Stewart Information Services Corp. announced its board of directors has agreed with Fred Eppinger, CEO), to amend and restate his employment agreement, extending the term for another three years through the end of 2028.
“In five years as CEO, Fred has guided Stewart by developing our strategy, capabilities and team, much in a down market, resulting in more than doubling our market cap and increasing market share to over 10 percent,” Thomas Apel, chairman of the board, said in a release. “Fred has built momentum, both financially and operationally. The board is confident that Fred is the right leader for Stewart to continue delivering financial stability and shareholder value.”
Eppinger took over as CEO in September of 2019 after having served as a company director since 2016.
“In my first three years at Stewart, my goal was to focus our company’s strengths and fortify our position in the market, and I’m extremely proud of the commitment and dedication of our employees to get behind this singular goal,” he said. “Now that we are five years into our mission, not only have we fortified Stewart as an industry leader, but we have grown our share of the market. The work is not done and I’m excited about the continued opportunities ahead to innovate, expand and enhance our value proposition for our employees and customers, and to see us execute on our plans to capture 15 percent market share and 11-12 percent pretax margins.”
Leaders cited further accomplishments by Eppinger during his tenure as “leading the company through a global pandemic and driving sustained growth and momentum through one of the worst housing markets in history.”
“Even when managing through these difficult macro conditions, he has remained relentless in his pursuit of growth, scale, and pretax margin improvement,” the company stated. “Eppinger has hired best-in-class leaders, delivered on more than 30 strategic acquisitions, expanded the company’s digital and technological capabilities, built additional capacity into the system, and sought out ways to drive efficiencies through process and data management improvements. All these actions and more have enhanced the company’s market presence and its financial strength, helping to solidify Stewart’s position as a leader in the title insurance space for another 130 years.”