State Auto Names Names New Leaders for Commercial, Personal Lines Divisions

September 5, 2017

State Auto Financial Corp. named new heads of its commercial and personal lines divisions as it continues efforts to improve its financial results.

Kim Garland is the new senior vice president, commercial lines and Jason Berkley has been named senior vice president, personal lines.

Garland replaces Jessica Clark, who left State Auto in May to become chief executive officer of GuideOne Insurance, an Iowa-based insurer whose clients include churches, educational institutions, senior living care centers and nonprofits. Garland joined State Auto in 2015 as senior vice president, standard lines, with responsibility for all personal lines business. In his new role in charge of commercial lines, he’ll still handle farm and ranch, and will remain managing director of State Auto Labs.

Before State Auto, Garland was chief product officer of AIG’s consumer division, and helped lead the restructuring of AIG’s United Guaranty mortgage guaranty unit as its COO and later CEO (The division is now owned by Arch Capital).

Berkley was most recently State Auto’s vice president of homeowners product management, a role he held since joining the insurer in 2015. Before State Auto, he was chief pricing actuary for AIG’s Global Consumer business, and chief actuary/chief risk officer at United Guaranty. He also has prior executive experience from a stint at Liberty Mutual.

State Auto recently reported 2017 second quarter net income of $8.7 million, versus a $24.6 million net loss during the 2016 second quarter. The insurer’s combined ratio was 106.2 for Q2, but it was an improvement over the 114.7 combined ratio booked over the same period the year before.

Mike LaRocco, State Auto’s chairman, president and CEO said at the time that “we’re now on a patch toward profitable growth” with the company’s turnaround “incomplete, but on track.”

State Auto is an Ohio-based super regional insurer.

Source: State Auto Financial Corp.