New Iowa Insurance Commissioner to Take Over in 2013
June 19, 2012 by Michael Buck
Best’s News Service – June 18, 2012 11:05 AM
DES MOINES, Iowa. – The next insurance commissioner of Iowa will begin working this fall within the state’s insurance division to ensure he’s ready to take over at the end of the year, according to the governor’s office.
Gov. Terry E. Branstad last week tapped Nick Gerhart to be the next insurance commissioner of Iowa. Branstad will take office when the tenure of the current director, Susan Voss, ends at the end of the year. A written statement from the governor’s office did not say why Voss was leaving and a spokesman for the insurance division could not immediately be reached.
Gerhart, 37, currently serves as vice president of compliance and regulatory affairs at Sammons Financial Group, where he has been since January 2011. Previously, he served for seven years as vice president of compliance communications and associate general counsel at American Equity Investment Life Insurance Co.
He has a bachelor of arts in history from the University of Northern Iowa and a juris doctor from the St. Louis University School of Law. He lives in Des Moines. In a written statement, Gerhart said the insurance industry in Iowa is critical to the state’s economic success and that it has become “a pillar of our Iowa economy.”
This is the first change in leadership for the Iowa Insurance Division since 2004 and only its second since 1994 (Best’s News Service, Dec. 21, 2004).
“I want to thank Susan Voss for her great service to the state of Iowa,” Branstad said in a statement. “Nick Gerhart is a bright, talented executive who understands the vital importance of this industry in our state. Nick understands the challenges within the industry as well, and is a problem-solver who will excel in this position.”
The personal lines insurance industry in Iowa has grown in the past 11 years, with direct premiums written for the top 50 companies rising by about 50% in that time to finish at $2.03 billion in 2011, according to BestLink, A.M. Best Co.’s online financial system. While direct premiums written have grown, adjusted loss ratios in personal lines have shown an upward trend in the past five years. The average ratio for the top 50 personal lines writers in 2011 was 82.22, which is about 14 points higher than in 2010 and about 26 points higher than the five-year low.
The commercial lines group has seen a similar direct premium written trend in Iowa over the past decade, but adjusted loss ratios have remained relatively flat, coming in 2011 at 55.26, according to BestLink.
(By Michael Buck, senior associate editor, BestWeek: Michael.Buck@ambest.com) BN-NJ-06-18-2012 1105 ET #
