Old Republic International Corp. announced that J. Eric Smith joined its board of directors.
He has concurrently been appointed to the board's compensation and governance and nominating committees, as well as to the directorship of Old Republic’s major regulated insurance company subsidiaries.
Prior to his retirement, Smith served as president and CEO of Swiss Re Americas and was a member of Swiss Re’s Group Executive Committee.
Further, he was previously president of USAA Life Insurance Co. and president of Allstate Financial Services.
In making the announcement, Spencer LeRoy, chairman of the Old Republic board, noted in a release, “Our company will benefit greatly from J. Eric Smith’s insurance, reinsurance, and executive management experience and we are most grateful and pleased with his acceptance to join us.”
Including Smith, Old Republic has added seven individuals to its own and major regulated insurance company subsidiaries’ boards of directors in the last five years. In the same time frame, five directors have departed from board positions.
Old Republic said it continues to make significant progress to provide greater diversity of talents, profession, and other backgrounds to the board.