When Andrea Hecht walks into a finance meeting, she’s not preparing for earnings calls or shareholder Q&A. Instead, her focus is inward—on aligning every financial decision with a mission that begins and ends with AAA members.
CSAA Insurance Group, where Hecht serves as CFO, operates in 23 states and the District of Columbia. It’s not publicly traded. “We’re technically owned by our policyholders,” Hecht tells us, noting that CSAA distributes almost exclusively through AAA clubs to AAA members.
That difference in ownership structure reshapes everything—from financial priorities to communication rhythms. “We don’t necessarily have those traditional…quarterly earnings calls,” she explains. “Part of the way I think about my communication is primarily inward…to make sure every decision we make is deeply tied to our strategy.”
For CSAA, strategy is inseparable from service. “Our strategy is deeply tied to serving AAA members,” Hecht tells us. That’s especially vital in California, where Hecht says CSAA faces its greatest insurance concentration and the most market volatility.
While other insurers have exited the state, CSAA has stayed the course. “It’s been really gratifying to see what we can do,” Hecht says. Balancing capital protection and member coverage remains a daily challenge—one she’s eager to embrace.
With AM Best as a key external stakeholder, Hecht’s metrics of success differ from peers in public or PE-backed companies. “It’s a really interesting balancing act,” she tells us—and one that redefines what it means to lead finance from the inside out.
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CFOTL: So tell us about CSAA. It’s a different type of organization—privately held and part of the AAA network. Can you explain what sets it apart?
Hecht: It’s a great question. We’re a property and casualty insurer writing in 23 states and the District of Columbia. What’s unique is that we sell AAA-branded insurance exclusively to AAA members. We’re not publicly traded and we’re not owned by shareholders—we’re technically owned by our policyholders. We distribute almost entirely through AAA clubs.
That makes a big difference. When you think about the AAA brand, it’s one of the most trusted names in the U.S. Being a membership organization means we make decisions that are driven by what benefits our members—not by what drives shareholder value. It’s been a really rewarding experience to work in an environment where the AAA member is always top of mind in every decision we make.
CFOTL: So your policyholders are your stakeholders. As a CFO, how do you think about communicating the health of the business? Who are you really reporting to?
Hecht: It’s actually a great dynamic, because we don’t have the traditional structures that publicly traded companies do. There are no quarterly earnings calls. We don’t have meetings with private equity investors. Our main external stakeholder is AM Best, the insurance rating agency. We just completed our annual ratings review with them.
But really, most of my communication is focused inward—collaborating with my business partners to ensure that every decision ties directly to our strategy, and that our strategy is grounded in serving our members. That’s always the priority.
It’s especially important because our largest market is California. Anyone following the news knows how volatile the insurance environment is there. We’re constantly working to figure out how to best serve our California members while still protecting the surplus and equity of the company. It’s a real balancing act—and one that’s been incredibly rewarding to navigate, particularly in recent years as other companies have exited the market.
CSAA Insurance Group | www.csaa-insurance.aaa.com | Walnut Creek, CA