About 

Founded in 2014, by a team with deep experience across underwriting, analytics, reinsurance and capital markets, Palomar is an innovative specialty insurer serving residential and commercial clients in five product categories: Earthquake, Inland Marine and Other Property, Casualty, Fronting and Crop. Our underwriting and analytical expertise allow us to concentrate on certain markets that we believe are underserved by other insurance companies.

We are a publicly traded company on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange (NASDAQ: PLMR) with a financial strength rating of “A (Excellent)” from AM Best Company (“AM Best”). 

Palomar is headquartered in La Jolla, California, writing business nationwide.

TWP San Diego 2024 Badge

Mission

Palomar is built on a culture of agility, innovation and problem solving that delivers peace of mind and protection to individuals and businesses impacted by adversity.

Vision

To build solutions that expand our positive impact on the people, businesses, and communities we serve.

Values

Authenticity

We put people and partners first. We build strong relationships through transparency, trust, and respect for each other.

Agility

We adapt quickly to change. Our entrepreneurial and resilient mindset drives us to remove barriers and find creative solutions to challenges.

Innovation

We are bold and inventive problem solvers. We continually collaborate and evolve to provide our partners and customers with unparalleled expertise and market-leading solutions.

Diversity

We celebrate diverse perspectives. We promote inclusion and equality to create more opportunities and build a better world for our team members, company, partners, and community.

Accountability

We do the right thing with strong conviction, integrity and decisive action to strengthen trust within our company and with our partners and communities.

Leadership Team

Chief Executive Officer, Founder and Chairman of the Board

Mac Armstrong
President

Jon Christianson
Chief Legal Officer

Angela Grant
Chief Financial Officer

Chris Uchida
Chief Risk Officer

Jon Knutzen
Chief Underwriting Officer

Robert Beyerle
Chief Operating Officer

Rudy Hervé
Chief Claims Officer

Althea Garvey
Chief People Officer

Tim Carter
Chief Technology Officer

James Long
Chief Actuarial Officer

Ethan Genteman
Chief Strategy Officer

Kyle Morgan
EVP Treasury & Financial Operations

Elizabeth Seitz
EVP, Operations

Jake Armstrong
EVP, Head of Programs

Jason Sears
EVP, Reinsurance

Matthew Grunewald
EVP, Head of Crop

Benson Latham
EVP, Reinsurance

Chris Cebula
EVP, Head of E&S Casualty

David Sapia
Chief Executive Officer, Founder and Chairman of the Board

Mac Armstrong

Mac Armstrong has served as our Chief Executive Officer and a director since February 2014. Prior to founding Palomar, Mr. Armstrong served as the President of Arrowhead General Insurance Agency, which he joined in 2009, previously holding the positions of Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Armstrong led the sale of Arrowhead to Brown & Brown, Inc. in 2012. Mr. Armstrong’s prior experience includes Spectrum Equity Investors, a private equity investment firm where he led the insurance investing practice and Alex. Brown & Sons/ BT Alex. Brown Inc., an investment bank acquired by Deutsche Bank. Mr. Armstrong earned an A.B. from Princeton University. Mr. Armstrong is a member of the Board of Advisors of Cloverlay Investment Management LLC, a private equity investment firm.

President

Jon Christianson

Mr. Christianson has served as our President since April 2022 and previously served as our Chief Underwriting Officer since August 2020 and as our Chief Operating Officer since joining our company in February 2014 to September 2020. Prior to joining our company, Mr. Christianson served as a Vice President of Holborn Corporation from April 2010 to December 2013. Mr. Christianson started his career with John B. Collins Associates in Minneapolis in 2002, where he serviced both casualty and property business. Mr. Christianson earned a B.A. in Economics from St. Olaf College.

