“But I've enjoyed my time here. The staff has been great and I'm proud of what I've been a part of and what we've accomplished.”

He says his career in insurance is likely done, leaving open only the possibility that he'd volunteer on a company or organization's board of directors.

Prior to his time in Louisiana, Robertson was general manager of the Michigan Basic Property Insurance Association (Michigan FAIR Plan) in Detroit. He was appointed to head the Pelican State's last-resort insurer after Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon's first choice to run Citizens, Charles M. Angell of Alabama, chose not to take the position for personal, family reasons.

Robertson took over for John Wortman, who is credited with redirecting the insurer after years of misappropriations and mismanagement.

Robertson's tenure might best be remembered for the class action lawsuits Citizens faced from thousands of policyholders who claimed Citizens did not begin adjusting their claims within a 30-day time limit after hurricane Katrina and Rita.

The state and Citizens attempted to fight off court decisions and awards, before finally agreeing to settle.

“That's behind us, but it took a toll,” Robertson says, referring to the expenditure. More than $100 million in settlements, coupled with $75 million in claims payments from Hurricane Isaac and another $15 million in payments to policyholders after a February hailstorm, has Citizens “bleeding cash fairly rampantly,” says Robertson.

Robertson says he is counting on the state's approval of a plan for Citizens to borrow $100 million through the sale of bonds to “get us back up to where we were last year” in terms of cash on hand. But according to local reports, the state's governor, treasurer, and Donelon, are against the borrowing plan.

The board for Citizens voted to sell the bonds to cover a cash shortfall of $70 million, they say.

Under his watch, Citizenbs looked to reduce costs and exposure. Robertson says Citizens will save $4 million to $6 million per year by bringing underwriting and claims-handling in house.

“Previously this was outsourced, but the board decided they wanted a more hands-on approach to what's at stake,” Robertson says. “We ran the numbers and found we were paying a lot in management fees to outsource.”

The savings are expected even with the expected hiring of up to 10 new employees, he adds.

Additionally, Citizens is looking to subtract from its policy count to reduce its obligations, and the potential impact on all Louisiana policyholders should a large event happen, since all are subject to assessments if a shortfall occurs.

Robertson says depopulation efforts of Citizens are going well and there is a “renewed interest by two major companies.” Talks are underway, but if a deal can be reached with these companies, possibly 10,000-15,000 could be removed from Citizens' books, Robertson says.