McGraw Appointed to Board of Employers Direct

Michael McGraw, president and CEO of The McGraw Group of Affiliated Companies, has been named a director of Employers Direct Insurance Company. Employers Direct is the first new workers’ compensation insurance carrier to be licensed by the California Department of Insurance in more than a decade.

“Employers Direct provides a business model and management team perfectly positioned to make a significant impact on the workers’ comp market,” McGraw said. “I welcome the opportunity to work with founders Jim Little and Ron Groden. Nobody knows the industry better than they do. This EDIC team is well known and highly regarded by customers, competitors and regulators alike throughout the California market.”

McGraw began his insurance career in 1987 with Willis Faber & Dumas in London, specializing there in the placement of North American catastrophe reinsurance treaties with underwriters at Lloyds. Upon return to the United States, he became vice president of the McGraw Group, which comprises five affiliates engaged in the management, underwriting and financing of insurance. In 1994 he became COO of Pacific Specialty Insurance Company, eventually assuming the positions of president and CEO of the group.

Based in Menlo Park, Calif., the McGraw Group of Affiliated Companies includes McGraw Insurance Services, McGraw Commercial Insurance Services, Western Service Contract Corp., and Pacific Loan Administrators. Flagship Pacific Specialty Insurance Company is a licensed insurer in all 50 states and is an industry leader in motorcycle and personal watercraft coverage.

Employers Direct entered the California workers’ compensation insurance market in late 2002 with an initial $55 million in capital and the support of a sophisticated investment group. The lead investors are Securitas Capital and Golden Gate Capital.

Employers Direct was founded by James E. Little, chairman, president and CEO, and by Ronald A. Groden, vice chairman and CFO. From 1990 until 1998, Little served as president of Fremont Compensation Insurance Co., and Groden was formerly CFO of Fremont Comp.