Selective Announces Planned Transition Of Non-Executive Chairperson Gregory E. Murphy

Rhea-AI Summary

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ: SIGI) announced that Gregory E. Murphy will not seek re-election as Non-Executive Chairperson at the 2022 Annual Meeting. Murphy, who joined the company in 1980 and served as CEO until 2020, played a pivotal role in increasing market capitalization by over 6.5 times and tripling net premiums. The board has nominated John J. Marchioni, current President and CEO, to succeed him. The company recently received an upgraded 'A+' rating from AM Best, reflecting its strong financial position.

Positive

• Increased market capitalization by over 6.5 times during Murphy's tenure.
• Tripled net premiums written under Murphy's leadership.
• Recent AM Best rating upgrade to 'A+' indicates strong financial health.

Negative

• None.

BRANCHVILLE, N.J., Dec. 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: SIGI) announced that Gregory E. Murphy, the Company's Non-Executive Chairperson, will not stand for re-election at the 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. Mr. Murphy, who joined Selective in 1980, served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer from 2000 to 2020, before assuming the Executive Chairman role in February 2020.  He became Non-Executive Chairperson in February 2021, and he has been a director since 1997. 

"As both CEO and Board Chairperson, Greg Murphy has overseen a period of tremendous value creation for our stockholders and led Selective's growth into a premier independent agency property and casualty insurance carrier.  In his 20 years as CEO, he increased our market capitalization by more than 6.5 times, tripled net premiums written, and expanded our operations into multiple new states and excess and surplus lines.  He has successfully prepared Selective for the future, as demonstrated by our successful leadership transition," said J. Brian Thebault, Selective's Lead Independent Director. 

Mr. Murphy added, "I am extremely pleased with – and proud of – Selective's current financial and market position, as evidenced by AM Best's recent rating upgrade to 'A+' (Superior). John Marchioni and his team have demonstrated their ability to grow our operations and develop strategies that continue to drive Selective's success. After a 42-year career at Selective, I have decided the time is right to leave Selective and pursue other focused interests." 

In connection with today's announcement, the Selective Board of Directors announced its intention to maintain the Lead Independent Director position and nominate John J. Marchioni, the Company's President and Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board, as Chairperson following the 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.  Mr. Marchioni became President and Chief Executive Officer in February 2020.  He was President and Chief Operating Officer from 2013 to 2020, and elected to Selective's Board of Directors in May 2019. 

About Selective Insurance Group, Inc.
Selective Insurance Group, Inc. is a holding company for 10 property and casualty insurance companies rated "A+" (Superior) by AM Best. Through independent agents, the insurance companies offer standard and specialty insurance for commercial and personal risks and flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program's Write Your Own Program. Selective's unique position as both a leading insurance group and an employer of choice is recognized in a wide variety of awards and honors, including listing in the Fortune 1000 and being named one of "America's Best Mid-Size Employers" by Forbes Magazine. For more information about Selective, visit www.Selective.com. 

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this report, including information incorporated by reference, are "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 ("PSLRA"). The PSLRA provides a safe harbor under the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 for forward-looking statements.

These statements relate to our intentions, beliefs, projections, estimations, or forecasts of future events or our future financial performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our or our industry's actual results, levels of activity, or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by use of words such as "may," "will," "could," "would," "should," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "target," "project," "intend," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential," "pro forma," "seek," "likely," or "continue" or other comparable terminology. These statements are only predictions, and we can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. We undertake no obligation, other than as may be required under the federal securities laws, to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements for any reason.

Factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from what we project, forecast, or estimate in forward-looking statements, include without limitation:

