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The Once and Future C&F - The Go-Go Years
The 1950s and 1960s brought a lot of accounting changes. But if I have sorted them out properly, it looks like C&F’s shareholders should have been modestly happy with Ridgway — with an annualized return on equity of almost 8% for his time in charge. Ridgway walked C&F over the bridge to the modern era. Symbolic of this modernization, toward the end of his time as CEO, Ridgway moved C&F into a stylish new corporate campus in Morristown, New Jersey (where I sit today). More substantive was his investment in employee training and development, as well as new computer technology and his efforts toward organizing industry groups. Among other pursuits, Ridgway was the first chairman of the new American Insurance Association and a supporter of the newly formed National Insurance Actuarial and Statistical Association. He always made sure that C&F had a seat at the table.
Bobby Russell.
A s the 1960s came to an end, C&F had become a leading commercial lines insurance company. At the same time, Bill Ridgway was looking to pass the torch. Bobby Russell was dapper, well-mannered and personable. The move from Dallas was good for him. Russell spent several years as Bill Ridgway’s right-hand man, so when Ridgway stepped aside as CEO in 1970, Russell was the natural choice as his successor. People liked him. Bobby Russell is a complicated character in the C&F story. He is at the heart of the question of how much you can really know about the business you underwrite.
Construction of C&F’s 305 Madison Ave. headquarters in Morristown, NJ.
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