Florida-based primary insurer FedNat Holding Company has revealed that its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Michael Braun, has resigned from his position, effective July 24th.
Board member David Patterson has been named as interim CEO while the company seeks to find a permanent replacement.
Braun’s resignation follows a challenging period for FedNat, as heavy catastrophe losses through Q1 and a ratings downgrade by Demotech cast doubts over whether the company could continue.
The insurer sought to transfer and cancel large numbers of policies ahead of an anticipated reinsurance squeeze at the mid-year renewal period, during which time Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Ronald Jordan also decided to step down.
Patterson, who has agreed to lead the company on an interim basis, first joined the FedNat Board in 2019 and brings more than 40 years of operational and executive leadership experience in the property and casualty insurance industry.
Most recently he was Chairman and President of ESIS, the risk management services subsidiary of Ace Limited (now Chubb Limited), which he joined in 2004 and for which he served as President and Chairman from 2005 to 2015.
Prior to joining ESIS, Patterson was the President and CEO of Kemper National Services, a claims service organization serving the property and casualty insurance operations of Kemper National, from 1994 to 2003.
While at Kemper, he served in a variety of regional and home office senior leadership roles in claims, systems and operations.
FedNat disclosed that Patterson will recieve a monthly fee of $50,000 for his service, while Braun will be sent off with $1.2 million, consisting of one lump sum of $800,000 and six monthly payments thereafter, together totally the remaining $400,000.
The company recently inked a deal with SureChoice Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange (SURE), a carrier partner of insurtech company SageSure, to assume more than 14,000 South Carolina homeowners policies from FedNat Insurance Company.
And this followed the completion of a £15m investment in Monarch as the Florida Office of Insurance regulation authorised the assumption of 78,000 policies between the two firms.
Pending approval of Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation, David Lockhart has been named as President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Monarch, which is owned 60% by a group of investors managed by Hale Partnership Capital Management LLC and 40% by FedNat.
Lockhart brings more than 15 years of insurance experience, having most recently served as Chief Financial Officer and Director of Security First Insurance, a Florida-domiciled personal lines carrier.
