It’s an exciting time for USAA.
In early January 2025, the financial services company announced the appointment of Juan C. Andrade as its next President and Chief Executive Officer. The news comes on the heels of the retirement announcement of Wayne Peacock last summer, who has been with the company for 36 years.
“I will miss our members and being able to engage with them, and I’ll miss our great teammates here at USAA, who have a passion to serve every single day,” Peacock told We Are The Mighty. “I think the people make the difference, and knowing that the people here care deeply about those we serve has been part of this special mission for me and the special mission for USAA.”
But as Peacock exits stage right, he is certain of one thing.
“We’ve got a chance to welcome in one of the best leaders in the insurance industry, a great patriot, someone who is very familiar to USAA and on our board for the last four years,” Peacock said. “I’m very confident he’s going to continue to move our mission forward and take great care of military members.”
Andrade joins USAA from Everest Group, Ltd., a worldwide leader in insurance and reinsurance solutions, where he served as president and CEO, but began his career working in national security, international affairs, and drug policy within the U.S. Federal Government’s Executive Branch and The Executive Office of the President. In between, Andrade was president of Chubb’s international business in over 50 countries, president and chief operating officer at The Hartford and a general manager at Progressive.
“When I got the opportunity to lead USAA, it was really an honor, because, as I told our 38,000 employees last week, it’s an opportunity for me to serve again, different than when I was a young man, because now I have 30 plus years of experience in the private sector,” Andrade said. “I’ve had the opportunity to work in some world class companies and lead very large multinational organizations, and I get to bring that expertise now to the CEO chair at USAA.”
Andrade joined We Are The Mighty to answer a few questions about how he plans to support military families in his new leadership role.
What excites you about taking on the role of CEO at USAA?
Really, it’s the opportunity to be able to help our military community and our veterans with financial planning, financial services, and financial security. One of the unique things about our company is that we can literally serve our members through a wide range of products. We have a bank, we have a life insurance company, we have an auto and home company as well, so we can really help through that entire life journey, from when you’re an 18-year-old at boot camp to the time that you’ve already retired and you’ve acquired some wealth along the way. So for me, being able to continue to provide those level of products, the level of education, the level of investment advice, the level of protection, but more importantly – the level of service that we’re known for. You’re not just running a big company, you’re running a mission here, and you have to have that in your DNA and in your blood to be able to do that correctly.
How do you plan to continue supporting military families and their unique financial needs as the financial industry evolves?
This is something that Wayne has really started and developed – that I will continue to pursue – is always continuing to identify areas where we can provide better products and services. For example, investment advice is one. Being able to provide our members with the knowledge to decide what to do with their money, how do we invest it, and how to start really saving for the future. I think that’s a very important component of all of that.
I think another is the understanding that life insurance is very important and that in order to protect their families, they need to be able to buy life insurance products, as well as other associated products.
And then lastly, really it’s about auto and home. You know, as we have seen, there’s been a lot of climatic activity over the last number of years. We have, most recently, the wildfires out in California. But it’s really how do we move to a prevent type of methodology, as opposed to a post-event claim type of methodology? So how do we prevent the claim before it actually happens? And so, for me, these are the kinds of things that I’m going to be focused on, in addition to continuing to provide world-class service to our members.
What changes, if any, do you foresee in USAA’s products and service offerings?
The things that will not change are the culture and our mission and our values. We will continue to hold that and continue to develop that. I think for us, it’s going to be looking at the future and trying to identify how the world is changing around us. So for example, if you look at automobile insurance in the future, there’s going to be more, you know, cars like Waymo in San Francisco, right? Driverless cars, a lot more technology and these kinds of things. So by definition, that is going to change the nature of the products that we offer and sell at USAA to our members.
But for me, it’s also going to be about, again, the wealth management products, the investment products, these kinds of things, because I think that becomes very important to our members. It’s really that ability to be able to serve you at every stage of your life journey.
At every stage of that journey, you need different things. So when you’re just a young kid, maybe it’s a checking account, (or) maybe it’s automobile insurance. When you get married, maybe it’s the renter’s insurance for your apartment, or maybe it’s the mortgage for your house. As you start acquiring more wealth, there are different things that come into play. So, for me, it’s that constant evolution, and the key for all of this, frankly, is really understanding our members and understanding their needs so we can cater our products to that.
What’s one thing that you want USAA members to know about your leadership style?
I’m very honored to be here, and I have a very collaborative leadership style that is backed by 40 years of experience in both the private and public sectors. So that’s what I bring to the table.