Executive Bios

LESLIE D. MAINE

Chairman, President

Les Maine is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and has worked in the insurance industry for more than 30 years. Prior to founding CSA in 1991, Maine served as Senior Vice President and Chief Actuary of Balboa Insurance Companies and Senior Vice President of AMEX Life Insurance Companies. In 1985, he developed the American Express Travel Protection Plan.

Maine's work with the American Express, along with his consulting in the travel insurance industry, led him to the conclusion that there was great potential to deliver travel insurance and assistance services in the United States. CSA was built upon the belief that this potential could be tapped if U.S. travelers could be made aware of the need for and availability of quality, low-cost travel protection offered conveniently through retail travel agencies.

Maine believes that providing superior quality comes from employees with the absolute highest levels of integrity and dedication to customer service, accurate product pricing, and efficient use of today's new technologies that reduce costs and allow for greater flexibility and convenience to the traveling public.

FRANK SHELLABEAR

President, Sales Division

Frank Shellabear is a native of Perth, Western Australia. After serving as a commissioned officer in the Australian Army, Shellabear began his career in the life insurance industry in 1972. He later joined the start-up Australian American Assurance Company (an AIG company) in 1974, where he rose to the position of National Sales Manager.

Shellabear's industry experience includes a key role in developing of Australian Federation of Travel Agents (AFTA) Travel Insurance, a dominant Australian travel insurance program. He served as a consultant to Sentry Insurance and, in 1983, spent a year in the United States as Senior Sales and Marketing executive on the TravelGuard startup team.

In 1987, Shellabear returned to the United States and launched Travelsure, Inc., a travel insurance marketing and sales company. By the early 1990s, Travelsure was the dominant travel insurance brokerage on the West Coast. It subsequently merged with CSA Travel Protection.

Shellabear is one of the co-founders of CSA and continues to serve as a corporate officer. He was a stockholder prior to the 2008 acquisition by Europ Assistance. His current focus is on national and custom accounts, as well as business development. He is an active member and serves on the Board of Directors of the US Travel Insurance Association (UStiA). In his free time, Shellabear enjoys spending time with three grandchildren who live nearby.

BRIAN SMITH

Chief Information Officer

Brian Smith manages CSA's Information Technology department, and is responsible for planning and developing all CSA information systems, plus the company's Internet development strategy, computer and network operations, database management and telecommunications.

Prior to joining CSA in 1999, Smith was President of Brian J. Smith and Associates, Inc. This company developed custom business application systems for more than 100 companies in a variety of industries. The company specialized in client/server and LAN-based systems.

In 1993, Smith's company developed CSA's first in-house policy and claims-processing system. When CSA outgrew this system in 1997, Smith's company developed a custom client/server system that now leads the travel insurance industry's technology. Smith now works on initiatives to enhance CSA's in-house systems and e-commerce capabilities.

He is responsible for software and hardware purchase and maintenance; system development; database management; MIS support; Web development and maintenance; and IT systems continuity. He has a bachelor of science in mathematics from the California Institute of Technology.

MARY MAINE

Executive Vice President

Mary Maine currently serves as CSA’s Executive Channel, Marketing and Business Development Strategy Officer, Chief Actuary and Corporate Secretary. She joined CSA in May 2002 and has held various executive and officer roles in operations, finance, actuarial, sales, marketing and business development before becoming the Executive Vice President in July 2009.

Mary has previously worked with a number of P & C insurance companies, MGA/MGU companies and consulting firms where she honed her managerial skills, analytical expertise, and insurance knowledge. She is currently focused in the sales, marketing, business development, actuarial, compliance and business process aspect of the travel insurance industry.

Mary has a B.S. in Applied Mathematics (graduated Summa Cum Laude), M.A. in Applied Mathematical Statistics. She loves nature and enjoys hiking and kayaking in her free time, as well as arts and crafts.

NITA Moritz

Chief Financial Officer, Chief Actuary

Nita Moritz joined CSA in the fall of 2009 as the Chief Financial Officer. She has wide-ranging expertise from audit to corporate and international finance. One of Nita’s strengths is her ability to bridge operations and finance to strengthen business performance. With extensive experience in accounting and finance (IFRS & GAAP), strategic planning, cost management and regulatory compliance, she brings a wealth of experience to the position.

Most recently, Nita was the Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Finance at Netlist, Inc., a high tech company, where she directed the finance, legal, HR and IT departments and also directed the setup of the Taiwanese sales office.

Nita has earned a California CPA, an MBA from CSU Long Beach, and a bachelor’s degree in both accounting and finance.

BOB CHAMBERS

Operations Executive

Bob Chambers is responsible for the operational functions of CSA, including Customer Service, Claims, Human Resources and Facilities. He also has administrative responsibilities for CSA’s Information Technology Department.

Bob has held a number of operational and marketing management positions in the insurance industry for the past 25 years, including 10 years of specialization in the travel insurance field. He joined CSA in 1992, holding a number of senior positions in the organization, and was instrumental in the company’s early development. Bob was Vice President of Sales and Marketing when he left CSA in 2000 to manage the web development and online marketing initiatives at Unitrin Direct Auto Insurance. He also held operational management positions at Progressive Insurance, rejoining CSA in 2008.

Bob holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in electronic commerce.