John Butler of Cohen & Company Inc.

John Butler, the head of Cohen & Company’s U.S. insurance asset management platform, will join the board of directors of Metromile, Inc., effective August 4, 2021.

Sandra Clarke of Blue Shield of California

Sandra Clarke, the chief financial officer of Blue Shield of California, will join the board of directors of Metromile, Inc., effective August 31, 2021.

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 03, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Metromile, Inc. (NASDAQ: MILE, MILEW), a leading digital insurance platform and pay-per-mile auto insurer, today announced two seasoned insurance and finance executives are joining its board of directors. John Butler, a managing director of Cohen & Company Inc. (NYSE American: COHN), is joining effective August 4. Sandra Clarke, CFO of Blue Shield of California, will join as a board director effective August 31.

Butler, head of Cohen & Company’s U.S. insurance asset management platform, is a 25-year insurance executive with deep global experience. Prior to joining Cohen & Company, Butler oversaw the investment of $4 billion principally in fixed income and insurance-linked securities at Twelve Capital, a European asset manager specializing in investment in the insurance sector.

“I have been fortunate to work with many insurance companies throughout my career, and I have not seen a company like Metromile. I feel honored to join Metromile’s board of directors and help contribute to the strong foundation Dan, Dave and the team have already put in place to build a disciplined generational company,” said Butler.

Clarke has more than 25 years of experience directing worldwide financial organizations in insurance and other highly regulated, critical industries. Before joining Blue Shield of California, Clarke held senior finance roles at Daiichi Sankyo, Philips Healthcare and Siemens Water Technologies.

On August 31, 2021, Butler will assume the non-executive chairman role, succeeding David Friedberg, CEO of The Production Board and Metromile founder, who served in the position for more than 10 years. Friedberg will remain a member of the Metromile board of directors. The company also announced that Betsy Z. Cohen stepped down from the board of directors.

“Betsy, along with the entire Cohen & Company team, has been instrumental in our transition to a public company. We thank her for invaluable support and guidance this past year,” said Metromile CEO Dan Preston. “As part of our relationship with Cohen & Company, we have come to know John very well and have greatly benefited from his years of insurance industry experience. We are thrilled he is joining the Board.”