CNA Announces New Appointments to Commercial Insurance Team

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Today, CNA Financial Corporation (NYSE: CNA) announced two important leadership additions to its Commercial Insurance management team. Pat O’Connor will join the global business insurer as senior vice president of its Mono-line Property unit, with oversight of the Equipment Breakdown operations. John Beckman, former chief risk officer, will move into the role of chief underwriting officer, responsible for underwriting oversight and governance for all products and lines of business written within Commercial.

“These organizational changes will further weave together our dedicated business units and line of business management,” said Bob Lindemann, president and chief operating officer, CNA Commercial Insurance. “Both Pat and John have proven leadership skills and track records of success; and will play key roles in our continued building of one integrated, focused enterprise.”

O’Connor joins CNA from Liberty Mutual where he served as chief underwriting officer for its Large Property operation, a $500 million business unit. His career spans 30 years and includes deep underwriting leadership experience, including roles at Liberty and Wausau in both home office and field positions. He will be located in CNA’s home office in Chicago.

Beckman rejoined CNA in 2008 as chief risk officer, building a highly capable Enterprise Risk Management organization and driving significant improvement to its disciplined business practices. He will be succeeded by Mark Verheyen. Prior to joining CNA, Beckman served as president of ReAdvisory, an operation responsible for consulting services, including enterprise risk management, for specialty reinsurance broker, Carvill. Prior to this, he served in various leadership positions at CNA Re.

Serving businesses and professionals since 1897, CNA is the country’s seventh largest commercial insurance writer and the 13^th largest property and casualty company. CNA’s insurance products include standard commercial lines, specialty lines, surety, marine and other property and casualty coverages. CNA's services include risk management, information services, underwriting, risk control and claims administration. For more information, please visit CNA at www.cna.com. CNA is a registered trademark of CNA Financial Corporation.