Travelers Cos. Inc. announced that Jay S. Fishman would step down as CEO of the insurer on December 1 and would be replaced by Alan D. Schnitzer, who now is CEO of Travelers’ business and worldwide insurance segment.
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In the company’s written release, Schnitzer called the promotion “an honor and a privilege”, named four other top Travelers executives and said the group is “very pleased to continue to work closely with Jay Fishman”. Fishman first ran Travelers in 1998 before becoming co-chief operating officer of Citigroup in 2000 along side Chuck Prince.
The New York-based company said Tuesday that the 62-year-old Fishman will stay on as executive chairman. In addition to his business line responsibilities, Schnitzer oversees Travelers’ field management, corporate communications and public policy organizations. Fishman quit about a year later, leaving Weill and the rest of Wall Street to wonder how history might have been different if Fishman had chosen to remain.
Previously, Schnitzer headed the company’s financial, professional and worldwide insurance segment. He serves on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Investor Advisory Committee created under the Dodd-Frank Act and the Advisory Board for the University of Pennsylvania’s Institute for Urban Research.
Fishman, who rarely seeks publicity, is a former protégé of the legendary Sandy Weill. I look forward to working with Alan, the senior leadership team and all of you to build on our impressive record.
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“It is important to me that I let each of you know that I get way too much personal credit for the success we have experienced together”, Fishman told Travelers’ employees on Tuesday. From October 2001 until April 2004, Fishman had been chairman, CEO, and president of The St. Paul Companies, Inc. Amidst substantial changes in our industry, we executed the successful merger of St. Paul and Travelers and set our course as a return-focused company.
