Assurang Inc.

ASSURANT INC. has named ROBERT B. POLLOCK as chief executive officer and appointed him to its board of directors. Pollock, currently Assurant's president and chief operating officer, will succeed J. KERRY CLAYTON as CEO. Clayton has announced his intention to retire on March 17.

Clayton, 60, who recently marked his 35th anniversary with the company and its predecessors, will remain on Assurant's board in the newly created position of vice chairman until the end of 2006. The board doesn't plan to elect a new vice chairman at the end of the year.

Pollock, who will continue as president, joined Assurant in 1981. Before he was named president and COO in 2005, Pollock was executive vice president and chief financial officer of Assurant.