Symetra Financial Taps White Mountains Advisors Managing Director as Chief Investment Officer
January 7, 2015 by Fran Matso Lysiak, senior associate editor, BestWeek: fran.lysiak@ambest.com
BELLVUE, Wash. – Symetra Financial Corp. said it named Mark E. Hunt as chief investment officer and executive vice president, which took effect Jan. 1.
In the new position, Hunt is directing the company’s investment policy and strategy, and overseeing Symetra’s roughly $30 billion investment portfolio.
He joins Symetra from White Mountains Advisors, an investment advisory firm based in Guilford, Connecticut, where he was managing director. He is the senior member of an 11–person staff that supported the operations of Symetra’s investment portfolio management at White Mountains Advisors, which moves in-house to Symetra.
Hunt joined White Mountains in 2004 and oversaw life company portfolios and alternative investments for all clients, including Symetra. Hunt reports to Tom Marra, president and chief executive officer Symetra Financial, which provides employee benefits, annuities and life insurance.
“Mark is a highly accomplished investment professional who possesses an extensive background in asset management, risk management and life insurance,” Marra said in a statement.
Before White Mountains Advisors, Hunt headed portfolio risk management and alternative investments at Hartford Life.
Hunt and the Symetra investment management staff will remain based in Guilford, Connecticut.
Symetra Financial raised over $248 million from its IPO of 20,699,510 primary shares and certain existing shareholders simultaneously sold 9,700,490 secondary shares totaling $116 million (Best’s News Service, Jan. 22, 2010). White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd., and Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., will continue to be shareholders in Symetra Financial following the IPO, A.M. Best Co. said in January 2010.
Symetra Life Group is the 39th-largest U.S. life/health insurer based on total admitted assets in 2013 of $27.94 billion, according to A.M. Best Co.
Recently, Penn Mutual Life Insurance Co. renamed its registered investment adviser unit to Penn Mutual Asset Management with a focus on managing the $20 billion in assets held in its own general account and within its Penn Series Funds (Best’s News Service, Jan. 5, 2015).
Symetra Life Insurance Co. and First Symetra National Life Ins Co NY each currently has a Best’s Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent).
On the afternoon of Jan. 6, Symetra Financial (NYSE: SYA) stock was trading at $22.24 a share, down 1.42% from the previous close.