Harleysville CEO: We'll Return To 'Leadership Position'
NU Online News Service, Feb. 13, 11:53 a.m. EST? Harleysville Group Inc. has appointed Michael Browne, an insurance attorney and former Pennsylvania insurance commissioner, as its new chief executive officer and also named William Scranton as non-executive chairman of the board for the Harleysville companies.[@@]
In his new role, Mr. Browne will serve as the chief executive for Harleysville Group Inc. as well as for Harleysville Mutual, which owns more than half of Harleysville Group. The firm is based in Harleysville, Pa.
Mr. Browne replaces Walter Bateman, who resigned from the chief executive and president post of the company in October 2003 after a string of lackluster quarters and earnings downgrades.
Mr. Browne has been serving as Harleysville's non-executive chairman since last October when the company announced Mr. Bateman's departure.
Mr. Browne said his company has made "some organizational changes in recent months" and noted that "one of my first tasks will be to work with our senior management team to ensure that we are properly focused on our priority areas."
"I look forward to guiding the company back to the historic levels of outstanding performance that our employees, investors, agents and policyholders have come to expect," Mr. Browne said. "I see in Harleysville and its people the desire and capabilities to return Harleysville to an industry leadership position and to put the recent issues behind us."
Prior to his appointment as Harleysville's new chief, Mr. Browne was head of the international insurance practice group at the Philadelphia-based law firm Reed Smith, LLP, a position he had held since 2001. Mr. Browne joined Reed Smith as a partner in 1983. Mr. Browne also served as insurance commissioner of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania from 1980 to 1983.
Harleysville's new non-executive chairman William Scranton currently oversees Scranton Family Office, a Scranton, Pa.-based investment management firm. Mr. Scranton served as Pennsylvania lieutenant governor from 1979 to 1987.
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