Farmers Group has appointed Raul Vargas as president and chief executive officer, effective Jan. 1, 2023. He will also become a member of the Board of Directors.

Vargas will succeed Jeff Dailey, who has served as president and CEO since 2012. Dailey will continue as chairman of Farmers, a subsidiary of Zurich Insurance Group.

Vargas is currently president of Distribution, Life and Financial Services for Farmers Group. He oversees sales and distribution efforts, in addition to Farmers New World Life and Farmers Financial Solutions.

Vargas has more than two decades of international leadership experience across Latin America and Europe. His career with Zurich includes eight years as CEO of Zurich Santander Insurance America in addition to leadership roles across a wide array of geographies, including head of Distribution and Proposition Management of Zurich Santander in Madrid; head of Life Business – Latin America in Miami, Fla.; as well as chief Life actuary and head of Product Development in Milan. He joined Zurich Insurance Group in 1997 as Life actuary in Zurich Argentina.

Dailey joined Farmers Group in 2007 with its acquisition of Bristol West Holding, where he served in several roles including CEO. From 2008-2011, he served as Farmers Group executive vice president of Personal Lines. In 2011, he was promoted to president and chief operating officer and became a member of the Farmers Group Board of Directors. He has served as chairman since October 2015.

Mario Greco, CEO of Zurich Group, said that Dailey “has successfully led the organization by producing positive business results, driving technological advances, fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration, as well as leading employees and the organization effectively through a global pandemic and some of the most eventful periods of time in Farmers more than 90-year history.”

Source: Farmers Group