Safeco in search for new leader

A combination of poor results and investor pressure has forced top management changes at Safeco, the sixteenth largest property/casualty insurer in the US. Roger Eigsti, who is credited with transforming Safeco from a Seattle-based insurer into a national player, is to step down as chairman and chief executive at the end of the year. The US$2.8bn acquisition of American States Financial Corporation in 1997, doubled Safeco’s distribution network and made it one of the leading players in the small to medium sized business market.