Geico Names Bill Roberts President, COO

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway promoted Bill Roberts to president and COO of auto insurer, Geico.

Geico CEO Tony Nicely, who had additionally been president of the insurer, said in a statement that he “will continue to be very actively involved in the overall management of the company,” but Roberts will “take on a greater role in managing Geico's day-to-day operations.”

Roberts has been executive vice president of Geico since 2000 with oversight of marketing, advertising, and the Internet business unit, says Geico, the third-largest auto insurer in the U.S. He has been with Geico for nearly 30 years.

State Farm and Allstate hold the first two spots but Geico, who spent more on advertising than any other U.S. P&C insurer last year, gained market share in 2012, according to data from SNL Financial.

Berkshire Hathaway leapt over Allstate in 2012 to become the second-largest P&C insurance group based on net premiums written, according SNL.

Lists of the Top 100 insurance groups and insurance companies, based on total net premiums written, will be published in the July edition of PropertyCasualty360-National Underwriter magazine.

State Farm continues to hold the top spot.

Of the Berkshire companies contributing to the rise in the ranking are Geico, which maintained its position as the fifth-largest individual P&C insurance company while increasing NPW 4.6 percent. Meanwhile, Berkshire's National Indemnity Co. increased NPW more than 38 percent to jump four spots to No. 7 among ranked insurance companies.