Endurance Names A CEO And President To Succeed LeStrange

The appointments are effective March 1. Mr. LeStrange will remain as chairman of Endurance until March 2, 2011, the company said, and both new officers will be nominated for election to Endurance's board of directors in May of 2010.

William Bolinder, the company's lead director and chairman of the board's nominating and corporate governance committee, said in a statement that Mr. LeStrange has done an outstanding job during his tenure, as evidenced by the company's 2009 results.

The company reported Wednesday that net income for the past year was $536 million compared with $98.6 million for 2008. Fourth-quarter net income for 2009 was $154.8 million compared with $16.9 million for the period in 2008.

"David Cash and Bill Jewett are the ideal individuals for their new roles, having proven themselves with consistent performance over the past several years," said Mr. Bolinder.

He noted that Mr. LeStrange decided that "with Endurance in great shape and with a solid foundation, this was the right time for him to begin to evolve his role, and the board determined to implement the company's existing succession plan."

As part of the transition, he said, the board also determined to separate the roles of CEO and chairman. Mr. Jewett will report to Mr. Cash.

Mr. Cash has been with Endurance since its founding as chief actuary/chief risk officer, president of Endurance's Bermuda operating company, and most recently, as the company's chief underwriting officer, the company said.

He previously worked for various Zurich Financial Services subsidiaries and prior to that served as a consulting actuary at Tillinghast-Towers Perrin. He is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries.

Mr. Jewett joined Endurance in December 2002. He has served as president and CEO of Worldwide Reinsurance and as president of the company's U.S. reinsurance subsidiary, Endurance Reinsurance Corporation of America.

He previously was affiliated with Converium Reinsurance (North America), Centre Reinsurance Company of New York, NAC Re and Prudential Re.

In the eight years since Mr. LeStrange raised the capital to form Endurance, Mr. Cash said, "our company has grown into a leading specialty insurance and reinsurance company with global operations, industry-leading returns and a terrific team of employees and managers."

Mr. Jewett said, "The opportunity to help grow Endurance into a world-class reinsurance company over the past seven years has been tremendously rewarding. I am excited about Endurance's prospects in the coming years and the opportunity to work with David and my many colleagues at Endurance to make even greater contributions to our future success."

Mr. LeStrange said, "It has been a privilege to work with the many talented and dedicated employees at Endurance to build from scratch one of the premier insurers and reinsurers in the industry."

"Having worked closely with this team, I have complete confidence in their ability to carry Endurance forward and I look forward to their leadership as we continue to build upon Endurance's achievements and strive to be the best specialty insurance/reinsurance company in the world," he concluded.