David K. Ficca was elected president of Baltimore Life Cos., succeeding L. John Pearson, who will remain as chairman and CEO of the Baltimore, Md.-based life insurance company.

David K. Ficca

Ficca joined Baltimore Life in 2002 as the company’s senior vice president and chief financial officer, bringing more than 17 years of public accounting experience. He has worked in the insurance industry for 13 of those years.

He is the 11th president of the country’s 36th oldest life insurance company.

“Our board was very engaged in an orderly succession plan,” said Pearson, in a statement. He called Ficca “an integral part of our company’s success” and someone who is “uniquely qualified to help guide the company and its associates in our strategy for profitable growth in the middle markets we serve throughout the United States.”