Oracle of Omaha Gives Shout-Out to Guard Insurance

Tuesday, May 10, 2016 | 0

Guard Insurance was recognized recently by billionaire Warren Buffett, chief executive officer of parent company Berkshire Hathaway, for its growth.

Warren Buffett
(photo by Mark Hirschey)

During the company’s annual shareholder meeting on April 30, Buffett singled out Guard Insurance for “doing terrifically,” the Times-Tribune in Scranton reported.

Buffett said Guard is “doing a great job with small business policies — primarily workers’ comp around the country — and it’s flourished.”

Buffett’s comments came during Berkshire Hathaway’s day-long annual shareholder meeting in Omaha, Neb., on April 30. About 40,000 people attended the meeting, and it was streamed live on the Internet this year for the first time.

Carl Witkowski, Guard’s chief operating officer, said Guard has grown its workforce from 310 employees to 483 since a unit of Berkshire Hathaway acquired the company in 2012.

Guard has added a ninth office in the Chicago area and more than doubled its number of policies, from 60,000 in 2012 to 129,000 in 2015, Witkowski said. The company is based in Wilkes-Barre, Penn.