NATION

Alva O. Way, who helped engineer Travelers Corp.’s expansion from insurance into financial services, has resigned as president “for personal reasons,” the Hartford, Conn.-based company said Thursday.

Edward H. Budd, chairman and chief executive, will assume the additional title of president, according to a brief statement from the company.

Way, 55, will continue as a director and as chairman of the board’s finance committee and will act as a consultant, the statement said.

The company would not elaborate on Way’s reasons for departing from the post that he had held for just under two years. “Mr. Way made a personal decision that he cannot devote full time to demands required by this job,” a spokeswoman said, reading from a company statement.

Neither Way nor Budd was available for comment.

Way came to Travelers from American Express Co., succeeding Budd as president on Feb. 1, 1983. At the time, the Hartford firm was undertaking a broad expansion into financial services.

“They (Travelers) seemed to be enthusiastic about Way because he did have orientation toward the financial services industry,” said Dorothea C. Gilliam, an analyst with Duff & Phelps Inc. in Chicago. His departure is “unfortunate for the Travelers.”