Calif. State Fund Appoints Chief Risk Officer, Chief Financial Officer

California’s State Compensation Insurance Fund as announced that Ken Van Laar was selected as the new chief risk officer, and Daniel J. Sevilla Jr., who has served in an interim role since October 2010, has been confirmed as chief financial officer.

Van Laar will oversee underwriting, actuary, and risk management functions, as well as State Fund’s risk committee. He joins State Fund from CompWest Insurance Co., where he was a senior vice president and chief underwriting officer. He began his insurance-industry career in 1983 at Transamerica Insurance Group, and then moved on to Industrial Indemnity in 1988, where he was the chief pricing actuary until 1994. He was Liberty Mutual’s first regional actuary between 1994 and 1999, and later became vice president and chief actuary of Liberty Mutual’s Middle Market.

He is a fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) and a member of the American Academy of Actuaries. He also has held committee positions at the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California (WCIRB) and the California Workers’ Compensation Institute (CWCI).

Sevilla is a highly accomplished senior finance executive, with expertise in strategic and financial planning, business and financial analysis, and management reporting.

His experience includes serving as vice president of Financial and Operational Planning and Analysis at AAA of Northern California, Nevada, Utah, and California State Automobile Association Inter-Insurance Bureau from 2007-2010. He served Fireman’s Fund Insurance Group in several key roles, including vice president in the Commercial Insurance Division from 1994-2001, vice president of Finance in Commercial Business from 2001-2002. He was promoted to senior vice president of Financial Services in 2002, and in 2005 was appointed senior vice president of Operations.

As CFO, Sevilla is responsible for directing State Fund’s overall financial policies, including financial forecasting, accounting, budgeting, and tax reporting.

Both executive officers’ compensation packages include an annual salary of $288,000, annual bonus eligibility equivalent to 15 percent of salary, a monthly recruitment and retention payment of $1,200, and California state civil service benefits.

Topics California