Charlotte, N.C.-based insurance investment banking firm LMC Capital LLC has named Dr. David D. Wood to its advisory board. Wood, the Joseph F. Freeman Distinguished Professor of Insurance at Appalachian State University, has received ASU service and teaching awards and honors fromvarious insurance industry organizations.
Wood’s research has appeared in leading insurance and financial publications. He is active in several national insurance organizations and has been a featured speaker. Prior to his career in education, Wood gained practical experience as an independent agent. He has been a business consultant on risk management decisions and an expert witness in insurance contract interpretation cases and agents’ standards of care. Wood directs a management development program for agents and has been an educational consultant for the Certified Insurance Counselor program.
Other members of the advisory board include Byron T. Yancey Jr. of Charlotte and Stephen P. Zwick of Santa Rosa, Calif., who are both 25 year veterans of Citigroup.
R.C. Chaffin has been appointed president, Ed Wojchick, executive vice president and Shawn Chaffin, vice president of Franzese & Assoc. of Florida in Orlando. On Dec. 21, SeaCoast Underwriters Inc. acquired Franzese & Assoc. of Orlando and Franzese & Assoc. of Florida. Franzese & Associates will operate as a subsidiary of SeaCoast Underwriters Inc. and remain part of its Orlando office for the immediate future. In addition to the new responsibilities at Franzese, R.C. Chaffin will remain as president and CEO of SeaCoast Underwriters, Inc., and Shawn Chaffin will remain director of marketing and administration.
R.C. Chaffin will oversee the company’s operating, staff functions and financial results. He has 29 years experience in commercial property and casualty insurance, having held underwriting, marketing and executive management positions with Atlantic American Corporation, Georgia Casualty and Surety, Utica National Insurance Group, Lumbermen’s Mutual Insurance Company, and Southern Underwriters Inc. Since 1996 Chaffin has been CEO and owner of SeaCoast Underwriters (formerly Capital Assurance Services). Chaffin is a director of the Florida Surplus Lines Association and the industry associate liaison for the Independent Insurance Agents of Dade County.
From 1967 to 1971 Wojchick was a special agent for the New Hampshire Insurance Co. until he joined O’Neill Lee & West in Orlando. In 1975 he became a retail agent with All Risk Corp. of Florida in Longwood. In 1985 he joined Franzese & Assoc. and was president until SeaCoast Underwriters acquired the company. Wojchick is president-elect of the Florida Surplus Lines Association.
In 1994 Shawn Chaffin joined Denis M. Clayton & Co. Ltd., as a Lloyds Broker in London. In 1999 after completing college and service in the U.S. Marine Corps., Chaffin joined E.W. Blanch in Atlanta as an analyst assistant, and in 1999 joined SeaCoast Underwriters Inc., where his duties include marketing and administration.
Atlanta-based Beecher Carlson Holdings Inc. has appointed Joe Siech executive managing director at its headquarters. Siech is responsible for large account production and continued development of the Global Property Practice.
Siech has been in the insurance industry for 17 years and came to Atlanta in 1995. In 1987 he was as a property underwriter with Arkwright Mutual. In 1990 he went into sales. In 1993 Siech transferred to the Hobbs Group responsible for production and expanding its Property Brokerage, where he was a top producer who developed and serviced a large book of risk management clients.
Beecher Carlson is a privately held global insurance firm. It has operations in Burlington, Vt.; Denver; Honolulu; Los Angeles; Nashville; Princeton, N.J.; the Cayman Islands; and Hamilton, Bermuda. Beecher Carlson’s services include insurance brokerage, captive management and risk management consulting.
Fred G. Marziano has been named a member of the board of directors of SunCoast Holdings Inc. and its subsidiaries, Brandywine Insurance Holdings and Guarantee Insurance Company, all in Fort Mill, S.C. He will assist with the strategic alignment of SunCoast Holdings and its subsidiaries.
Marziano is past president of Liberty Mutual Insurance Company’s Independent Agency Business, Gerling Global Reinsurance Corporation of America, and Continental Insurance Companies.
In January 2004 Guarantee began writing workers’ compensation products. It is a regional workers’ comp carrier specializing in traditional and alternative market opportunities. SunCoast Holdings has branch offices in Orlando, Fla., St. Louis and Fort Mill, S.C.
Birmingham, Ala.-based Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE: RF) has named Fred B. Stone chairman and chief executive officer of Rebsamen Insurance in Little Rock, Ark. As of Jan. 3 Stone succeeded Allen J. McDowell, Rebsamen chairman and chief executive officer, who is retired after 13 years as chairman and CEO.
Stone is president of Rebsamen Insurance/Springdale Inc. in Fayetteville, Ark., and has responsibility for Rebsamen Insurance/Fort Smith Inc. and Rebsamen Insurance/Springfield, Mo. He specializes in risk management insurance for large companies.
Stone joined the insurance industry in 1977 in his hometown, Stuttgart, Ark. He owned agencies in Stuttgart and Heber Springs, Ark., before moving to Fayetteville and founding then-H&S Insurance, which he sold in 1992 to Rebsamen. At that time, Stone became a Rebsamen sales manager, was later promoted to executive vice president and later became president.
Keith Faller has been named president and CEO of WellPoint Inc.‘s central region, which has just been enlarged to include the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. Wellpoint’s central region now includes Blue Cross Blue Shield of Missouri, HealthLink, UniCare and the Federal Employee Program.
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