Allstate grabs OfficeMax exec for CFO job

Allstate Corp., the largest publicly traded U.S. home and auto insurer, named Don Civgin as chief financial officer, completing a transition of top management.

Civgin, 47, joins the insurer on Sept. 8 from OfficeMax Inc. where he is CFO, Northbrook-based Allstate said today in a statement. Chief Executive Officer Thomas Wilson, 50, became chairman in April after former CEO Edward Liddy, 62, retired.

Allstate's new finance chief takes over as declining premium revenue, catastrophes and investment losses buffet insurers. Allstate, which scaled back coverage in disaster-prone coastal states, said second-quarter profit plunged 98 percent on a record number of tornadoes in the U.S. Midwest and the declining value of fixed-income holdings.

Civgin leaves OfficeMax, the third-largest U.S. office supplies retailer, after almost three years on Aug. 29, the Naperville-based retailer said today in a separate statement. He replaces Allstate's acting CFO Sam Pilch, the company's controller, who took over after the previous finance chief Dan Hale, 64, retired in March.