Florida-Based FedNat Holding Company Makes Changes to Board of Directors

The Board of Directors of FedNat Holding Company, an insurance holding company, has selected David Michelson and David Patterson as candidates to serve on the board as new, independent directors.

As soon as their appointments have satisfied insurance regulatory review, the board will immediately expand to nine members and Michelson and Patterson will become directors.

“We are pleased to welcome both candidates,” said FedNat Chairman, Bruce Simberg. “Both bring deep property and casualty insurance expertise, as well as regional market experience that will be significant contributors to the successful execution of our long-term plan.”

Michelson is a 26-year veteran of publicly traded specialty property and casualty insurer National Interstate Corporation, where he served as president and CEO from 2008 until 2016. He also served as a director of National Interstate from 2009 until 2016. During Michelson’s tenure, National Interstate delivered a record of underwriting profitability which culminated in the company being acquired by a global diversified insurance group in 2016.

Michelson is also a member of the board of directors of Protective Insurance Corporation, a publicly traded specialty property and casualty insurer focused on the commercial automobile insurance market. Prior to National Interstate, Michelson was responsible for all P&C business at Torchmark Corporation, which included a portfolio of personal property products in the Southeastern U.S.

Patterson has more than 40 years of operational and executive leadership experience in the property and casualty insurance industry. Most recently he served as president and chairman of ESIS, Inc., the risk management services subsidiary of Ace Limited (now Chubb Limited) from 2004 to 2015. Prior to joining ESIS, Patterson was the president and CEO of Kemper National Services, Inc., a claims service organization serving the property and casualty insurance operations of Kemper National, from 1994 to 2003. While at Kemper, Patterson served in a variety of regional and home office senior leadership roles in claims, systems and operations.

FedNat also announced it has entered into a cooperation agreement with its third largest shareholder, Capital Returns Management, LLC. The appointments of Michelson and Patterson were made as part of the agreement, which also provides that Capital Returns will abide by certain customary standstill and voting provisions lasting approximately one year.

Effective immediately, Michelson and Patterson have been designated as board observers while their appointments as directors receive regulatory review.

FedNat is an insurance holding company that controls substantially all aspects of the insurance underwriting, distribution and claims management processes through its subsidiaries and contractual relationships with independent agents and general agents. Through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, FedNat is authorized to underwrite and/or place homeowners multi-peril, federal flood and other lines of insurance in Florida and other states. It markets, distributes and services its own and third-party insurers’ products and other services through a network of independent and general agents.

Topics Florida Property Property Casualty Casualty