Farmers Business Insurance and USAA veteran Sharon Fernandez brings 30 years of experience, including P&C operations, product and process improvement
JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Jan. 5, 2021 — Buckle, a tech-enabled financial services company, appointed Sharon Fernandez to head of the company’s Insurance Division. She comes from Farmers Business Insurance where she most recently served as President, leading $2.1 billion in revenue from a full range of small and mid-market commercial insurance products. Prior to spending nearly 13 years at Farmers, Sharon served USAA for 18 years in various executive roles. She is reporting to Buckle’s co-founder and CEO, Marty Young.
“Dustin Walsey (co-founder) and I are working to build a top notch, top tier management team at Buckle, and we are thrilled that our team now includes Sharon Fernandez,” said Marty Young. “Sharon’s background represents an ideal fit for this newly created position as Head of Buckle Insurance with her broad property and casualty (P&C) background in both consumer and commercial lines.”
Sharon also served as President of the Farmers’ Bristol West non-standard Insurance Division, a $1 billion gross written premium (GWP) personal lines, non-standard auto insurer. She was also Head of Operations for Farmers Insurance Group, which includes the Farmers, Foremost, Bristol West, and 21st Century brands with management oversight of 3000+ employees.
Prior to Farmers, Sharon was Head of Human Resources P&C at USAA and provided HR leadership and direction for the corporation’s P&C company. She was also Sales and Policy Service Executive and managed USAA’s largest P&C policy service, sales, and billing team across a complex, multi-site call center environment.
“I look forward to working with the Buckle team to deliver innovative insurance solutions for people engaged in the gig economy,” said Sharon Fernandez.
Sharon holds master’s degrees from Texas A&M University and St. Mary’s University. She received her undergraduate degree also from St. Mary’s and completed executive programs at University of Virginia – Darden School of Business, University of Pennsylvania – The Wharton School, and the University of Texas at Austin.
Sharon joins other recent significant new hires at Buckle, including Kristi Matus as CFO/COO, Jeff Nash as General Counsel, Bill Breslin as President, Buckle TPA, and Andy Rear, CEO of Digital Partners, as chairman of the board.
