Voce Capital names board nominees in Argo expenses row

Activist investor Voce Capital has named five board nominees it said could bring about “urgently needed” change at insurer Argo.

Last week the investor launched website www.argo-sos.com, highlighting “shockingly high corporate expenses” at Argo, linking to the ‘personal’ website of Argo CEO Mark Watson III’s showing him sailing competitively and outlining philanthropic donations.

The five board nominees include Bernard Bailey, Charles Dangelo, Kathleen Dussault, Carol McFate and Nicholas Walsh. Voce said they will bring the independence and experience “desperately needed to rein in management and maximize shareholder value”.

In response, Argo called Voce’s statements “misleading attacks”, which are “designed to grab attention, but do nothing to build shareholder value, which the current board has proven it can do”.

It said: “While Voce continues to disseminate and publish ad hominem attacks, our directors and management team are focused on executing a compelling long-term, value-enhancing strategy. We are deliberate in our mission to deliver top-performing underwriting businesses and we continue to be keenly focused on driving efficiencies, as evidenced by the reduction of 260 basis points in our expense ratio in 2018.”

The insurer said its existing board of directors was committed to working in the best interest of all shareholders as well as being a highly capable and engaged.

Argo added: “We are committed to engaging with all of our shareholders. We hope Voce will make its updated slate of nominees available to participate in interviews with our board’s independent nominating committee to evaluate their qualifications and experience – as would be the case for any shareholder-nominated candidate.”

Argo said the nominating committee of the board uses its robust evaluation process to regularly refresh the board, focusing on the skills and experience necessary to lead our business. “As a result of our effective refreshment practices, the board has added five new independent directors in the past two years. Each of these independent directors has brought and demonstrated proven skillsets to help enhance and propel forward Argo’s strategic plan.”

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