N.C. Mutual Life president to retire

Sept. 29--DURHAM -- James H. Speed Jr., who has served as president and CEO of N.C. Mutual Life Insurance for the past 12 years, will retire at the end of this year.

The 116-year-old company will appoint its senior vice president and CFO Michael Lawrence as the new CEO.

Speed made the announcement in a town hall meeting with employees Monday, and he will continue to serve as an advisor and board member after his retirement, effective Dec. 31.

In a statement announcing the retirement, N.C. Mutual chairman Elliott Hall credits Speed with pulling the company through the Great Recession by reducing costs and bringing innovative ideas to the company.

"The increased diversity of our product offerings coincided with shifts in the insurance and financial services sectors and kept us relevant," Hall said. "(Speed) fostered a customer service culture that has allowed the company not only to survive but to move forward successfully. His efforts have kept the African American insurance industry at the forefront of initiatives that emphasize literacy and responsible banking."

Speed joined N.C. Mutual in 2002 as senior vice president and CFO, and assumed his role as president and CEO just one year later.

In 2012 and 2013, Speed altered N.C. Mutual's business model with the "Vision 2015" strategy.

The company posted a net loss of $2.36 million in 2013, but returned to profitability in 2014 and has posted a profit in four of the past five years.

Under the plan, the company launched North Carolina Mutual Insurance Agency, an independent brokerage with several product offerings, and it acquired North Carolina Mutual Financial, a funeral funding subsidiary of the company located in Alabama.

In 2013, the insurance company invested in new technology infrastructure and implemented a freeze on pension benefit payouts.

At N.C. Mutual's latest annual policyholders meeting, Speed said the company is continuing to offer and develop new products, such as property casualty insurance and a web-based "instant-issue" sales platform where customers can purchase plans online with electronic underwriting.

"When we go into a household today...we can find something to sell to somebody in that household," he said. "In this changing time, if we're not relevant we will go away; we have to make sure we're doing those things that will make it easy for you to be a policyholder with North Carolina Mutual."

Lawrence has been CFO and treasurer of N.C. Mutual since January 2012. He also serves as a director of M&F Bancorp and of Mechanics and Farmers Bank.

Prior to joining N.C. Mutual, Lawrence served as CFO and COO of NCM Capital Management Group, an institutional investment management firm.

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