Straight Shooter Takes Aim at Rebuilding Job.

• Author: Milligan, Jack

Charles Chokel left a co-CEO post at another insurance firm to join struggling Conseco Inc. as CFO. His diverse background is expected to help the company plot a course for recovery.

Charles B. "Chuck" think of himself as a contrarian investor. So when the opportunity presented itself to work with the highly acclaimed Gary Wench on the turnaround of Conseco Inc., an insurance and consumer finance company that had fallen hard from grace with Wall Street. Chokel jumped.

One group that probably thought he was jumping into professional oblivion were predatory investors who shorted the stock, hoping that Conscco's misery would get worse before it got better. Chokel was undeterred. "I believed that the path that Gary had laid out would work, and I was happy to participate in that," he says.

Wendt is the lead dog on the Conseco sleigh, but Chokel -- who joined the company as chief financial officer in March after a successful 23-year-career at Progressive Corp., the last two and a half years as co-CEO -- brings a wealth of experience to the job. Wendt joined Conseco (NYSE: CNC) as chairman and chief executive officer in June 2000 after having resigned as the long-time head of General Electric Capital Corp., which he turned into an international powerhouse.

Wendt had once been considered a strong candidate to replace General Electric Co. Chairman and CEO Jack Welch, but stepped down after several clashes with Welch, When Wendt signed on at Conseco -- in return for a $45 million signing bonus and enough incentives to more than double that amount if he leads the company back to health -- it was considered to be a coup even at that price.

Credibility Counts

The 48-year-old Chokel, who joins Wendt and President and Chief Operating Officer Thomas J. Kilian in an office of the chairman, obviously lacks Wendt's star power. What he does bring to the company is a diverse background that includes broad experience in a number of high-profile operating roles -- as well as something else that may be just as important: credibility. Conseco's former CEO and CFO resigned in April 2000 amidst a swirl of controversy over many of their dealings.

According to those who know him, Chokel, over time, will help Wendt rebuild Wall Street's trust in the company. "He's very well-respected," says McDonald Investments stock analyst Nancy Benacci, who knows him from her years covering Progressive, a property/casualty insurance company. "He's very well thought of as a straight shooter."

That reputation will be vital as Conseco works to restructure its balance sheet. The company still owes about $1.5 billion in loans to a group of commercial banks -- although its next scheduled principal payment isn't until December 2003 -- and has another S1.9 billion tied up in trust-preferred securities, "We have a long way to go yet," Chokel says.

Although the company is well along in its effort to raise cash by disposing of non-core assets, there are still a few things yet to sell, including a 19 percent stake in wireless telecommunications company Tritel Inc., which...