Management

FARMERS GROUP, INC.

Raul Vargas | Chief Executive Officer

Raul Vargas is CEO of Farmers Group, Inc. (Farmers).

Raul has more than two decades of international leadership experience across Latin America and Europe. He has had an extensive and successful career with the Zurich Group, and spent the past eight years as CEO of Zurich Santander Insurance America. Prior to this, Raul held a number of leadership roles in a variety of geographies, including Head of Distribution and Proposition Management of Zurich Santander in Madrid, Spain, Head of Life Business- Latin America in Miami, FL, as well as Chief Life Actuary and Head of Product Development in Milan, Italy. He joined the Zurich Group in 1997 as Life Actuary in Zurich Argentina.

Education: Bachelor of Actuarial Science and Economics, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

FARMERS GROUP, INC.

Paul Wilson | Chief of Operations and Customer Service

Paul Wilson is Chief of Operations and Customer Service. In this role, Paul leads the IT and Service Operations teams and oversees the development and execution of all strategic operations and customer service initiatives.

Prior to joining Farmers, Wilson served as Group IT Leader and Chief Information Officer at Westfield Insurance. Prior to this, he was with Progressive Casualty Insurance for nearly 28 years serving in a variety of technology and business-related roles, most recently as a key IT applications executive leading Claims, Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, and Corporate IT functions.

Wilson is a member of the Corporate Executive Board and of the Accenture Insurance Innovation Executive Board. He is passionate about developing the teams he leads and has attended executive training courses at Harvard Business School for executive education.

Education: BS Applied Math, University of Akron, Ohio; BS Computer Science, University of Akron, Ohio; MBA, University of Akron, Ohio.

FARMERS GROUP, INC.

Giles Harrison | Chief Financial Officer

Giles Harrison is Chief Financial Officer for Farmers Group, Inc. He is responsible for all financial matters including financial accounting and reporting, planning and performance management, investments, treasury, actuarial, tax and finance operations.

Harrison has held several key leadership positions at Zurich including his recent role as CEO Regional Markets EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) overseeing Zurich operations, and Head of Group Mergers & Acquisitions overseeing 40 transactions in 5 continents. Prior to that he served as Global Co-Head Financial Institutions Group, Global Banking & Markets at HSBC Group.

Education: B.A. Oxford University, Oxfordshire, England; M.B.A, Harvard Business School, Cambridge, MA

FARMERS GROUP, INC.

Melissa Joye | Chief Marketing Officer

Melissa Joye is Chief Marketing Officer, overseeing the Farmers brand and marketing strategy, advertising, lead generation, research and analytics as well as customer experience initiatives that deliver on our customer-centric strategy. 

Melissa joined Farmers in 2017 as the company’s first Chief Customer Experience Officer and was named Chief Marketing Officer in 2021. As Chief Customer Experience Officer, Melissa defined the company’s vision for customer experience and enhancing key capabilities, and built a team that worked across the business to design, re-engineer and digitize key customer journeys to deliver an easy experience.

Prior to joining Farmers, Melissa was based in London at American Express, where she led the Strategic Planning Group for the international portion of the business. She was previously a Principal at Bain & Company with a focus on serving clients in the financial services and private equity sectors. Melissa started her career in investment banking and then high yield bond research at Banc of America Securities in New York.

Education: M.B.A. with honors, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania; B.S. magna cum laude, Economics, Duke University.

FARMERS GROUP, INC.

Ken Walton | President of Distribution

Ken Walton is President of Distribution.  In this role, Ken sets the strategic direction for and leads the operational activities of the Farmers Distribution which includes the Exclusive Agent, Independent Agent, Strategic Partnerships, and Workplace Solutions channels.  

Walton has held numerous leadership roles in the insurance carrier and brokerage space over the past two plus decades.  He started his career with The Hartford with rotational assignments in claims, marketing, and underwriting and finished 13 years later as Regional Vice President responsible for P&C operations out of Northern New England.  He has also led Business Insurance sales for Allstate, led a retail brokerage operation for Brown and Brown, led regional underwriting for AmTrust Financial, and most recently served as Chief Revenue Officer for Acrisure.  In each of these roles, Ken has worked closely with producers and agents to grow their business and generate organic growth.    

Ken is on the Board of Advisors of the Risk Management and Insurance program at Virginia Commonwealth University.  

Education: BS Finance with a concentration in Risk Management and Insurance, Virginia Commonwealth University.  

FARMERS GROUP, INC.

