People

Monte Stringer, executive vice president with U.S. Risk Inc. in Dallas, has been elected president of the Texas Surplus Lines Association Inc. for the coming year. Stringer and other new officers and directors of the organization were elected at the group’s annual meeting, held Nov. 9 in Austin.

TSLA’s new vice president is Todd Teitell, president of Colemont Insurance Brokers of Texas LP in Dallas. Robin Stough, president of Towerstone Inc. in Dallas, is the group’s newly elected secretary/treasurer.

New TSLA directors are: Penny Coody (3-year term), Delta General Agency Corp.; Karen Grubbs (3-year term), RSI International Inc.; Susan Hancock (3-year term), McClelland & Hine Inc.; Bart Schaffer (2-year term), Colony Group; Connie Verdile (2-year term), Catlin Inc.; and Susan Gropp (1-year term), Arcana Insurance Services.

Existing directors are: Mike Berry, Specialty Insurance Managers Inc.; Anna Kizer, Myron Steves; Jace Westbrook, Quirk & Company; Jack Huff, Hull & Company Inc.; and Joel Reed, AUI Inc.

The TSLA Executive Committee consists of the current officers and the immediate past president, Paul Rainey, with RSI International Inc.

The “President’s Award” was presented to Amicia Hine, chairperson of the Web Site Committee. The “Don King Committee Member of the Year” award was presented to Susan Gropp, Arcana Insurance Services for her service on the Education Committee.

The Avrohm Wisenberg scholarship recipients were Kate Innocent, RISC Inc., and Brent Wright, Towerstone Inc. They both received a CIC scholarship for one class. In addition, both recipients will receive a cash prize of $100 once their course is completed. The scholarships are donated to TSLA each year by The National Alliance.

Texas Commercial Insurance Facilities won win the full ACSR scholarship donated to TSLA by the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas.

Lockton Dallas has added Vice President and Producer Steve Pierce to its team of property and casualty experts in Dallas, Texas.

He joins the group having served as the executive vice president of Guaranty California Insurance Services and previously as risk manager of Centex Homes.

With more than 15 years of broad industry experience, Pierce focuses primarily on real estate, construction, hospitality, financial institutions, and alternative market solutions.

A nationally recognized authority on complex property and products with an emphasis on construction defect liability, Pierce is a frequent guest speaker at International Risk Management Institute, National Association of Home Builders, Pacific Coast Builders Conference, Building Industry Association, Associated General Contractors, and many regional and national legal events.

Patrick Lundy has been appointed head of Energy for Zurich North America Commercial. He assumes responsibility for managing the insurer’s domestic energy business in North America, including collaborating with leaders of Zurich’s global energy business in North America to help mitigate the sophisticated risks facing Zurich’s energy customers.

Lundy joins Zurich from Travelers, where he held the position of vice president of Field Management & Operations for its Oil and Gas division. He previously served at AIG as vice president of Divisional Corporate Account Segment Manager for its Global Marine & Energy Excess Casualty unit.

Lundy will be based in Houston.

Craig Sparks, president of Union Standard Insurance Group in Irving, Texas, has been elected president of the Association of Fire and Casualty Companies in Texas (AFACT). His term as AFACT president runs for two years.

AFACT board members elected Lyndell Haigood, regional vice-president of State Auto Insurance Company in Wichita Falls, as vice president. Mike Gerik, executive vice president of the Texas Farm Bureau Insurance Company, was elected treasurer.

Immediate past president of AFACT and CEO of NLASCO, Greg Vanek and Paul Ehlert, first vice-present of Germania Insurance, will serve as directors at large.

Alton Thomas, a retired insurance company executive, will continue in the position of AFACT executive manager.

AFACT is a trade organization representing Texas property and casualty insurance companies. It was founded in 1941 to broaden consumer knowledge of insurance and support legislation to improve the insurance business.

AbleCo Insurance, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, has added Suzanne Gilbert and Robbie Morris.

Gilbert joins AbleCo Insurance as personal lines sales director and Morris as commercial lines sales director. Together, they bring a wealth of industry knowledge and a history of success in their respective fields, the company said.

AbleCo Insurance is a full service agency handling the personal, commercial, life and health, group benefits, and risk management needs of individuals and organizations.

The Central Oklahoma Chapter of the CPCU Society presented its Insurance Industry Service Award to Larry W. Fitch at the recent Insurance All Industry Day in Oklahoma City.

Fitch currently is the general manager for the Oklahoma Property and Casualty Guaranty Fund. He previously served 30 years as regional vice president for St. Paul/USF&G for a 26-state region, including Oklahoma. Fitch has attained his Certified Insurance Counselor Designation and has served as a CIC education consultant.

The service award is given annually by the Central Oklahoma Chapter of the CPCU Society. The selection committee includes representatives of five Oklahoma insurance organizations.

Liberty Mutual Agency Markets has appointed Carol Sipe as president and chief executive officer of Summit, which provides monoline workers’ compensation coverage in 10 states, including Arkansas and Louisiana. Sipe succeeds Rick T. Hodges, who has led Summit since 1999. Hodges will retire in January.

Prior to this appointment, Sipe had been the company’s senior vice president and general manager of operations since 2006. As Summit’s new president, Sipe will be responsible for the continued growth and development of the company and its subsidiaries.

Summit provides workers’ compensation products and services to businesses in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

The Insurance Council of Texas (ICT) Education Foundation awarded $30,000 in academic scholarships to 15 university students in ceremonies during November. To date the Foundation has awarded more than $280,000 in academic funding to Texas students and universities.

Baylor University scholarship recipients are Cameron Leitch, Megan Kelly, Veronica Schlachter, Zach Reece and Garrett Standfield.

The University of Texas at Austin scholarship recipients are Jennifer Thelen, Sanchi Srivastava, Jessica Allen, Scott Langer and Bo Shi.

ICT Education Foundation scholarship recipients at the University of North Texas are Christopher Frazier, Desiree Davault, Tarah Davis, Cary Cates and Lekorie Pearson.

Funding for the Foundation comes from sponsorships from the Mid-Year Property and Casualty Insurance Symposium.

Robert H. Pittinger has been appointed director of underwriting AXA Art Insurance Corp. Pittinger brings more than 30 years of comprehensive industry expertise to the position, with experience in leadership, broker relationship management and best practice accountabilities in assessing and underwriting both commercial and personal insurance risks.

Topics Texas Property Training Development Oklahoma Property Casualty Casualty