Arkansas Insurance Commissioner Kerr to Return to Private Sector
Arkansas Insurance Commissioner Allen Kerr is resigning from his post effective March 27, 2020, to pursue opportunities in the private sector, the state insurance department reported.
Kerr was named appointed as insurance commissioner in early 2015 by then Arkansas Gov.-Elect Asa Hutchinson. He replaced outgoing Insurance Commissioner Jay Bradford.
Kerr had been an insurance agent for more than 30 years and along with his wife owned the Allen Kerr Agency in the Little Rock area.
He previously spent six years in the state legislature and began his political career when he was elected to the 15-member Pulaski County Quorum Court.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as State Insurance Commissioner under Governor Hutchinson these last five years,” Kerr said in a statement released by the Arkansas Insurance Department. “Today, Arkansas is the destination for the insurance industry known as a place where a company can come and do honest business without being overregulated.”
According to the media release issued by AID, during his tenure Kerr recruited and welcomed 110 new insurance companies to do business in Arkansas, increased annual revenue to the state by $84.25 million, increased licensures 67.6%, and tripled the amount of captive insurers in the state — making Arkansas one of the fastest-growing captive markets in the country.
Under Kerr’s leadership AID also took over management Arkansas Health Insurance Marketplace, increasing enrollment and realizing more than $13 million in combined savings to taxpayers and policyholders due to the elimination of user fees charged to insurance carriers, the department said.