Following a six-year tenure as Citizens Property Insurance Corporation’s chief financial officer, Sharon Binnun has accepted a position in the private sector and will resign her post effective July 5.
Citizens President and CEO Barry Gilway announced Binnun’s upcoming departure Monday. In a memo to staff, Gilway spoke of Binnun’s leadership following the devastating 2004/2005 hurricane seasons that tested the Florida insurance market and put increased demands on Citizens.
Binnun, a former insurance regulator who became Citizens CFO in 2007, is taking a job with a Florida-based insurer that has not done depopulation business with Citizens, the state-created insurer of last resort. Citizens did not name the insurer that Binnun would be joining but said the private company is expected to announce the move soon.
Citizens stated that during her tenure, Binnun spearheaded efforts to spread Citizens risk and protect Florida taxpayers by negotiating agreements with traditional reinsurers and capital markets to better spread Citizens risk among private market investors.
“Sharon’s well-earned reputation within the international financial world as an ethical, knowledgeable and honest representative has been instrumental in helping to establish Citizens as a global leader in risk transfer,” Gilway said. “There truly can be no doubt that no one has made a more significant or beneficial contribution to Citizens or the Florida insurance market.”
Citizens said that among Binnun’s most recent achievements are depopulation efforts that have resulted in more than 430,000 policies being assumed by private carriers over the past two years. The depopulation efforts, combined with the successful risk transfer, have resulted in a 47 percent decrease in potential assessments on Citizens customers and all Florida policyholders in the event of a catastrophic storm, according to Citizens’ statement.
Source: Citizens Property Insurance Corporation