Lacher Leaves Allstate

Shares of Allstate Corporation fell today after the company announced the immediate departure of Joseph Lacher, president, Allstate Protection. Allstate did not provide details of Lacher's departure, and, according to spokesperson MaryEllen Thielen, does not comment on personnel matters.

Lacher joined Allstate in November 2009 from Travelers Cos., where he held top positions in their personal insurance and small commercial insurance lines of business.

In Lacher’s absence, the presidents of the various Allstate Protection businesses, and the heads of claims and product operations, will report temporarily to Thomas Wilson, chairman, president and CEO.

A Bloomberg report speculated that Lacher’s departure may emanate from the company’s trouble gaining market share in its homeowners and auto insurance lines of business. In auto lines, the company faces fierce competition from market leaders GEICO and Progressive. In May, the company spent approximately $1 billion to purchase Esurance and Answer Financial from White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd. in order to augment its direct sales channels.

As of this writing, Allstate (NYSE: ALL) was trading at $27.74 from it's previous close of $29.47.

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