Chief Legal Officer

Angela Grant

Angela Grant joined Palomar in 2020 and serves as our Chief Legal Officer. Ms. Grant most recently served as Chief Legal & Innovation Officer at CSE Insurance Group. Previously, Ms. Grant served as the Head of Compliance & Legal at Hippo Insurance. In addition to her legal and compliance background, past leadership roles at Esurance, Kemper, and GEICO burnished her credentials in mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, and strategy. Ms. Grant received her Juris Doctor from Texas A&M University School of Law and holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of North Texas. She is a member of the State Bar of Texas, State Bar of California (Registered In-House Counsel), American Bar Association, Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics, Association of Insurance Compliance Professionals (AICP), and the National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL).

Chief Financial Officer

Chris Uchida

Chris Uchida joined Palomar in 2015 and serves as our Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining our company, Mr. Uchida served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer at Arrowhead, which he joined in 2004. Prior to joining Arrowhead, he was a Tax Manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Mr. Uchida earned a B.S. and M.S. from San Diego State University and is a California Certified Public Accountant.

Chief Risk Officer

Jon Knutzen

Mr. Knutzen has served as our Chief Risk Officer since April 2019. Mr. Knutzen most recently served as a Partner at TigerRisk Partners, and previously held roles at Holborn Corporation, Guy Carpenter and John B. Collins Associates.

Chief Underwriting Officer

Robert Beyerle

Mr. Beyerle has served as our Chief Underwriting Officer since April 2022 and previously served as our Senior Vice President of Inland Marine since January 2019. Before joining the company, Mr. Beyerle spent 16 years at Great American Insurance Company, most recently as a Divisional Senior Vice President in their Property & Inland Marine Division. Mr. Beyerle’s insurance experience includes three years as a commercial insurance producer at Acordia Southeast. Mr. Beyerle earned a bachelor’s degree from Florida State University and holds Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) and Associate in Reinsurance (ARe) designations.

Chief Operating Officer

Rudy Hervé

Rudy Hervé has served as our Chief Operating Officer since June 2024. Mr. Hervé most recently served as Global Head of P&C Operations for SCOR, and previously held leadership roles at QBE North America, Bain & Company, Orange Ventures and Morgan Stanley. Mr. Hervé earned a Masters in Management from ESCP Europe and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

Chief Claims Officer

Althea Garvey

Althea E. Garvey has served as our Chief Claims Officer since October 2024. Ms. Garvey most recently served as Vice President, Chief Claims Officer for LifeCare Assurance Company, from January 2017 to October 2024 and previously held key positions at American International Group Insurance Company from 2000 to 2015, where she led regional claims activities, drove business growth and retention, and resolved legal disputes for large national clients. Ms. Garvey holds a Juris Doctor from The Washington College of Law at American University and a Bachelor of Science in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University. She is admitted to practice law in New York, Washington, D.C., before the United States Supreme Court, among other jurisdictions, and is a Registered In-house Counsel in California.

Chief People Officer

Tim Carter

Tim Carter has served as our Chief People Officer since June 2024. Mr. Carter most recently served as Senior Vice President, Human Resources for LPL Financial, Inc., from August 2013 to June 2024 and previously held varied human resources leadership roles at G4S Integrated Services, Parexel, and Home Depot. Prior to his corporate roles, Mr. Carter served as a Captain in the United States Marine Corps. Mr. Carter earned a B.A. in Political Science from San Diego State University.

Chief Technology Officer

James Long

James Long has served as our Chief Technology Officer since September 2024. Mr. Long has brought on more than 20 years of business leadership in crop insurance, risk management, data analytics, and technology. He most recently held several leadership roles over 15 years at RenaissanceRe. Mr. Long earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Agricultural Economics from the University of Kentucky.

Chief Actuarial Officer

Ethan Genteman

Ethan Genteman is our Chief Actuarial Officer, having previously served as EVP – Head of Actuarial, Data, and Analytics. Since joining Palomar in 2019, he has focused on advancing our actuarial and general analytics capabilities. Before Palomar, Ethan held various actuarial and catastrophe modeling roles at Intact and Howden Re (formerly TigerRisk Partners). He is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Statistics and Economics from the University of Minnesota.

Chief Strategy Officer

Kyle Morgan

Kyle Morgan serves as our Chief Strategy Officer. Prior to joining Palomar in 2018, he worked as a private equity investor at Insight Partners and W Capital. Kyle earned an A.B. in Economics from Princeton University.

