Travelers’ Chapman to Lead IAT’s New Surety Unit After IFIC Acquisition

IAT Insurance Group has hired Ken Chapman as executive vice president, Surety, to lead IAT’s new surety business following IAT’s acquisition of IFIC Surety Group that is expected to close in the third quarter.

Chapman will join the company’s leadership team and report to CEO Bill Cunningham.

The company said that Dave Smith, who had been serving as interim CEO for IFIC, remains part of the company’s management team and will lead the company’s bail operations.

Chapman joins IAT from Travelers Bond & Specialty Insurance where he was a member of the company’s senior leadership team. He served as vice president and business unit head of Financial Institutions for the past eight years and was responsible for national strategy, operations and financial results of the unit. Prior to that role, Chapman was regional vice president at Travelers Bond & Specialty, responsible for strategy and financial results. He managed a staff of more than 50 across a six state region comprised of surety, management liability and property casualty businesses.

Prior to his 22-year career with Travelers Bond & Specialty/Reliance Surety Company (Bond), Chapman held positions as a surety underwriter (Northern California and Hawaii) for Continental Insurance Company/CNA and as a branch manager (New Mexico, Colorado and West Texas markets) for Insurance Company of the West. He began his surety career in Dallas with United States Fidelity & Guaranty.

North Carolina-based IAT announced in April that it had agreed to acquire IFIC Surety Group. New Jersey-based IFIC Surety Group includes International Fidelity Insurance Co. and its subsidiary Allegheny Casualty Co. The group has 220 employees and more than $150 million in gross written premiums.

IAT Insurance Group is a privately owned, specialty insurance company. Its offerings include commercial property, flood, trucking, auto dealers, moving and storage and various specialty excess and surplus lines.