• Related to COVID-19: ◦
• Governmental directives to contain or delay the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic have disrupted ordinary business commerce and impacted financial markets. These governmental actions, the extent, duration, and possible alteration based on future COVID-19-related developments that we cannot predict, could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, net investment income, financial position, and liquidity. 
• The amount of premium we record may be reduced and our underwriting results may be adversely impacted by (i) voluntary premium credits on in-force commercial and personal automobile policies, (ii) state insurance commissioner or other regulatory directives to implement premium-based credit in lines other than commercial and personal automobile, and we may be required to return more premium than warranted by our filed rating plans and actual loss experience, (iii) the effects of our voluntary efforts or the directives from various state insurance regulators to extend individualized payment flexibility and suspend policy cancellations, late payment notices, and late or reinstatement fees, (iv) return premiums that could be significant because our general liability and workers compensation policies provide for premium audit of revenues and payrolls, and (v) collectability of premiums, which may be impacted by policyholder financial distress and insolvency. 
• Our loss and loss expenses may increase, our related reserves may not be adequate, and our financial condition and liquidity may be materially impacted if litigation or changes in statutory or common law (i) require payment of COVID-19-related business interruption losses despite contrary terms, conditions, and exclusions in our policies or (ii) presume that COVID-19 is a work-related illness compensable under workers compensation policies for employees who contract the virus, regardless of whether they worked in industries defined as essential in various COVID-19-related governmental directives or interacted with the public as part of their job duties. 
• Our net investment income may be impacted by the significant equity and debt financial market volatility resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and the related governmental orders because (i) financial market volatility is reflected in our alternative investments' performance, (ii) increased spreads on fixed income securities may create mark-to-market investment valuation losses that reduce unrealized capital gains and impact GAAP equity, and (iii) net realized losses may increase if we intend to sell more securities, particularly in asset classes that are more significantly impacted by COVID-19-related governmental directives and to which the Federal Reserve Board is providing liquidity and structural support. 
• To varying degrees, the effect, lifting, or lapsing of COVID-19-related governmental directives in 2021 have disrupted supply chains and caused shortages of products, services, and labor. These shortages may impact our ability to attract and retain labor, including increasing attrition rates, wages, and the cost and difficulty of obtaining third-party non-U.S.-based resources.
• Difficult conditions in global capital markets and the economy, including the risk of prolonged higher inflation, could increase loss costs and negatively impact investment portfolios;
• Deterioration in the public debt and equity markets and private investment marketplace that could lead to investment losses and interest rate fluctuations; 
• Ratings downgrades on individual securities we own could affect investment values and, therefore, statutory surplus; 
• The adequacy of our loss reserves and loss expense reserves; 
• Frequency and severity of natural and man-made catastrophic events, including without limitation hurricanes, tornadoes, windstorms, earthquakes, hail, terrorism, including cyber-attacks, explosions, severe winter weather, floods, and fires; 
• Adverse market, governmental, regulatory, legal, or judicial conditions or actions; 
• The geographic concentration of our business in the eastern portion of the United States; 
• The cost, terms and conditions, and availability of reinsurance; 
• Our ability to collect on reinsurance and the solvency of our reinsurers; 
• The impact of changes in U.S. trade policies and imposition of tariffs on imports that may lead to higher than anticipated inflationary trends for our loss and loss expenses; 
• Uncertainties related to insurance premium rate increases and business retention; 
• Changes in insurance regulations that impact our ability to write and/or cease writing insurance policies in one or more states; 
• The effects of data privacy or cyber security laws and regulations on our operations; 
• Major defect or failure in our internal controls or information technology and application systems that result in harm to our brand in the marketplace, increased senior executive focus on crisis and reputational management issues and/or increased expenses, particularly if we experience a significant privacy breach;
• Recent federal financial regulatory reform provisions that could pose certain risks to our operations; 
• Our ability to maintain favorable ratings from rating agencies, including AM Best, Standard & Poor's, Moody's, and Fitch; 
• Our entry into new markets and businesses; and
• Other risks and uncertainties we identify in filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, our Annual Report on Form 10-K and other periodic reports.

These risk factors may not be exhaustive. We operate in a continually changing business environment, and new risk factors that we cannot predict or assess may emerge from time-to-time.

Selective's SEC filings can be accessed through the Investors page of Selective's website, www.Selective.com, or through the SEC's EDGAR Database at www.sec.gov
(Selective EDGAR CIK No. 0000230557).

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SOURCE Selective Insurance Group, Inc.

FAQ

What changes are happening in Selective Insurance Group's leadership?

Gregory E. Murphy will not stand for re-election as Non-Executive Chairperson at the 2022 Annual Meeting.

Who is the new Chairperson of Selective Insurance Group after Murphy?

John J. Marchioni, the current President and CEO, is nominated to be the new Chairperson.

What was Gregory E. Murphy's impact on Selective Insurance Group?

Murphy increased market capitalization by over 6.5 times and tripled net premiums written during his tenure.

What recent rating upgrade did Selective Insurance Group receive?

Selective received an 'A+' rating upgrade from AM Best, indicating superior financial stability.