Corporate
Governance

Roberts (Bob) Underwood was born in 1960 in Pasadena, California and spent most of his childhood in the Pasadena area attending Catholic schools through High School.  For continuing education he attended Pasadena City College, graduated and then attended California State Polytechnic University in Pomona, CA.

While working in the mail room for an insurance agency in Pasadena, and while attending Cal Poly University, he decided to apply for his insurance license.  He was successful in obtaining his Insurance Broker’s License and started selling insurance.  Bob always focused on niche businesses, starting with apartment buildings in Southern California, of which there are thousands, then decided to focus on imported tools from China through Hong Kong, continuing to build on his growing reputation as a focused, strategic, forward thinker in the changing world of big business insurance.

Then in the late 1980's, Bob was approached to handle the Western Growers Association, which is the largest production agricultural association in California and Arizona.  He took the position and grew his business quickly, selling and services the needs of California , Arizona and Florida growers by working long hours and driving long distances.

After a few years of earning the business of the largest growers in California and Arizona, he started going down to the Los Angeles Wholesale Produce Market (the second largest wholesale produce market in the United States) where he started meeting owners of the businesses. After about 4 years, he dominated the Los Angeles Wholesale Produce Market’s vendor’s insurance programs.

He moved insurance agencies in 2002 to Pan American Underwriters (PAU) a specialty insurance agency with offices in all major agricultural growing areas in California and Arizona, and became President of PAU from 2004 until 2014.  PAU was sold to private equity in 2017and Bob stayed for a total of 7 years, and then left due to disagreement with the plans for the future of the company.

He is currently an Executive Vice President and Managing Director for Alliant Insurance Services, Inc.  Alliant is one of the top 5 privately held insurance agencies in the United States.

He is currently working a limited number of hours to enjoy travel and scuba diving. Bob and his wife, Leilani Underwood, enjoy scuba diving in Fiji, Maldives, Indonesia and the Philippines.  Bob and Leilani also enjoy unique travel destinations, having traveled to North Korea, Myanmar, Cambodia, Yemen and all of the "Stans" countries in Central Asia to mention a few.  Bob has two daughters, Heather and Elizabeth, and two granddaughters by Heather - Parker and Amelia.