Penn National Insurance Announces Executive Leadership Successions

Penn National Insurance President and CEO Christine Sears will transition on January 1 to CEO, and Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Robert B. Brandon will become president on that date.

Sears also announced that she plans to retire on August 31 from the company. Upon Sears’ August 31 retirement, Brandon will become president and CEO, and Sears will remain on the company’s board of directors.

Sears joined Penn National Insurance in 1980 as a financial analyst and progressed through the Financial Division, becoming senior vice president and chief financial officer in 1999. Subsequent promotions included becoming a member of the company’s board of directors in 2002, becoming executive vice president and chief financial officer in 2007, becoming executive vice president and chief operating officer in 2010 and becoming president and CEO in 2014.

Brandon joined Penn National Insurance in 1995 as a property underwriting line of business manager and progressed through the Commercial Lines Division, becoming vice president of Commercial Lines in 2002. Subsequent promotions included becoming vice president of Underwriting Operations in 2005, becoming senior vice president of Underwriting Operations in 2010 and becoming executive vice president and chief operating officer in 2014.

Also effective January 1, John Foster, vice president of Underwriting Operations, has been named senior vice president of Insurance Operations.

Foster joined Penn National Insurance in 2006 as vice president of Personal Lines. He was named vice president of Underwriting Operations in 2015. Before joining Penn National Insurance, Foster was assistant vice president of Personal Lines at Grange Mutual Insurance.

Additional prior experience included senior product management, underwriting and pricing with GEICO Direct, and district management responsibilities for Erie Insurance Group.

Source: Penn National Insurance

Topics Underwriting Leadership