Cincinnati Financial Corporation has expanded its board of directors to 15 members with the appointment of Admiral Lisa M. Franchetti, the retired 33rd Chief of Naval Operations, bringing significant national security and strategic planning experience to one of the largest independent-agency-focused property casualty insurers in the United States.
Franchetti's appointment is effective immediately and includes a seat on the audit committee. She retired from the US Navy in 2025 after a nearly 40-year career that culminated in leading a force of more than 600,000 personnel as the Navy's top officer from November 2023 to February 2025. She is the first woman to serve as chief of Naval Operations and to sit on the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Prior to that role, she served as vice chief of Naval Operations and as director for Strategy, Plans and Policy on the Joint Staff, and commanded the USS Ross, Destroyer Squadron 21, two carrier strike groups, US Naval Forces Korea and the US Sixth Fleet.
Following her retirement, she founded Franchetti Strategic Solutions LLC, a consulting firm focused on national security advising, global strategic planning and operational transformation.
Stephen Spray, president and chief executive officer, said: "Lisa's extensive experience in strategic planning and leadership at the highest federal levels make her an ideal candidate for our board. I know she'll immediately bring a valuable perspective to board discussions as our directors work together to enhance the value we create for shareholders now and into the future."
Founded in 1946 and headquartered in Fairfield, Ohio, Cincinnati Financial is a Nasdaq-listed property casualty insurer that distributes the vast majority of its business through a network of independent agencies, a model that distinguishes it from direct writers and has underpinned its long-run underwriting discipline. The company had 2,292 property casualty agency relationships at the end of 2025, up from 2,175 in 2024, and crossed $10 billion in property casualty net written premiums for the first time in its 75-year history.
The company achieved a full-year 2025 combined ratio of 94.9%, within its stated long-term goal of 92% to 98%, marking 14 consecutive years of underwriting profitability. The result came despite the impact of the January 2025 California wildfires, which triggered $52 million in reinsurance reinstatement premiums and contributed to an elevated catastrophe loss ratio for the year. The recovery in Q1 2026 was sharp: the property casualty combined ratio improved to 95.6% from 113.3% a year earlier, with lower catastrophe losses accounting for a 14.2-point improvement and net income swinging from a $90 million loss to $274 million.
Property casualty net written premiums grew 7% in Q1 2026, supported by premium growth initiatives, price increases and higher insured exposures. Spray said the improvement in underlying loss trends gave the company "confidence in the health of our overall book of business."
The appointment continues Cincinnati Financial's recent push to refresh and diversify its board. As of the company's 2026 proxy statement, the board comprised 14 directors, with more than 71% classified as independent and over 35% diverse based on gender and/or race and ethnicity, reflecting the appointment of six new directors since 2019. Franchetti's addition brings the total to 15.
At the May 2026 annual meeting, shareholders backed the full slate of director nominees, endorsed the say-on-pay resolution and ratified Deloitte & Touche LLP as independent auditor, while rejecting a shareholder proposal seeking expanded special meeting rights, broadly affirming confidence in the current governance structure.
For the insurance industry, the profile of the appointment reflects a broader trend of carriers recruiting military leaders with operational depth onto their boards. Officers of Franchetti's seniority bring skills that translate directly to insurer governance: large-scale risk management, catastrophe planning, logistics under uncertainty and workforce leadership across geographically dispersed organizations.
Those capabilities speak to the pressures reshaping major US property casualty carriers, from catastrophe accumulation and climate-driven loss volatility to cyber resilience and geopolitical supply chain disruption. Her experience commanding the US Sixth Fleet across Europe and Africa and her role shaping Joint Staff strategy also give her standing to contribute as the industry works through the insurance and risk implications of an increasingly volatile global environment.
The appointment comes as Cincinnati Financial continues building out its position as a disciplined mid-market carrier anchored in its agency distribution model, with the board now pairing deep insurance and financial expertise with strategic, national security and operational transformation experience.
