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Valiant Insurance Group Inc. announced that John N. DiBlanda has joined its U.S. property and casualty insurance operations as chief financial officer and chief operating officer.

Prior to joining Valiant, DiBlanda served as CFO of Delos Insurance, where he was instrumental in the growth of this newly formed specialty insurance carrier and in the formation of its new excess and surplus lines company, Naxos Insurance. In addition, he was a COO and Global CFO of Gallagher Re, Inc. He was a senior executive of John P. Woods Co. Inc., and was responsible for the sale of the company to Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. He also held senior positions at Centre Reinsurance Co. Prior to Centre Re, he was a senior manager at KPMG.

Valiant Insurance Group Inc. was formed in 2007 to provide specialty property and casualty insurance products and services to the U.S. agency and brokerage market. It is a subsidiary of Bermuda-based Ariel Holdings Ltd. which acquired Valiant from Zurich North America Commercial Group. Valiant Insurance Co. is licensed on an admitted basis in 47 states plus the District of Columbia.

New York-based Kinloch Holdings Inc., an insurance brokerage holding company focusing on middle market clients, named Bob De Blasio to lead its Healthcare Industry Practice.

Prior to joining Kinloch, De Blasio was with Hilb Rogal & Hobbs, where he was responsible for the broker’s nationwide healthcare industry specialty practice. Before HRH, he was at Marsh & McLennan.

Safeco announced that Jennifer Fredenberg has rejoined the company in the new position of vice president for regional strategy. Fredenberg will concentrate on growing Safeco’s business in the Northeast. Fredenberg will be based in Hartford, Conn.

Her previous experience includes time as Safeco’s leader for sales and distribution in the Northeast. Fredenberg’s past experience also includes Hanover Insurance Group and CNA Financial Corp.

Burns & Wilcox recently announced that Steve Liverance has joined the company as director of talent acquisition. Liverance is responsible for implementing a company-wide recruiting strategy. He also is responsible for candidate sourcing, assessment and selection as well as new employee orientation for the company’s 36 offices.

Previously, Liverance was director of recruiting at EDS in Troy, Mich. He spent 18 years at EDS.

Hiscox launched its U.S.-based Hiscox Global Markets, a division that underwrites internationally traded business via the Lloyd’s insurance market, and specialist retail business around the world.

“The United States already delivers over 40 percent of the premium income for the Hiscox Group mainly through our Lloyd’s business. The launch of Hiscox Global Markets in the United States underpins our desire to expand our footprint in the U.S. market,” said Neil Bolton, president, Hiscox Global Markets in the U.S. Hiscox’s U.S. Global Markets team includes:

Neil Bolton is president of Hiscox Global Markets in the U.S. Since joining Hiscox in 1994 he has underwritten professional indemnity business for both Hiscox and the Lloyd’s Syndicate. He specializes in professional indemnity for the technology media and telecoms industries and is now responsible for the Technology Media & Telecommunications Division for Global Markets. Prior to joining Hiscox, Bolton worked for Sedgwick Group, the Lloyd’s broker, where he completed a graduate training course and specialized in professional indemnity.

Carl Bach is business development director for Hiscox Global Markets. Bach works with U.S. brokers to help them access Hiscox Global Markets at Lloyd’s of London. He joined Hiscox in May 2007 from ACE where he served as president of the UK and Ireland operations and was latterly the executive vice president, Global Solutions. In this role, he provided products and services to U.S.-based multinational companies. He was also responsible for ACE’s Foreign Casualty Underwriting Division.

The U.S. Global Markets team will begin providing insurance coverage via its teams in Manhattan and San Francisco. It will begin by offering media liability, technology errors and omissions and privacy protection.

Zurich named Steven Bauman as the leader of the team developing captive strategy for Zurich’s Global Corporate in North America unit. Bauman will be based in New York City and will report to Mario Vitale, CEO of Zurich Global Corporate in North America. He has more than 20 years of experience in corporate insurance and captive services on both the broker and company sides – most recently as senior vice president of Aon’s Captive Services Group. He previously was a member of the Marsh, Winterthur Group and XL Global teams. Bauman is a founding member of the Captive Insurance Council of the District of Columbia Inc., and is a member of the Vermont Captive Insurance Association.

Tri-City Brokerage, a division of Crump Insurance Services Inc. in Hauppauge, New York, has named Michael Yovino as senior vice president. He will specialize in primary and excess casualty placements. His focus includes large umbrella programs as well as difficult placements for owner, landlord and tenant (OL&T) accounts, tough products, product recall, energy risks, heavy auto exposures, pharmaceuticals/nutraceuticals, well as construction risks.

Yovino was formerly a vice president-casualty broker with AmWins Brokerage of New York.

Aon Risk Services, the retail brokerage and risk management arm of Aon Corp. , announced that John G. Willett has joined the company’s Boston office as managing director. He is a member of the leadership team and responsible for new client acquisition for the New England region. In addition, he will focus on real estate related business in conjunction with the Aon national real estate practice.

Willett joins Aon after seven years at Lexington Insurance and American International Group, where he held several positions including director of marketing, national real estate practice leader for AIG, and president of the AI Risk Specialists Division. He previously held leadership positions in two large regional insurance brokerage operations in Massachusetts.

Topics USA New York Agencies Excess Surplus Lloyd's Aon Casualty