About Our Leadership
S. CRAIG LEMASTERS
President and Chief Executive Officer
Assurant Solutions
S. Craig Lemasters is president and chief executive officer of the Assurant Solutions business of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE: AIZ). He also is a member of Assurant’s executive management committee, which is responsible for setting the policies, strategy and direction of Assurant, subject to the overall direction and supervision of its board of directors.
Assurant Solutions is a global provider of consumer debt protection solutions, extended service contracts and other specialty insurance products and services. Assurant Solutions is Assurant’s largest business in terms of annual revenue ($3.4 billion in 2008 versus $8.6 billion for all of Assurant) and its only multinational business (12 countries in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia). It currently employs about 2,700 people in 25 cities.
Mr. Lemasters has nearly 20 years experience in senior leadership positions with Assurant and a predecessor company, American Bankers Insurance Group, Inc., Miami, Fla. He was named to his current position in June 2005 when Assurant Solutions was divided into two businesses – Assurant Solutions and Assurant Specialty Property. Previously, from September 2003 until his 2005 promotion, he served as executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Solutions consumer protection solutions business
Mr. Lemasters began his career with what is now Assurant in 1987 when he joined American Bankers, a leading provider of credit insurance and other specialty insurance products. For next 11 years he served as a channel executive and marketing manager for various American Bankers businesses. In 1998, he left American Bankers to join a competitor, Reliance Integramark, Alpharetta, Ga., as executive vice president and chief marketing officer.
In August 2000, following the acquisition of American Bankers by Fortis, a Dutch-Belgian financial services company, Mr. Lemasters rejoined what had now become Assurant Group. His initial assignment was group senior vice president for the company’s international business. Within a year he was promoted to executive vice president and chief marketing officer with overall management responsibility for sales and marketing, administrative functions, operations, claims and consumer marketing services for the credit insurance, debt protection, service contract and international businesses.
Because Assurant Solutions does not sell its products and services directly to consumers, it is important for the company and its leadership to have a thorough understanding of the industries and companies that serve as its distribution channels. Over the past six years Assurant Solutions has become a leading provider of service contracts sold through major retailers in the United States. The company’s client list today includes such well-known brands as GE, Home Depot, Staples, WalMart and Whirlpool. Meanwhile, its debt protection business administers and underwrites programs for financial services industry leaders throughout North America, Latin America and Europe, including American Express, Citicorp, Discover, JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo.
Assurant has identified Assurant Solutions’ international business as one of its targeted growth area. Beginning with his return to Assurant in 2000, Mr. Lemasters has guided the expansion of this business. Over the past nine years the number of countries (not counting Puerto Rico) in which Assurant Solutions does business has doubled from six to 12. Meanwhile, gross written premium (GWP) generated by the international businesses has tripled. In 2008 GWP generated by International’s credit insurance and service contracts businesses accounted for nearly 38 percent of Assurant Solutions’ total GWP.
Mr. Lemasters is an accomplished and entertaining presenter who is as effective before an audience of college students as he is before clients and employees. He travels extensively in support of the international business and the fulfillment of his corporate responsibilities, spending 60 to 70 percent of his time on the road. He visits an average of 10 countries annually. Through his international travels and special studies Mr. Lemasters has become conversational in Spanish.
A native of Florida, Mr. Lemasters has a bachelor’s degree in economics and business administration from Furman University and a master’s degree in business administration from Barry University. He resides with his family – wife Laurel, a radiologist in private practice, and their four children – Steven, age 14, twins David and Kerry Anna, age 12, and Corrie, age 6 – in the Buckhead community of Atlanta. Mr. Lemasters is a member of the 3,000-member Church of the Apostles and serves on the vestry, the church’s governing board. He also has volunteered as a fundraiser for the Woodruff Arts Center, which supports the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Alliance Theatre and High Museum of Art.
About Assurant
Assurant is a premier provider of specialized insurance products and related services in North America and selected other international markets. The four key businesses – Assurant Solutions, Assurant Specialty Property, Assurant Health, and Assurant Employee Benefits – have partnered with clients who are leaders in their industries and have built leadership positions in a number of specialty insurance market segments in the U.S. and selected international markets. The Assurant business units provide debt protection administration; credit-related insurance; warranties and service contracts; pre-funded funeral insurance; creditor-placed homeowners insurance; manufactured housing homeowners insurance; individual health and small employer group health insurance; group dental insurance; group disability insurance; and group life insurance.
Assurant, a Fortune 500 company and a member of the S&P 500, is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AIZ. Assurant has more than $25 billion in assets and $8 billion in annual revenue. Assurant has approximately 15,000 employees worldwide and is headquartered in New York's financial district. www.assurant.com
Rev. 18 November 2009 Assurant Solutions Corporate Communications