Longtime Travelers Cos. CEO Jay S. Fishman Dies -- Update
August 19 2016 - 8:34PM
Dow Jones News
By Josh Beckerman And Leslie Scism
Jay S. Fishman, the executive chairman of Travelers Cos. who
steered the insurance company for more than a decade as its chief
executive, has died at age 63.
Mr. Fishman had been battling a progressing neuromuscular
condition, and Travelers said in August of last year that he would
step down as chief executive on Dec. 1, handing the job to Alan D.
Schnitzer. At the time, Mr. Fishman told company employees that he
was likely dealing with a variant of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis,
or ALS, which is often called Lou Gehrig's disease. He was then
also using a cane or scooter to get around.
Mr. Schnitzer said on Friday that Mr. Fishman "led Travelers to
unprecedented success by every measure. Though he would be too
humble to admit it, Jay was an icon among corporate leaders."
Travelers named its lead director John Dasburg as nonexecutive
chairman.
Mr. Fishman was the CEO of St. Paul Cos., which merged with
Travelers Property Casualty Corp. in 2004, and became the CEO of
the combined company. He added the chairmanship about a year
later.
Travelers under Mr. Fishman was consistently one of the most
profitable of the big property-casualty insurance companies,
routinely posting enviable profit margins.
Travelers said in July that its second-quarter operating
earnings fell 19%, hurt by claims from catastrophes including the
Fort McMurray wildfires in Alberta, Canada. But the company posted
record quarterly net written premiums, a closely watched measure of
revenue growth.
Wall Street analysts considered Mr. Fishman one of the
industry's best managers, with his underwriters well-trained to
price policies to turn a profit and not to succumb to rate
cutting.
Under Mr. Fishman's watch, Travelers became the only
property-casualty insurer in the Dow Jones Industrial Average,
being added to the index in 2009.
The company, which is seen as a bellwether for the rest of the
industry, sells car and home insurance to individuals, as well as
various types of property and liability insurance to businesses,
mostly in the U.S.
Travelers bought Dominion of Canada General Insurance Co. from
E-L Financial Corp. for about $1.1 billion in 2013. Shortly after
ACE Ltd. agreed to by Chubb Corp. for about $28.3 billion last
year, amid talk of more consolidation, Mr. Fishman said Travelers
evaluated deal opportunities "all the time." He said Travelers had
considered Chubb but believed "the return just didn't measure
up."
Mr. Fishman held positions at Citigroup Inc. entities, including
the business then called Travelers Insurance Group Inc., before he
joined St. Paul in 2001. Travelers spun off from Citigroup in
2002.
In 2007, St. Paul Traveler Cos. changed its name to Travelers
and reached a deal to buy the iconic red umbrella logo from
Citigroup.
Mr. Fishman was chairman of New York City Ballet and was active
in the Travelers Championship golf tournament. Mr. Fishman and his
wife, Randy Fishman, contributed millions of dollars to ALS
research, including an effort launched in 2015 by Johns Hopkins
University, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and Massachusetts General
Hospital.
In a statement Friday, Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy praised
Mr. Fishman's "extraordinary philanthropy."
Write to Josh Beckerman at josh.beckerman@wsj.com and Leslie
Scism at leslie.scism@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 19, 2016 20:19 ET (00:19 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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