EVP Treasury & Financial Operations

Elizabeth Seitz

Elizabeth Seitz serves as EVP Treasury and Financial Operations of Palomar. Since its inception in 2014, she has provided GAAP and Statutory accounting and operational guidance. Prior to joining Palomar, she served as VP – Controller of Arrowhead General Insurance Agency, Inc., which she joined in 1999. Ms. Seitz was a Tax Manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers and is a California Certified Public Accountant. She earned a BA in Mathematics from Vanderbilt University and an MS in Accountancy with a specialization in Taxation from San Diego State University.

EVP, Operations

Jake Armstrong

Jake Armstrong joined Palomar in October 2015 as VP of Strategy before shifting to the role of SVP, Underwriting, where he managed the Commercial Lines underwriting teams. Currently, he is EVP, Operations and, in that role, he manages the Operations and Product departments at the Company. Prior to joining Palomar, Jake worked at Guggenheim Partners as a Vice President, where he worked on numerous corporate development initiatives, private equity investments and asset management turnarounds. Prior to Guggenheim, he worked at Goldman Sachs in the Merchant Banking Division and Deutsche Bank in the Investment Banking Division. Jake holds an BA from Middlebury College.

EVP, Head of Programs

Jason Sears

Jason Sears is our EVP, Head of Programs since August 2022. Upon joining Palomar, Mr. Sears brought with him casualty expertise and a track record in the program space. Prior to joining our company, Mr. Sears served as Executive Vice President for the MGA’s Rivington Partners and DUAL Commercial LLC, respectively. Before that he worked in management in the Programs units of two carriers, QBE and American Safety, in addition to holding underwriting, reinsurance brokerage and captive formation roles.

EVP, Reinsurance

Matthew Grunewald

Matt Grunewald has served as our EVP Reinsurance since October 2023. Mr. Grunewald most recently served as Head of North America for Tamesis DUAL, and previously head roles at New Paradigm Underwriters, LLC. and Greenlight Re.

EVP, Head of Crop

Benson Latham

Benson Latham has served as our EVP, Head of Crop since October 2024. Mr. Latham most recently served as Senior VP of Strategic Accounts at Great American’s Crop division and previously held leadership roles at Crop Risk Services, Validus, Longhorn Re (founder), and ProAg. Mr. Latham earned a B.A. in Government Studies from the University of Texas at Austin.

EVP, Reinsurance

Chris Cebula

Mr. Cebula joined Palomar in August 2021 and serves as Executive Vice President, Risk Management. Prior to joining Palomar, Chris spent ten years at Elementum Advisors, a dedicated Insurance Linked Securities investment manager, where he was a Principal and Portfolio Manager. During his time at Elementum, his responsibilities included primary underwriting, secondary trading, and portfolio management for the firms’ catastrophe bond-oriented accounts. Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Marquette University’s Applied Investment Management Program and earned his MBA from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. Chris is a CFA Charterholder.

EVP, Head of E&S Casualty

David Sapia

David Sapia has served as our EVP Head of E&S Casualty since September 2024. Mr. Sapia offers over 30 years of extensive expertise in casualty underwriting and field management, with a specialized focus on the E&S market. Mr. Sapia most recently served as Director of Liability Underwriting for HDI Global USA and previously held leadership roles at AXIS and Guy Carpenter. Prior to his corporate roles, Mr. Sapia was a Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps and received his MBA and BS in Business Administration from the University of Denver.

Commitment to D.I.C.E.

At Palomar, we embrace Diversity, Inclusion, Community Engagement and Equality (D.I.C.E.) in all facets of the organization. We have built an open culture that celebrates the diversity of our workforce and integrates equality and inclusion practices into all we do.

We put our beliefs into action. Palomar has implemented robust environmental, social, governance, diversity and inclusion initiatives that improve our company and our world.

Embracing Sustainability

At Palomar, we view our commitment to responsible corporate governance and sustainability not only as a means of meeting current standards but as a testament to our adaptability and resilience in the face of emerging challenges as well.

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Palomar's Commitment

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