Local insurer’s chairman floated as BofA boss candidate

By Geert De Lombaerde Posted on November 4, 2009 at 9:55 am

Finger Interests, an investment firm critical of Bank of America’s search for a successor to Ken Lewis, has compiled a draft list of executives it says the company should consider to make its process more than “cosmetic.” Among them is Gerald Ford, the chairman and former CEO of Nashville-based auto insurer First Acceptance.

Ford ran Golden State Bancorp before selling it to Citigroup seven years ago for $5.8 billion and building First Acceptance soon after. He also chairs the board of trustees of Southern Methodist University.

Finger says Ford is a “proven entrepreneur” with the chops to handle a turnaround situation, but admits he is a long shot for the BofA job and says First Acceptance’s recent performance — a nine-month loss of $68.3 million on sales of $265 million — isn’t a positive, either.

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Tags: activist investors, Bank of America Corp., banking, executive leadership, Finger Interests Ltd., Gerald J. Ford, property  

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