8-K

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

January 4, 2016

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported)

SAFETY INSURANCE GROUP, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware	000-50070	13-4181699
(State or other jurisdiction	(Commission	(IRS Employer
of incorporation)	File Number)	Identification No.)

20 Custom House Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02110

(Address of principal executive offices including zip code)

(617) 951-0600

(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)

Not Applicable

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

☐ Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

☐ Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

☐Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

☐Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers

(b) On January 4, 2016, David F. Brussard, the Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer, communicated his intention to retire, effective March 31, 2016.  Mr. Brussard will remain as Non-Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of Safety Insurance Group, Inc.  Mr. Brussard has been employed by the Registrant’s insurance subsidiaries for over 40 years.

(c) On January 4, 2016, George M. Murphy, 49, was appointed the Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer, effective April 1, 2016.  Mr. Murphy has held various marketing positions with the Company since 1989 and has served as Vice President of Marketing since 2005. 

Mr. Murphy’s current employment agreement will be amended to reflect his appointment as President and Chief Executive Officer.  The terms of such amendment have not been determined as of the date of this filing, and will be disclosed in a subsequent amendment to this Current Report on Form 8-K. 

There are no family relationships between Mr. Murphy and any director, executive officer or person nominated or chosen by the Company to become a director or executive officer. Additionally, there have been no transactions involving Mr. Murphy that would require disclosure under Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K.

Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d)  Exhibits.  The following exhibit is furnished herewith:

Exhibit Number	Description
99.1	Text of press release issued by the Registrant dated January 4, 2016.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

	Safety Insurance Group, Inc.
	(Registrant)
Date: January 4, 2016	By:	/s/ WILLIAM J. BEGLEY, JR
		William J. Begley, Jr.
		V.P., Chief Financial Officer and Secretary

EX-99.1

Exhibit 99.1

DAVID F. BRUSSARD TO RETIRE AS PRESIDENT AND CEO OF SAFETY, REMAIN CHAIRMAN; GEORGE M. MURPHY NAMED NEW PRESIDENT AND CEO OF SAFETY

Boston, Massachusetts, January 4, 2016.  Safety Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFT) announced today that David F. Brussard, current President and Chief Executive Officer of Safety Insurance will retire effective March 31, 2016.  The Board of Directors has appointed George M. Murphy, Vice President of Marketing, as the new President and CEO, effective April 1, 2016.  Mr. Brussard will remain as Non-Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of Safety Insurance Group, Inc.

“Our success is closely tied to the ongoing commitment and support of our independent agents and our employees,” said Mr. Brussard.  “The Board of Directors and I are confident that George is the right leader to continue this strategy which has resulted in building significant value for our shareholders.  George will continue to be backed by a stable and committed leadership team.”

Under Mr. Brussard’s leadership, Safety has grown to become a Northeast-based publicly traded property and casualty insurer with over $1.2 billion dollars of assets and nearly $800 million in premiums.  These achievements have helped Safety consistently produce a history of positive shareholder returns. 

Mr. Murphy began his career at Safety in 1989 and has held a variety of positions of increasing responsibilities in its marketing department, including, most recently, the Vice President role as of October 1, 2005.  The majority of his tenure has been focused on developing strong personal relationships with Safety’s network of independent agents.  Over the past 10 years, he has led the initiative to increase Safety’s brand recognition as a leading property and casualty insurer in New England.

“I plan to work collaboratively with senior leadership at Safety to execute on our established business strategy, with a focus on maintaining strong relationships with independent agents and their customers. This will allow us to build on our history of strong shareholder returns,” said Mr. Murphy.

About Safety:

Safety Insurance Group, Inc. is the parent of Safety Insurance Company, Safety Indemnity Insurance Company and Safety Property and Casualty Insurance Company, which are Boston, MA based writers of property and casualty insurance.  Safety is a leading writer of personal automobile insurance in Massachusetts.  

Additional Information:  Press releases, announcements, U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) Filings and investor information are available under “About Safety,” “Investor Information” on our Company website located at www.SafetyInsurance.com.  Safety filed its December 31, 2014 Form 10-K with the SEC on March 2, 2015 and urges shareholders to refer to this document for more complete information concerning Safety’s financial results.

Contacts:

Safety Insurance Group, Inc.

Office of Investor Relations

877-951-2522

InvestorRelations@SafetyInsurance.com

Cautionary Statement under "Safe Harbor" Provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:

This press release contains, and Safety may from time to time make, written or oral "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws.  Forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts.  They often include words such as “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “estimate,” “aim,” “projects,” or words of similar meaning and expressions that indicate future events and trends, or future or conditional verbs such as “will,” “would,” “should,” “could,” or “may”.  All statements that address expectations or projections about the future, including statements about the Company’s strategy for growth, product development, market position, expenditures and financial results, are forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance.  By their nature, forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties.  There are a number of factors, many of which are beyond our control, that could cause actual future conditions, events, results or trends to differ significantly and/or materially from historical results or those projected in the forward-looking statements.  These factors include but are not limited to the competitive nature of our industry and the possible adverse effects of such competition.  Although a number of national insurers that are much larger than we are do not currently compete in a material way in the Massachusetts private passenger automobile market, if one or more of these companies decided to aggressively enter the market it could have a material adverse effect on us.  Other significant factors include conditions for business operations and restrictive regulations in Massachusetts, the possibility of losses due to claims resulting from severe weather, the possibility that the Commissioner of Insurance may approve future Rule changes that change the operation of the residual market, our possible need for and availability of additional financing, and our dependence on strategic relationships, among others, and other risks and factors identified from time to time in our reports filed with the SEC, such as those set forth under the caption “Risk Factors” in our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014 filed with the SEC on March 2, 2015.

We are not under any obligation (and expressly disclaim any such obligation) to update or alter our forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.  You should carefully consider the possibility that actual results may differ materially from our forward-looking statements.