Lead Director Message

As independent Lead Director of Travelers, I am privileged to serve a company that helps its customers achieve their personal and business goals by protecting the things that matter most to them. I am also proud to oversee a management team that takes an integrated approach to sustained value creation.

As a Board, we have a responsibility to act as stewards of our shareholders’ capital by creating shareholder value over time. I emphasize over time because, in the property and casualty insurance business, decisions are made and strategies are developed based on tens and even hundreds of years of data. At Travelers, we’ve observed that the companies that consistently create the most shareholder value are the ones that think not quarter-by-quarter but decade-by-decade, as our company does. In that sense, Travelers has been managing with a mindset focused on sustainability long before it became fashionable.

As Alan notes in his message, management has also long recognized that to succeed in its mission of creating shareholder value over time, the company must not only perform and transform but also take care of its customers, communities and employees – or, as we refer to it, fulfill the Travelers Promise. The Board shares this commitment to the Travelers Promise and its central role in long-term value creation. In fact, Travelers’ success for more than 165 years is owed, in large part, to keeping that Promise.

Our Board takes a holistic approach to its oversight responsibilities, with the goal of ensuring that the decisions Travelers makes today maximize its long-term sustainability. In addition to overseeing capital allocation, investment management, enterprise risk management and other business topics traditionally overseen by boards, the Board meets regularly with senior Travelers leaders to review strategic plans and initiatives related to a broad variety of business-relevant risks and opportunities. These include, for example, risks and opportunities related to changing climate conditions, emerging technology such as artificial intelligence (AI), data privacy and cybersecurity, ethics and compliance, human capital management, diversity and inclusion, and data and analytics, to name just a few.

Specifically, in 2023, as part of a larger strategic planning session, we reviewed strategies related to the development and enhancement of our competitive advantages and our strategic investments in technology, including data and AI, to support innovation in our business and position the company for profitable growth over time. Additionally, this last year, as we have done in the past, the Risk Committee and the Board met regularly with leaders throughout the organization to discuss catastrophe risks, including weather volatility and changing climate conditions, with a focus on Travelers’ underwriting strategies and risk management approach and the potential impact of climate-related perils to Travelers and its customers. In 2023, technology and cybersecurity risks also continued to be top of mind for the Board and for me, as Chair of the Risk Committee. The Risk Committee regularly reviewed evolving cyber risks and their impact on our company, our cyber products and our customers.

As a Board, we recognize that given the pace of change in today’s world, our business will continue to face new and evolving challenges. We will continue to examine each issue with the attention and thoughtfulness it deserves, with the overarching goal of ensuring Travelers’ ability to create shareholder value over time. We feel confident that this approach will enable Travelers to continue to perform today and transform for tomorrow.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge that the Board has long understood and valued the importance of soliciting investor feedback on topics that are important to the company and its shareholders. The Board’s Nominating and Governance Committee oversees a comprehensive shareholder engagement program under which management reaches out to the company’s largest shareholders throughout the year to facilitate a dialogue with respect to the company’s financial results, corporate strategy, compensation practices and environmental, social and governance matters. Over the past year, management engaged with shareholders representing more than 40% of the company’s outstanding shares to discuss their perspectives on these matters. As Lead Director, I personally participated in several of these shareholder meetings, as did the Chairs of the Board’s Compensation Committee and Nominating and Governance Committee. We will continue to engage with our shareholders to ensure that the company’s policies, practices and disclosures are informed by their views.

On behalf of the Travelers Board, I look forward to continuing to serve the interests of our shareholders and other stakeholders. In the meantime, I encourage you to read more about Travelers’ holistic approach to sustained value creation on this site.