The state Insurance Commissioner is stepping down from his position this month to pursue new opportunities.
Arkansas Insurance Commissioner Allen Kerr said Wednesday (March 4) that he is set to resign from his position on March 27. He has served as insurance commissioner since 2015 when he was appointed by Gov. Asa Hutchinson.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as state insurance commissioner under Gov. Hutchinson these last five years,” he said in a statement. “Today, Arkansas is the destination for the insurance industry known as a place where a company can come and do honest business without being overregulated.”
During Kerr’s tenure, the insurance department increased its premium volume from $2.93 billion to $15.2 billion and increased collections from $233 million to more than $310 million. It also added more than 5,000 new licensed producers and adjusters and added approximately 3,300 new licensed businesses.
The Insurance Department was incorporated into the Department of Commerce in 2019 as part of Hutchinson’s government transformation project.
Before he was named insurance commissioner, Kerr served in the Arkansas House of Representatives for three terms. As a representative, he served as the chairman of the Joint Committee on Public Retirement and Social Security Programs.
He established the Allen Kerr Insurance Agency in 1983. The agency was bought by Delta Trust and Bank in 2013 and later purchased by Simmons Bank, becoming Simmons First Insurance, which Kerr serves as president.
READ MORE: Super Tuesday Results – Winners and Losers
