.bodytext {float: left; } .floatimg-left-hort { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right: 10px; width:300px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 10px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} The moving van arrived in Des Moines less than a week ago and more than one month after Richard Kypta officially started his position as general counsel, senior vice president and secretary of FBL Financial Group Inc. After growing up in Baltimore and working in California, and most recently in Boston as senior vice president and chief operating officer of Aviva USA, Kypta is excited to experience a new lifestyle in Greater Des Moines.

What led you to join FBL?

One, it’s got a great reputation in the marketplace, particularly for integrity, which I think is critical in the insurance business. Second, I think the heritage of the [Iowa] Farm Bureau means a lot to the company in terms of giving it a very close connection with its customers. I think a lot of financial institutions have become very transactional focused, and this is still a company that has a very close connection with its customers. Finally, they’ve been doing some exciting things. They started the EquiTrust Life division, focused on the Baby Boomer generation. Also the fact that they took the company public, I think it’s been a very forward-looking company as well as having a solid base through Farm Bureau.

What are you most excited about in your new role?

I think the law department is already on a great footing. Steve Morain, who was the general counsel that retired, managed the department for close to 20 years and I think he has done a great job, so to me, it’s more about sustaining success as opposed to any major changes.

Was there something that led you to look at Iowa?

I wasn’t focused on any one area. I grew up in Maryland. My wife is from Ohio. We’ve lived both in California and Massachusetts, so we’ve lived in a number of areas around the country, but have had some connections with Iowa. I was with Aegon [Insurance Group] for a number of years and would make regular business trips to Cedar Rapids. Also of course Aviva purchasing the AmerUs Group [Co.] in Des Moines gave me some more information about the area. So I think it was a combination of the attractiveness of FBL as a company and the fact that Des Moines has a very high quality of lifestyle. Also it really is a center for insurance and financial companies, which is nice to be in an area where you can interact with other people in your profession.

What is your initial impression of Des Moines?

Everyone we’ve met has been very friendly and very helpful. I think people in Des Moines work just as hard as people do on the East and West coasts, but it is because of the size and layout of the community, a different pace than you would have in Boston. I think my commute has gone from about 50 minutes to 10 minutes.

Has there been one achievement that stands out in your mind?

The great thing about my career is I’ve had an opportunity to work in a lot of different areas given that I’m both a CPA and an attorney. I’ve worked in the finance area, been able to work in law departments. I had the opportunity at Aviva to manage one of the businesses, structural settlement and annuity business and the marketing and business development for that. I finished my career with Aviva as chief operating officer. So as opposed to one particular moment, it’s been a great career in terms of being able to have exposure to a lot of different areas of the business.

What do you and your wife, Ellen, like to do for fun?

We like to travel. We also enjoy culture and art museums, symphony, plays, that type of thing. Our son is in college, so we’re going to look at getting involved in community activities.

How did you make your first dollar?

My father, a CPA, was a partner in a small firm. We’re going back to the 1960s, before you had computers doing tax returns, so when I was in sixth, seventh and eighth grades, I would do tax returns for his clients and he would pay me for it. That’s probably why I became a CPA.