Long-Time Avemco Boss Will Play Active Role Over Next 18 months

ANN has had the chance to follow up on Monday's somewhat surprising news that Jim Lauerman was giving up the top seat as President of Avemco -- with former AOPA staffer JJ Greenway taking over.

During a Tuesday afternoon chat, Lauerman noted that the transition has been under consideration "for some time" and will allow him to remain at Avemco for the next 6 months in order to give Greenway every possible assistance in taking over the aviation insurance juggernaut.

In addition to the time he has committed to staying at Avemco, Lauerman will remain available to Avemco for another 12 months in a consulting role, after he which he admits he 'might really retire.'

It will have been a log and pretty substantial run for Lauerman... the official bio notes that with over 4,000 hours of flight time, his  career has spanned almost every aspect of general aviation. Starting in the Navy as an acoustic sensor operator aboard a P-3 Orion, he eventually 'went civilian' where he purchased and managed his own flight school and Grumman-American dealership, which he later sold to become Chief Pilot and Chief Flight Instructor at Elliot Beechcraft. In 1985, National Aviation Underwriters recruited him to enter the aviation insurance profession and was eventually promoted to Vice President of US Specialty Insurance Company (USSIC) and later, became the Executive Vice President of Operations at Avemco. He became President of Avemco in 2007.

JJ Greenway

His successor has quite a pedigree, as well. Prior to joining Avemco, Mr. Greenway served as captain and check airman with American Airlines and more recently as the director of Safety for the AOPA Air Safety Institute. He is an aircraft owner and active flight instructor, and lives with his wife (Candy) and two daughters in Frederick, Maryland.

Avemco is part of HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc., which is headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company is an international specialty insurance group with offices across the United States and in the United Kingdom, Spain and Ireland. As of September 30, 2011, HCC had assets of $9.6 billion and shareholders' equity of $3.3 billion.

In Monday's announcement, Michael J. Donovan, President of HCC Aviation noted that, "we are very pleased to have Jonathan Greenway bring his aviation experience and passion for safety to Avemco. We would also like to express our thanks and appreciation to Jim Lauerman whose 28 years of loyalty, expertise and leadership have helped to make Avemco the success that it is today."

FMI: www.hcc.com, www.avemco.com