Former Insurance Head Chosen for California State Automobile Association

The California State Automobile Association, second largest affiliate of the 44 million-member AAA federation, announced that James R. Pouliot has been named president and CEO.

Pouliot, former president and COO of the Consumer Division of Royal & SunAlliance USA based in Denver, Colo., will take the helm on Dec. 3. He succeeds James P. Molinelli, who announced his retirement last June from the 4 million-member association, which offers a wide array of automotive, insurance, travel and financial services.

Pouliot served as executive vice president of Orion Capital Corporation before it merged with Royal & SunAlliance, one of the world’s top 10 multi-line insurers and one of the top 25 property and casualty insurers in the United States. In his most recent assignment, he was responsible for $1.2 billion in premium and managed business in 44 states. Prior to that he was President and CEO of Viking Insurance Company from 1992 to 1995, and President and CEO of Guaranty National Insurance Company from 1996 to 1998.

Pouliot serves on the Board of Directors of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI), and the ICAT Managers Inc., which focuses on the catastrophic insurance business.