Gary Williams Named President and CEO of Mutual Benefit Group
Gary A. Williams was named President and CEO of Mutual Benefit Group on Dec. 31, 2022.
He joined Mutual Benefit Group as President and CEO-Elect on April 25, 2022.
Gary was most recently employed with United Services Automobile Association (USAA), San Antonio, Texas, where he served in executive capacities since 2010.
During his more than 25 years in the insurance industry, Gary has seen repeated success by employing an authentic management approach that empowers top-performing teams within fast-paced environments. He has led both business and IT teams and has worked to devise forward-thinking strategies that optimize profitability while creating a continuously positive culture, forging long-lasting professional partnerships and engaging with direct reports to deliver ambitious objectives.
He has experience driving growth and profitability from non-standard automobile, motorcycle and small commercial insurance books of business through independent agents. He has led profitable growth from large agency sales and service teams, territory sales managers and affinity partnerships.
Gary’s areas of expertise include:
- Revenue growth
- Property/casualty innovation and development
- Driving engagement in corporate culture
- Product management/marketing
- Insurance agency sales and service
Some of his professional accomplishments include:
- Expanding marginal pre-tax income from $12 million to $103 million in just three years
- Introducing a first-to-market, patent-filed ridesharing endorsement for personal auto insurance coverage
- Maintaining the property/casualty industry’s greatest customer and product retention rates while growing a book of business more than 30%
During his first seven years at USAA, Gary served as Assistant Vice President, Auto Product Management, cultivating USAA’s first-ever product management team and delivering $1 billion plus pre-tax income with over 5% member, product and revenue growth year after year from 2010-2017. In 2017, he took on the position of Assistant Vice President, Brand Management/Affinity Account Management, for USAA. In this role, he exceeded new member goals and net product plans for bank, life and property/casualty business. He also incorporated an integrated affinity marketing approach for all risk segments, expanded marketing channels and optimized best-performing tactics.
A graduate of Wake Forest University with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and a master’s degree in business administration, Gary is a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) and holds certification in process excellence and product management (PMC).
Prior to beginning his insurance career, Gary served with the United States Air Force in Honduras as Fuels Officer for Central America and as a manufacturing manager with Sara Lee Corporation in Jamaica.
His first insurance position was with National General Insurance in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where he was a property/casualty production manager. While at National General, he was promoted to Senior Product Manager, Specialty Auto, and then to Vice President, Enterprise Business Execution, where he played an essential role in enhancing product and pricing speed to market. Prior to joining USAA, he served as Director of Underwriting, Pricing and Product for Aviva PLC in the United Kingdom.
Gary and wife Jada have a teen-aged daughter, Kennedy. The family has relocated to Huntingdon, PA.