Csiszar Named President of PCI; Resigns as S.C. Insurance Regulator, President of NAIC

Ernst N. Csiszar

The Board of Governors of the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) has named South Carolina Director of Insurance and current president of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners Ernst N. Csiszar to serve as the association’s next president and chief executive officer, announced Anthony Dickson, PCI chairman. He will begin his new position Oct. 4.

“After a thorough search and consideration of several excellent candidates, the PCI Board felt that Ernie’s unique knowledge, gained through experience as a regulator, as an insurance company executive and in finance made him the right person to lead the new PCI,” Dickson said.

Csiszar today resigned his position as South Carolina director of insurance. He was appointed director in 1999. He also resigned his position as president of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. His term was to end in December.

“In my position as a regulator, I admired the advocacy work of both the NAII and the Alliance,” Csiszar said. “The merger has created a diverse association that represents large and small companies, stocks and mutuals and is a true cross section of the industry.”

“I believe Ernie is the right person to build on the foundation created by the merger of NAII and the Alliance. His stature within the industry and with policy makers, his reputation and his integrity, his knowledge of the industry and his unique perspective as both a regulator and an industry executive will make him an outstanding asset to the members and a leading force towards industry unity,” said retiring PCI president Jack Ramirez.

Ramirez will become president emeritus on Oct. 4, 2004, and will retire Oct. 31, after the first PCI Annual Meeting. Also retiring Oct. 31 will be Rodger Lawson, PCI executive vice president and former president of the Alliance.

Csiszar was appointed director of the South Carolina Department of Insurance in 1999 after a successful career in business and in academia. He also assumed a leadership role within the NAIC, serving as secretary-treasurer, vice president and president. Prior to his appointment as director, Csiszar served as president and chief executive officer of Seibels Bruce Group, Inc., a Columbia, S.C. insurance company, from 1995 to 1998. He was a visiting professor at the School of Business at the University of South Carolina from 1993 to 1995 and served as managing co-director of the European investment-banking firm Holborn Holdings Corporation in Geneva, Switzerland from 1979 to 1988.

Csiszar was born in Romania and has often said his early years of life behind the Iron Curtain have had a tremendous impact on him. He emigrated with his family to Ontario, Canada, where he completed high school in only two years. Csiszar received a Bachelor of Arts in both mathematics and philosophy from the University of Windsor. He received his LLB from University of Windsor School of Law.

PCI was created in January 2004 through the merger of the Alliance of American Insurers and the National Association of Independent Insurers (NAII), and represents more than 1,000 member companies that write nearly 40 percent of the nation’s property/casualty insurance.

Topics South Carolina