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Kevin Murphy became Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance’s new CEO starting Jan. 1. Until his promotion he was IFBI’s senior vice president of property and casualty.

“With 30 years of extensive experience in the insurance industry, he has distinguished himself as a proven leader, well-suited as our new CEO,” said Indiana Farm Bureau President Randy Kron.

Murphy has been a key member of the company’s leadership team since 2000, when he began as director and chief actuary of product management solutions. In 2008, he became senior P&C vice president. In this role, he was responsible for the operational areas of the property and casualty companies, including claims, underwriting, actuarial and product management solutions.

He was also acting CEO in 2020 during the time then- CEO Joe Martin, who retired at the end of the year, was recovering from a serious illness.

Murphy graduated from Franklin College with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and later earned a master’s degree in mathematics from Miami University.

“I went to college intending to become a high school math teacher,” he said. But when he started student teaching, he found out that although he has great admiration for math teachers, the job just wasn’t for him.

It was when he was in grad school that he found out about the actuarial world.

Prior to joining IFBI, Murphy spent 10 years in various actuarial roles with American States Insurance and Safeco Insurance.

“When I started at Farm Bureau, I was the only P&C actuary,” but now product management solutions is a department of multiple actuaries and multiple analysts, he explained.

There have been many changes in IFBI during the 20 years he’s worked here, Murphy said, “But one of the most gratifying has been watching us transform from a company that led from instinct and feel to a company that leads by using data and information. That’s one of the big things.”

Joe Martin led the development of a five-year plan in 2019, and Murphy said he plans to focus particular attention on three of the concepts identified in that plan: being more innovative, agile and risk-taking.

“Focusing on these will allow us to excel in the marketplace,” he said.

“Being innovative” doesn’t have to mean making big changes, he added.

“Sometimes being innovative just means taking a look at what we (as a company) do on a daily basis and figuring out how to do it better – faster, more efficient, clearer to the customer. All those things may seem small, but they add up in a big way.”