between its member engine and hose companies to resolve the problems of the past.

One lasting symbol of the company adopted at the outset was the fire mark featuring a fireplug with a coiling hose and the initials F.A.

After having approached and having been rejected by many other financiers, such as Laurence Tisch, Carter Berlind presented the idea of selling Reliance to Saul Phillip Steinberg.

[7] Steinberg was born August 1939 in Brooklyn, New York City, and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania in 1959.

Fifteen years later Steinberg would make another legendary run at another fabled American institution, The Walt Disney Co.

[8] In the early 1970s, under the direction of Steinberg, Reliance and its corporate parent Leasco underwent significant changes in structure and operation.

In 1981, Steinberg, still chairman of the board and chief executive officer, acquired all outstanding shares of Reliance Group, Inc.

All the while, however, Reliance's growth strategy continued, expanding into ever more diversified insurance markets, including surety and reinsurance.

The company reported in its 1998 annual financial statement, filed in March 1999, a $1.7 billion statutory surplus, its largest in history, and a profit for that year of $585 million.

[12] Another factor causing the sudden downfall was a complicated reinsurance pool of workers compensation policies, dubbed Unicover, that was a very costly failure.

In its eagerness to expand and grow, policies were written too cheaply; excessive dividends were paid to stockholders (largely the Steinbergs themselves); and the company was mismanaged.

The actions were precedent-setting in nature[13] and resulted in a better understanding of what had contributed to Reliance's problems, as well as approximately $100 million in settlements to offset the company's liabilities.

The order of liquidation triggered the established statutory provisions of various state insurance guaranty funds, who took over the handling of many of the claims against the company's policies.

Claims payments made by a guaranty association are assessed against insurers licensed to do business in the state, who will ultimately pass along the cost to their policyholders.

"[citation needed] The company engaged in relatively little advertising directed at the general public, since most of its business was placed through independent insurance agents and brokers.

[citation needed] As a consequence the company was not as widely known as some other insurers of comparable size who undertook more mass marketing.

One Reliance ad, however, that ran in trade publications in the 1970s, was so outright sexist by today's standards as to be humorous in retrospect.

This full-page ad,[citation needed] aimed at insurance agents, featured the catch phrase, "Have we got a girl for you!"

The ad then directs the reader to various parts of the woman's anatomy and asserts how it will aid the agent in handling claims.