Integro Names Jack Byrne Chairman to Succeed Clements

John (Jack) Byrne, an Insurance Hall of Fame honoree, was elected chairman of the board of Integro, the insurance broker said.

Byrne, who joined the board in 2005, succeeds Robert Clements, Integro’s co-founder and chairman who passed away Sept. 4 (BestWire, Sept. 10, 2010).

John Clements, also a member of the Integro board since the firm’s founding, and the son of Robert Clements, was elected vice chairman.

Byrne's storied insurance career includes leading Fireman’s Fund and its former parent company, White Mountains Insurance Group, as well as Geico, Integro said in a statement.

Byrne joined Travelers Insurance Co. early in his career and steadily advanced to leadership positions. In 1976 he took the helm of Geico, which was then on the brink of insolvency. He is credited with turning it into one of the most profitable property/casualty companies of the era. Geico was subsequently sold to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway.

Byrne led Fireman’s Fund, also a struggling company, through a turnaround which included a successful initial public offering--the largest IPO ever at that time. Fireman’s Fund was sold to Allianz of Germany in 1990.

Following the rescues of both Geico and Fireman's Fund, Byrne crafted White Mountains, the renamed Fireman's Fund holding company, into a successful acquirer and manager of troubled/unwanted insurance companies. Major activities included the IPO of Financial Security Assurance in 1994, the purchase of Folksamerica Re in 1996, the rescue of Esurance in 2000, the purchase and turnaround of CGU/OneBeacon in 2001, the purchase of Sirius International in 2004 and the founding and IPO of new companies including Mid-Ocean Re and Montpelier Re, according to the Insurance Hall of Fame.

John Clements is the managing partner of Tara Partners Ltd., a private investment partnership that was a co-founder of Integro Ltd. and Ironshore Inc. From 1995 until 2005, he was a principal of MMC Capital, Inc. (now Stone Point Capital LLC), a global private equity firm.

Clements has served as a director and represented the founding investors in various start-up insurance companies, including Advisen Ltd., Altus Ltd. (now part of Arch), American Strategic Insurance, Global Specialty Risk Inc. (now part of AIG), Ironshore and James River Group Inc. He was also involved in the creation of Axis Capital Holdings.

(By Meg Green, senior associate editor, BestWeek: Meg.Green@ambest.com)