The Allstate Corporation has announced updates to its senior leadership team, effective Oct. 1, 2025.
Mario Rizzo, who has served as president of Allstate’s property-liability business, has been appointed chief operating officer. In his new role, he will oversee both the property-liability and protection services segments.
Jess Merten, currently chief financial officer, will succeed Rizzo as president of property-liability and report directly to him.
To ensure continuity, John Dugenske, president of investments and corporate strategy, will assume additional responsibilities as interim chief financial officer while Allstate conducts an external search for a permanent replacement.
Tom Wilson, chair, president and chief executive officer, said the changes align with the company’s ongoing growth initiatives. “The transformative growth initiative has positioned Allstate to increase property-liability market share and expand protection offered to customers,” Wilson said.
“These leadership changes are the next logical step to complete our transformative growth initiative and enable us to leverage artificial intelligence to better serve customers, earn returns for shareholders and create opportunity for employees.”
The appointments come at after Allstate reported improved financial performance. In the second quarter of 2025, the company posted a sharp increase in underwriting income, with its auto insurance segment delivering $1.33 billion in profit, compared with $370 million a year earlier.
Allstate also strengthened its catastrophe protection this year. In August, it lifted the top of its catastrophe reinsurance program to $9.5 billion for the 2025–2026 period, up from $7.9 billion in the prior year. The move was aimed at bolstering the company’s ability to manage hurricane, wildfire and severe storm exposures, which have contributed to industry-wide losses in recent years.
Earlier, Allstate announced the sale of its employer stop-loss business to Nationwide in a $1.25 billion transaction. The deal is expected to generate deployable capital that Allstate said will be used to support growth initiatives and shareholder returns.
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