J. Adam Abram announces his retirement as James River reports Q3 profit

James River Group Holdings has named Frank D’Orazio as chief executive officer, with J. Adam Abram, its founder and current chief executive, set to retire on November 1, 2020.

Abram will remain with James River as non-executive chair of the board of directors, with D’Orazio named to the board.

D’Orazio was most recently chief operating officer and chief of staff at Allied World Assurance Company. He also had prior responsibilities at the same firm as president of underwriting and global risk and president of international insurance.

He began his career as a casualty underwriter at Chubb and also served in a number of underwriting manager roles at Munich Re America.

Abram described D’Orazio as an “excellent leader who has developed a deep understanding of underwriting, finance, enterprise risk management and strategic thinking by leading significant initiatives in each of these areas.”

Meanwhile Robert Myron, president and chief operating officer will step down from the board of directors, effective November 2, 2020, though he will remain in his role as president and chief operating officer.

Abram said his decision to leave the board “was based on his judgement that our shareholders would be better served if we reduced the number of inside directors on the board.”

New news came as has James River reported a Q3 2020 net profit of $26.3 million, turning around a net loss of $25.2 million reported in the same period of 2019.

Gross written premiums were 311.9 million for Q3 2020, down from 388.2 million in the same period of 2019. Its combined ratio fell to 94.2 percent for the group, down from 118.8 percent the previous year.

Abram called it “another very strong quarter,” noting that market conditions were “extremely attractive” across the businesses.