Dr Bernard Bailey and Fred Donner nominated for Argo board

Dr Bernard Bailey and Fred Donner have been nominated to stand for election to the board of directors of Argo Group International Holdings at Argo’s annual shareholder meeting on April 16, 2020.

Argo, an international underwriter of specialty insurance and reinsurance products in the property and casualty market, jointly agreed the nominations with activist investor Voce Capital Management as part of the previously announced cooperation agreement between the company and Voce.

These nominations follow the appointment of Carol McFate to the Argo board this month, which was also made pursuant to the cooperation agreement.

“Through ongoing consultation with Voce, as well as other shareholders, we are making meaningful progress in our efforts to refresh, enhance and strengthen Argo’s board of directors,” said Thomas Bradley, Argo Group board chairman-elect. “Bernard and Fred bring to the board a great wealth of complementary experience in the insurance industry, finance and corporate governance domains. We look forward to welcoming them to the board and are confident they will provide valuable perspective as we continue to position the company for future success.”

J. Daniel Plants, founder and chief investment officer of Voce, said: “We wish to thank the Argo Board – and particularly chairman-elect Tom Bradley and CEO Kevin Rehnberg – for their open and constructive approach throughout this process. As Argo’s fourth-largest shareholder, we strongly believe in its potential and the nomination of these two excellent director candidates represents another positive step forward for the company. Our focus remains on creating value for all Argo shareholders, and we will continue to collaborate closely with the company’s new board and executive leadership in this pursuit.”

Bailey is the president of Paraquis Solutions, a private consulting company focused on corporate governance and strategy. Prior to Paraquis, he was president of the Committee for Economic Development, a business-led, nonpartisan economic think tank.

In a finance and corporate governance career spanning over three decades, Bailey has served as CEO of Authentix, a private-equity-backed global enterprise, where he continues to serve as chairman of the board. Previously, he was president and CEO of Viisage Technology, during which time the company executed nine acquisitions and formed L-1 Identity Solutions; he was COO at Art Technology Group; and he has held a variety of finance, sales, marketing and operations positions at IBM.

Bailey serves on the board of Telos Corporation, where he chairs the audit and strategy committees. He also serves as a director of Mission Critical Partners; as an advisory board member for Egis Capital Partners, a private equity investment fund focused on the security industry; on the board of advisors for the US Naval Academy Athletic and Scholarship Foundation; as chairman of the board of trustees for Trout Unlimited; and as an adjunct faculty member in the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University.

Donner is a senior finance executive with over 30 years of experience leading and advising corporations through restructurings, international expansion, risk management and capital market transactions. He currently serves as a senior managing director in the global insurance practice of FTI Consulting.

In 2017, Donner retired from Travelers Insurance Co., where he held the roles of executive vice president of enterprise risk management and chief financial officer for the company’s business insurance and international insurance segments.

During his career in the financial services industry, he was chief financial officer for personal lines insurance at Travelers, chief operating officer for Travelers’ business insurance segment and executive vice president and chief financial officer of ReinassanceRe, the international reinsurance company. Donner started his career at KPMG where he served for more than 20 years, ultimately as a partner leading the Insurance Industry Practice.