Senior Managing Director; President & CEO, Balboa Insurance Group
Robert James oversees business activities for the Balboa Insurance Group, insurers who provide property and casualty and life insurance; Balboa Reinsurance Company, which provides reinsurance coverage to primary mortgage insurance companies that insure payment of mortgage loans; Countrywide Insurance Services, Inc., an independent insurance agency that provides consumers with homeowners and various other insurance products; and DirectNet, Inc., a full service third-party insurance agency.
Prior to joining Balboa, James served as executive vice president of U.S. Insurance Operations for CNA Insurance Companies, responsible for field operations and worldwide processing and billing operations. With 25 years of underwriting, operations, sales, marketing and technology experience, James also held management and sales positions with AllState Insurance, MetLife Auto & Home, Allmerica Financial and American International Group.
Managing Director; Chief Marketing Officer, Balboa Insurance Group
Craig Carson oversees sales initiatives, business and product development, and marketing for Balboa Insurance Group.
Carson has more than 20 years of senior-level experience. Prior to joining Balboa, he served an 11-year tenure with Assurant, where he oversaw the organization’s national sales efforts and ran the mortgage, consumer finance and utility business units. Before joining Assurant, Carson directed the sales and marketing efforts at BFGoodrich, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company and Hi-Line Aviation. Carson holds a bachelor of science degree from Ohio State University.
Managing Director; President, Personal Lines, Balboa Insurance Group
Ron Closser serves as President of Personal Lines, including all profit and loss responsibility, as well as product management of homeowners and renters lines of business.
Previously Closser was senior vice president and chief casualty underwriting officer of Commercial Lines at CNA in Chicago. Prior to joining CNA, he was president and owner of a consulting firm and retail insurance agency in Florida, and held executive positions at ING. He began his insurance career with Fireman’s Fund in 1979, and held numerous underwriting, management, and corporate officer positions.
Closser graduated from Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan with a liberal arts degree and spent several years teaching prior to joining the insurance industry.
Managing Director; General Counsel, Balboa Insurance Group
Frank Dunn serves as the General Counsel and corporate secretary for Balboa Insurance Group. He is responsible for overseeing the legal, corporate governance, central compliance and regulatory affairs areas of the division for both underwriting and agency operations. He also is a member of the board of directors of each of the insurance companies that make up Balboa Insurance Group.
Dunn joined Balboa Insurance Group in 2001 as a first vice president and was the attorney responsible for overseeing all business to business transactions. In 2002, he was elected senior vice president and assistant general counsel and assistant secretary for the Insurance Division where he oversaw the legal services provided to the insurance companies. Dunn was promoted to general counsel for the Insurance Division in 2005 and elected as a member of the board of the insurance entities in 2006.
Prior to joining Countrywide, Dunn was a partner in the Los Angeles officer of Lord, Bissell & Brook, LLP, where he worked principally on corporate and insurance related transactional and regulatory matters. Dunn has more than 18 years of experience working on insurance industry issues.
Dunn received a Bachelor of Science degree in finance and business administration from the University of Southern California where he graduated with honors. He received his Juris Doctorate degree from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. Dunn is a member of the California Bar Association and has served on numerous insurance industry advisory committees.
Managing Director; Chief Operating Officer, Balboa Insurance Group
Myron Hendry joined the company in 2006 and oversees central operations for Balboa Insurance Group, which includes claims, finance, risk management and technology.
Hendry has 30 years of experience in the insurance industry. Before joining Balboa Insurance Group, he served as Senior Vice President of Service for Safeco Insurance Company and was responsible for all service centers, process improvement, and customer retention. Prior to that, Myron spent over 25 years with CNA Insurance where he was the Senior Vice President of Worldwide Operations; he led all domestic and international service, accounting, premium audit, and sales center operations both onshore and offshore.
Hendry holds a Bachelor of Science degree in management from the University of Central Florida.
Managing Director; Commercial Lines, Balboa Insurance Group
David Kuhn joined Balboa Insurance Group in May, 2004, as EVP, Agency and Business Insurance Operations. Kuhn was named Managing Director of Commercial Lines in March, 2006, assuming responsibility in June, 2007, for profit and loss associated with Balboa products offered to builders, as well as the auto channel and renters product.
Kuhn is responsible for oversight and leadership of Balboa’s Commercial Lines, the organization’s full-service insurance agency that offers commercial lines surety and employee benefits insurance products to small, medium and large-sized businesses. He serves as the senior executive manager of all sales and operations of the business unit. Kuhn also directs initiatives to offer insurance products to business clients through relationships with leading commercial lines and employee benefit carriers. As leader for profit and loss of the builders, auto channel and renters program, Kuhn oversees all aspects of Balboa Insurance offerings, inclusive of leading the dedicated sales and servicing teams to collaborate with other functional areas for product creation and maintenance, pricing, underwriting and customer service.
Prior to joining Balboa Insurance Group, Kuhn served as regional president for the St. Paul Companies, where he was responsible for operations in the Western Region for the property and casualty insurer. Earlier in his career Kuhn oversaw the Western Region operations of Hartford Specialty. He has also held executive management positions at Travelers and Aetna in his more than 20 years of insurance industry experience.
Kuhn holds a Bachelor of Science from Le Moyne College and has CPCU and ARM professional designations.
President & Chief Operating Officer; Financial Institutions, Balboa Insurance Group
Mark McElroy leads all efforts and activities of the Financial Institutions division, including product management, tracking operations, customer care, compliance and finance. The division is comprised of Balboa’s lender-placed mortgage and auto programs, as well as a range of voluntary insurance-related products sold through financial institutions, including life, mortgage protection, homeowners, renters, and home warranty.
McElroy joined Balboa Insurance Group in 2001. Prior to joining Balboa, McElroy served in various management positions within Countrywide, Balboa’s parent organization. McElroy joined the Countrywide organization in 1994.
McElroy has an undergraduate degree in business administration and economics from the University of Nebraska and an MBA in financial management from National University.
Managing Director; Financial Institutions, Balboa Insurance Group
Kenneth Mertzel is responsible for accounting, financial reporting, and planning and analysis functions. Mertzel joined Countrywide in 2002, previously serving as President of Countrywide Insurance Services.
Mertzel has more than 15 years of diversified experience in business transformation, financial modeling and strategic planning within the Consulting and Financial Services industries. Ken held the position of Associate Partner in the Insurance practice at Accenture, one of the world’s leading management consulting and technology services organizations, where he served as lead consultant on multi-million dollar performance improvement programs for financial services clients. He is also a veteran of Progressive Insurance where he held the position of financial controller for a $40 million collateral protection insurance business.
Mertzel holds an MBA in Finance from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and bachelor’s degrees in Biology and Economics from Stanford University.
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