Protective Insurance Corporation (formerly Baldwin & Lyons, Inc.) has appointed Jay Nichols as Chairman of the Board and Interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO) following the resignation of the company’s CEO, President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) W. Randall Birchfield.
Nichols served as CEO of global property and casualty (P&C) reinsurer AXIS Re from 2012 to 2017, and has been a member of Protective’s Board of Directors since May 2017, most recently as Chairman of the Audit Committee.
Prior to his tenure at AXIS Re, Nichols served as President of RenaissanceRe Ventures Ltd., where he was responsible for the business development and management of joint ventures and venture capital businesses.
He has also held various leadership positions with Munich Re’s Hartford Steam Boiler, Monarch Capital, and accounting firm Matson, Driscoll, and D’Amico.
Protective specified that Birchfield’s resignation is not related to management issues or to the performance of the company, and said that its Board of Directors is now conducting a search process to identify a permanent replacement.
“Jay has a proven track record in the insurance industry and a broad range of skills that are a perfect match for our current needs,” said Stuart Bilton, Lead Director at Protective Insurance Corporation.
“We are pleased that Jay has accepted the Interim CEO role and are highly confident that he and our existing management team will provide consistent leadership to Protective Insurance moving forward,” Bilton added.
Protective’s Board has also decided to form a sub-committee consisting of key stakeholders that will explore opportunities for maximising long-term shareholder value, which may include the evaluation of potential partnerships or transactions.
