Both Chubb and Horace Mann Educators Corp. disclosed the deaths of long-time, well-regarded executives.
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John Cox, the founding chairman and first employee of ACE Ltd., died recently at age 84.
ACE launched in 1985 and acquired The Chubb Corp. in 2016 in a deal worth nearly $30 billion, with the combined company keeping the Chubb name.
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n the mid-1980s, Mr. Cox was among a handful of pioneers who helped create a new insurance company to respond to an availability crisis in the U.S. insurance marketplace for excess liability and directors and officers insurance coverage. The founding sponsors of ACE were 34 blue-chip companies from a broad range of industries. Cox played a critical role in forming this consortium, Chubb said in a statement announcing his death.
“What [Cox] put in motion more than 30 years ago in helping to found, lead and shape ACE in its formative years is a noteworthy legacy, and we honor his vision and achievements,” Chubb Chairman and CEO Evan Greenberg said in prepared remarks.
Cox began his career in the insurance industry in 1959 as an accounting clerk at American International Group. He later joined the Insurance Company of North America, becoming president and, in 1981, senior executive vice president and chief operating officer of the insurer’s parent company, INA Corporation. When INA merged with the Connecticut General Life Insurance Company to form Cigna, Cox was executive vice president for its P&C insurance operations. He left Cigna in 1983 and served for a time as deputy chairman and chief executive officer of Associated Madison Companies, a financial services group owned by the American Can Company. He retired from ACE in 1990.
The Insurance Company of North America, founded in 1792 and the oldest stock insurance company in the United States, played a central role in the corporate history of Chubb. INA’s global P&C business, then a part of Cigna, was acquired by ACE in 1999. The transformational deal provided ACE with a global network, including the U.S., upon which to build.
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Horace Mann Educators Corp., the largest national multiline insurance company focused on educators’ financial needs, has lost its chief financial officer following a brief hospitalization.
Dwayne Hallman was executive vice president and CEO. The announcement of his death on Feb. 4 follows a Jan. 30 disclosure that Hallman was on medical leave “following a severe medical incident.” At that time, Bret Conklin was named acting CFO.
Marita Zuraitis, president and CEO of Horace Mann, said she would miss Hallman, a man of “good humor, thoughtful leadership” and the ability to connect with employees.
Hallman “was a loving husband and father as well as a friend and mentor to many,” Zuraitis said in prepared remarks. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Lee, their daughter and the entire Hallman family.”
Hallman, who had more than 30 years of insurance industry experience, joined Horace Mann in January 2003 as senior vice president, Finance, and became executive vice president and CFO in October 2010.
Sources: Chubb, Horace Mann Educators Corp.