Michael J. Cok | Interim President of Personal Lines and Business Insurance 

Mike Cok is President of Foremost as well as the interim President of Personal Lines and Business Insurance. 

In Cok’s role as President of Foremost, he leads strategic development and execution for Farmers Specialty, which provides a robust suite of focused personal lines products distributed countrywide through Farmers agents, independent agents and affinity direct-to-consumer channels. He works closely with IA Operations sales and marketing teams focused on the Foremost Brand.  

Cok joined Foremost in 1987 as Assistant Treasurer and Controller for Foremost Financial Services Corporation. He then held numerous leadership positions, with increasing responsibility. Cok was named Vice President of Farmers Insurance Group in January 2006 and Chief Operating Officer, Farmers Specialty in January 2013. Before joining Farmers, Cok began his career with Deloitte and Touche, an international accounting and consulting firm in 1983. 

Education: Cok has a B.A. in Economics from Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan and a CPA designation.  

FARMERS GROUP, INC.

Asya Alexandrovich | General Counsel for Farmers Group, Inc.

Asya Alexandrovich is General Counsel for Farmers Group, Inc. 

As General Counsel, Alexandrovich oversees corporate litigation, legislative affairs, compliance and auditing – all crucial functions that are core to the organization’s key value of integrity.  

Alexandrovich joined Farmers from American Family Insurance. In a legal career spanning two decades, Alexandrovich has extensive business and strategy experience with expertise in all aspects of legal operations, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and insurance regulation. Additionally, she has strategically led corporate legal, litigation, compliance and government affairs teams to ensure business alignment and enablement. Prior to joining American Family, Alexandrovich was a senior associate at Mintz Levin, a global law firm headquartered in Boston.  

Education: J.D., Cornell Law School; B.S., Brandeis University 

FARMERS GROUP, INC.

Mark Welch | Chief People & Diversity Officer

In his role as Chief People & Diversity Officer for Farmers Group, Inc., Welch is responsible for leading the Human Resources (HR) team and driving the organization’s strategies related to people, culture and corporate structure, including its efforts related to diversity, equity and inclusion. Welch helps drive key HR best practices and initiatives, and provides strategic direction, expertise, and counsel regarding leadership, coaching, employee relations, talent acquisition and management.

Previously, Welch served in a number of leadership roles over the course of his 22 years at Northern Trust, most recently as Chief Human Resources Officer for its North America region. During his tenure at Northern Trust he also served as Chief Human Resources Officer for the APAC region (based in Singapore), Global Chief Talent Officer, and Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer. He began at Northern Trust leading Marketing for the organization’s Wealth Management business in the Western United States.

Welch was recognized as a Top 50 HR Professional by the National Diversity & Leadership Conference in 2021. He is a graduate of the 2021 McKinsey Black Executive Leadership Program, the 2019 Willis Towers Watson Cornerstone Program, and was a 2009 Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow. Welch has received accolades from several news publications, including Black Enterprise Magazine’s "Top Executives in Diversity," Uptown Professional Magazine’s "Top 100 Executives in America," and Savoy Magazine’s "Top 100 Most Influential Blacks in Corporate America."

Education: Mark majored in Economics and Environmental Studies (Policy and Planning) at the University of California at Santa Cruz and in 1996, was named an Irvine Fellow in Urban Policy & Planning at Stanford University.

FARMERS INSURANCE EXCHANGE

Kevin Yoo | Chief Claims Officer

Kevin Yoo is Chief Claims Officer for Farmers, a position he’s held since 2023. In his role as Chief Claims Officer at Farmers, Kevin is responsible for delivering on the organization’s Claims strategy, which includes a strong focus on customer experience, innovation and developing talent. A key deliverable is continuing to create a transformative end-to-end digital claims experience.​

Kevin has an extensive insurance background, having served in senior claims roles at CSAA, Chubb, Allstate and Progressive throughout the last 20 years. His most recent role was at Five Sigma, a startup claims technology company, where he served as Chief Operating Officer. In that position, Kevin oversaw operational aspects of the business, including client marketing and sales, investor relations, technology development and client deployment. ​

Education: Kevin holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the University of Maryland. ​

FARMERS INSURANCE EXCHANGE

Jarrod Murrieta | Head of Claims Shared Services

Jarrod Murrieta was named Head of Claims Shared Services for Farmers Exchanges in January 2022. In this role, Jarrod is responsible for leading the business units that provide services to the Claims organization and its customers, including the Claims Contact Center, Claims Support Services, the National Document Center, Special Investigations Unit, Strategic Initiatives, Subrogation and the Claims training component of the University of Farmers.

