Liberty Mutual to press on with realignment

BOSTON (Bloomberg) — Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., the ninth-largest U.S. property-casualty insurer, will press ahead with its planned conversion to a mutual holding company despite opposition from consumer groups, according to the company’s chief financial officer. “We think this is in the best interests of policyholders and plan to go forward,” said J. Paul Condrin III, Liberty Mutual’s CFO, in an interview. “In any restructuring, there will be critics. In this case we believe they’re in the minority.” Liberty’s plan to convert to a mutual holding company — a kind of halfway house between mutual and stockholder ownership — has drawn the ire of consumer groups and some Massachusetts legislators, who claim policyholders will lose out.