Argo has appointed Thomas A. Bradley to be its new CEO, replacing Kevin J. Rehnberg.
Bradley served as Argo’s chairman since 2020 and has been serving as interim CEO since March 2022. He becomes CEO, effective immediately. Bradley will also continue in his role as executive chairman of the board of directors.
Rehnberg, who has been out on leave for health reasons since March 2022, will no longer serve as president or CEO and will resign from the company’s board of directors, effective immediately.
Bradley said: “It is a privilege to serve as executive chairman and CEO working with a highly engaged board of directors and an outstanding group of employees across the company,” said Bradley. “We will continue to implement our strategy with a focus on shareholders, customers and employees.”
He added: “During his time at Argo, Kevin made tremendous progress in transforming the U.S. business, laying the groundwork for improvements in the International business and streamlining operations to drive efficiency. We would like to sincerely thank Kevin for his service to Argo, congratulate him on a very accomplished career, and wish him the best in the future.”
Bradley was the chief financial officer and executive vice president of Allied World Assurance Company Holdings, a global provider of insurance and reinsurance solutions, from 2012 until 2017.
Prior to that, he served as executive vice president and CFO for Fair Isaac Corporation and the St. Paul Companies. He also held senior financial and operational positions at Zurich Insurance Group, including CFO for North America and CEO of the Universal Underwriters Group (now Zurich Direct Markets). He currently serves on the board of directors of Horace Mann Educators Corporation and previously served on the board of directors of Nuveen Investments.
Bradley firms up his role as CEO two months after the firm said it was exploring ‘strategic alternatives’ including a potential sale, merger, or other strategic transaction.
The board also announced in April that it was postponing Argo’s 2022 annual general meeting of shareholders until the second half of this year. The board believed it is in the best interests of all shareholders for the company to conduct a strategic review process prior to holding the annual meeting.
That announcement came just over two weeks after AM Best revised down its assessment of the group’s balance sheet, which it said reflected a lower Best Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR) score on the back of adverse reserve development.
On February 9th, 2022, Argo pre-announced that up to $140m of net adverse prior year reserve development, as well as some non-operating charges, would be included in its fourth-quarter 2021 results.
The reserve development had a negative impact on the group’s risk-adjusted capitalisation, as measured by AM Best’s BCAR, resulting in a lower BCAR score, which no longer supports an assessment level of strongest.
In late February, Argo reported a net loss of almost $119m for the fourth quarter of 2021, as its combined ratio weakened on the back of adverse prior year reserve development and non-operating charges.
