Long earned a B.A. degree in mathematics from Hartwick College in 1983. In 1989, he also earned a M.S. in finance from Boston College. In 1985, Long began his career at Liberty Mutual as a financial analyst in National Accounts.

Throughout his time with Liberty Mutual, he has held several positions. These positions include: serving as president, executive vice presidents, Commercial Markets, and as chief operating officer in National Market. Long was also a founding member of Liberty Mutual Agency Corporation. He was actively involved in the acquisitions of Golden Eagle, Peerless Insurance, Summit, Colorado Casualty and Indiana Insurance.

Mr. Long served as President of Commercial Insurance Business Unit for Liberty Mutual Holding Company, Inc. until January 1, 2009. In January 2009, Long was promoted to President of Liberty International. A year later, in June of 2010, Long was promoted to President of Boston Insurance Company. Then, in July of 2010, he assumed the role as president of Liberty Mutual Inc.  

On June 29, 2011, Long became the CEO and President of Liberty Mutual Insurance Group.

When taking over as CEO of Liberty Mutual, Long said,

"I am indeed fortunate to follow Ted Kelly as Liberty Mutual's CEO.  Ted has been a tremendous mentor to me and his mark on our company sets an extraordinary standard for all of us.  I look forward to working with the senior management team and our employees to continue positioning Liberty Mutual Group as a leader among global insurers."

He set his sights on continuing to expand the company around the globe.

On November 14, 2011, Liberty Mutual announced it had successfully completed the acquisition of Quinn’s Irish insurance business, as well as the transfer of all existing Quinn Insurance employees to Liberty Mutual’s new Irish company. Long commented saying,

“We are pleased with this acquisition as it enables us to enter the Irish market as the economy begins to recover…We are also delighted to welcome our newest employees to the Liberty Mutual family and we look forward to their contributions to our success in Ireland and the United Kingdom.”

On December 31, 2011, Liberty Mutual Insurance Group reported net written premium of $31.2 billion, of which $8.2 billion, or 26 per cent, came from its International operations.

In March of 2012, Liberty Mutual Insurance Group acquired the Russian insurance company, KIT Finance Insurance. This allowed Liberty Mutual Insurance Group to enter into Russia’s $21 billion property and casualty insurance market.

After this acquisition, Long said,

“We believe KIT Finance Insurance provides an attractive platform from which to invest in the rapidly growing Russian non-life insurance market…It’s a dynamic company with a driven management team as indicated by annual growth of twenty-seven per cent.”

In March of 2012, Mutual Holding Co. Inc. and its subsidiaries reported a 26 per cent jump in net income for the three months ending March 31 due to higher premiums and lower catastrophe losses.

The company reported a profit of $459 million, up from $364 million for the first quarter last year. Revenue rose 6 per cent or $500 million to $8.88 billion. Net premiums written rose $495 million or 6.5 per cent to $8.08 billion.

Long explained this success saying,

“Our first quarter results highlight the progress we have made in terms of core profitability and continued growth… and an accelerating commercial lines price trend, excellent non-catastrophe personal lines results, and fewer international catastrophes… These results, plus our acquisition of KIT Finance Insurance in Russia, have provided an encouraging start to the year,”

Then in September of 2012, Liberty Mutual Insurance Group, announced it will be expanding its Latin American operations by entering Ecuador’s insurance marketplace following Liberty Mutual’s acquisitions of Panamericana de Seguros del Ecuador S.A. and Cervantes S.A. Compania de Seguros y Reaseguros, two insurers offering primarily auto insurance, other property and casualty products as well as group life and health insurance.

After announcing this Long said,

"With the additions of Panamericana and Cervantes, we enter Ecuador’s dynamic and growing insurance market from a position of strength… Both companies have complementary distribution channels and excellent reputations. We look forward to offering Ecuador’s consumers the products and services they desire and choices in how they wish to purchase them.”

David keeps his private life very private. He was originally from Liverpool and speaks with an English accent.

When talking about his career accomplishments at Liberty Mutual, Long said, “It wasn’t that I was that ambitious…The company kept presenting me with challenge after challenge—opportunity after opportunity.

When talking about the stock market, Long said, “the market doesn’t like insurance stocks right now.”

After Liberty Mutual was named an official sponsor of the United States Olympics, Long said,

"We are excited to join the Olympic and Paralympic Movements through our sponsorship of Team USA…Liberty Mutual Insurance has long celebrated the dreams of athletes, supporting youth athletics through our Responsible Sports program, and we look forward to continuing that support during the 2014 and 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games."

When talking about the former CEO and discussing Liberty Mutual’s salary, Long said,

“Ted took a company that was in pretty serious financial condition and built it into a Fortune 100 company…I don’t know how you put a value on that. I’m just grateful he did what he did. Would I expect to make that kind of money? Absolutely not.”

While talking about Liberty Mutual’s philosophy, Long was quoted saying the following two statements:

“If you can afford to buy a car, we want to be there to insure it.”
“If the sun shines, we can come out and drive it around,”

Long talks about finances and his view on them. “We are a much more financially secure company, to pay out our policy holders,” he said. “Policy holders have the ultimate say. If they don’t like what we’re doing, they can go somewhere else.”

1. Many people say that there is no transparency in Liberty Mutual’s finances; that all of the finances are cloudy. How are you going to add a bit more transparency within the company’s spending to help rebuild trust from your policy holders and future business partners?

2. You are highly criticized for the $4.5 million renovation of your executive office. Looking back, was that the best allocation of company funds?

3. What are your plans domestically to ensure a continual increase in profits?

Mr Kelly, former CEO of Liberty Mutual:
"Personally it gives me great pleasure to hand the reins over to David…As I have worked more closely with him in the past year, I have been more and more impressed with the newly elected CEO of this great company.  David's management and leadership skills make him the ideal person for the job."

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