Jarrod joined Farmers Insurance in 2007 and has held a variety of leadership positions with increasing responsibility. Prior to his current role, Jarrod was the Head of Catastrophe & National Property Operations, leading Farmers Claims Catastrophe Response and Logistics Management across the country. He has led claims organizations in Nevada, California and Hawaii. He also worked as the West Zone Strategy Manager for Auto Physical Damage claims and spent time with the University of Farmers claims division.

Additionally, Jarrod is a long-time champion of Diversity and Inclusion and currently sits as the co-executive sponsor for our Mindfully Fit Employee Resource Group. 

Education: Jarrod graduated with a B.A. in Communications and a minor in Gender Studies from Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon.

FARMERS INSURANCE EXCHANGE

Kim Hare | Head of Claims Property

Kim Hare was named Head of Property Claims for Farmers Exchanges in January 2022. In this role, Kim is responsible for leading more than 2,500 Property Claims employees across the country.

Kim joined Farmers in 2009 as part of the 21st Century acquisition. Since that time, she has held key leadership roles in Claims Shared Services with the National Med/Pip organization and a variety of important leadership roles in Auto Claims including her previous role as Head of Auto Central Zone, National Strategy Leader and Western Region Director. Prior to joining 21st Century and Farmers, Kim spent 23 years with American Family and GMAC in a variety of multi-line claims roles as well as policy services and sales. In total, Kim brings well over 30 years of wide-ranging experience in the insurance industry and countless successes and contributions. 

Education: Kim holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Management and her Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU). She is also Six Sigma Blue Belt certified. 

FARMERS INSURANCE EXCHANGE

Thomas Noh | Chief Financial Officer

Thomas Noh is the Chief Financial Officer of the Farmers Exchanges, a position he has held since 2019.

Beginning his insurance career in 1989, Thomas started as an accountant and worked at Transamerica and Allianz. In 1996, he joined Farmers as an accounting specialist in the External Financial Reporting department. He was promoted to manager in 1999 and has held finance positions in Personal Lines, S A P and Property Claims. He became a Claims Finance Director in 2006 and was appointed as Assistant Vice President in 2010. In 2013, Thomas took on the role of Head of Claims Finance, Analysis and Quality Assurance.

Thomas also retired from the United States Army Reserve after 24 years of service as a Finance and Civil Affairs officer.

Education: Thomas has a bachelor’s degree from California State University, Northridge and a Masters in Business Administration from California State University, Dominguez Hills.

FARMERS INSURANCE EXCHANGE

Richard Ing | Head of Business Insurance Claims

Richard Ing was named Head of Business Insurance Claims for Farmers Exchanges in January 2022. In this role, Richard is responsible for the overall strategic direction, leadership and management of Business Insurance Claims including Auto, TNC, Property, General Liability, Casualty, Environmental, Habitation, Work Comp, Professional Liability and Specialty. 

Richard joined Farmers in 2001 as a Liability Claims Representative and quickly progressed into leadership positions, all with increasing levels of responsibility.  Richard’s most recent position was Head of Auto West Zone Claims. In that role, Richard had responsibility for leading approximately 1,600 Claims associates with operational oversight for 10 states. Under his leadership, the team helped create APD higher expectations and processes, leading to national performance improvement.

Additionally, Richard is a long-time champion of Diversity and Inclusion and represents Claims on the enterprise D&I Council.

Education: Richard holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Chicago and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Pittsburgh. He is a graduate of the Farmers Insurance Academy and speaks, reads and writes in Mandarin Chinese.

FARMERS INSURANCE EXCHANGE

Tim Murray | Head of Auto Claims

Tim Murray is Head of Auto Claims for Farmers. In this role, he is responsible for Farmers automobile claims and personal liability claims operations. Prior to his current position, Tim was promoted to Head of Claims Shared Services in 2018 and was responsible for leading the business units that provide support services to the Claims organization and its customers. 

Murray joined Farmers in 2000 and served as a Claims Representative, Supervisor, and Manager for over 10 years with Subrogation Claims. He then joined the Property operation in 2011 and served in a variety of senior management roles including Specialty claims, Large loss and field operations. He served as the Head of National Operations and Property strategy before moving to Claims Shared Services. 

Education: B.S. Law Enforcement and Justice Administration, Western Illinois University.