Winterthur U.S. Holdings, Inc. (WUSH), parent company of General Casualty Insurance Companies and Unigard Insurance Group (Bellevue, Wash.), elected two outside experts to its board of directors at its quarterly meeting held Tuesday in Sun Prairie.
Robert Barnard is vice president and treasurer of Stratatech Corp., and a retired partner at Grant Thorton, LLP, where he worked for more than 30 years. Barnard will oversee the WUSH audit committee. The committee will review all company financial statements, meet with auditors and actuaries, and oversee the organization’s compliance function.
Charles Meldrum is the retired president of Mortenson, Matzelle and Meldrum (M3). He has more than 30 years of agency experience, including almost 20 years with M3. Meldrum will sit on the compensation and governance committee, which oversees and monitors the organization’s compensation and employee benefits programs.
The WUSH board’s expansion was driven by the insurer’s recent growth and a desire to provide greater transparency into the organization’s decision-making processes. "Charlie and Bob bring additional expertise and an outsider’s perspective to our business decisions," said John Pollock, CEO of WUSH. "Having them involved is the next step in operating as the large company that we’ve grown into. Their involvement increases the discipline with which we develop and implement strategic initiatives and measure results."
In addition to the two newly elected members, the WUSH board includes: Dr. Hans Ulrich Lienau, chief financial officer of Winterthur Group; Chris Schnor, head of Winterthur Market Group International; and U.S. company CEOs John Pollock (WUSH), Pete McPartland (General Casualty) and Peter Christen (Unigard).
At Tuesday’s meeting, the board adopted a new set of corporate governance guidelines, modified its code of ethics to incorporate the audit committee, and limited the services that can be performed by outside auditors. The board also adopted a table of authorities, clarifying which parties must approve various company decisions.
For more information contact Anne M. Smith.