Novato, Calif.-based Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. added Christian Kortebein as senior vice president and chief actuary. He will report to the chief financial officer and be responsible for setting direction and priorities for the company’s pricing and reserving activities, as well as leadership of the actuarial community.
Most recently, Kortebein was deputy chief actuary for Allianz Group in Munich, where he was accountable for loss reserving, property and casualty reinsurance, and actuarial support for merger and acquisition activities and capital management. This experience at Fireman’s Fund’s parent company brings great synergy to Fireman’s Fund.
Kortebein has been a member of the German Actuarial Association since 1999, chairing the committee overseeing internal risk capital models, and has been a fellow of the Institute of Actuaries in the United Kingdom since 2000.
Heffernan Insurance Brokers hired Ed Nokes to lead its Orange, Calif., office. As senior vice president and branch manager of the insurance brokerage’s Orange operations, Nokes will be responsible for developing new business in Southern California.
Nokes joins Heffernan after an extensive career. He previously worked for Willis as a divisional chief financial officer and later became chief operating officer for the Western United States. In 2005, he started ABD Insurance Property & Casualty in San Diego. Nokes then became western regional sales director at Venbrook Group.
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer appointed Ken Kirk to succeed Brett Jones on the SCF Arizona board of directors.
Kirk has a background in finance and insurance. He began his career as an audit manager with Arthur Andersen. He also formerly served as chief financial officer with the Crescent Hotel Group and then as CEO with Insurance West, a Scottsdale, Ariz., firm. Insurance West was acquired in 1995 by Brown & Brown Insurance, where Kirk served on the leadership team as regional president.
Jones is vice president of the Arizona Contractors Association. His role on the SCF board included contributions as chairman of the Board Governance Committee and chairman of the Corporate Responsibility Committee.
Rafael Fernandez was named director of loss control and claims for Cavignac & Associates, a San Diego-based risk management and insurance brokerage firm. He is responsible for evaluating clients’ existing risk management, safety and claims management programs, and developing new strategies that will help them lower their overall cost of risk. He brings to the firm 20 years of experience in the risk management, safety and construction industries.
Most recently, Fernandez served as vice president and senior consultant for Marsh Risk Consulting in San Diego, where he was the designated risk control construction leader for the company’s West Zone operations, and oversaw safety services delivery and program effectiveness.
Prior to that, Fernandez was a senior risk control consultant for Majestic Insurance Co., also in San Diego. He served another five years as director of risk management and benefits for the Grossmont Union High School District in El Cajon.
California State Compensation Insurance Fund promoted Jennifer Vargen from communications director to senior vice president of marketing and communications.
Vargen began her State Fund career in 1988, and saw early success in sales, being named the 1990 “Sales Rookie of the Year” for the organization’s San Francisco district office.
In 1995, she was promoted to sales manager in San Francisco for the San Francisco office. After a series of promotions over several years, she was appointed as the insurance company’s communications manager.
Monterey, Calif.-based Capital Insurance Group (CIG), a regional property and casualty insurer serving the Western United States, added Kathy Rongey and Sheila Donovan to the Underwriting Division in Washington.
Both will be account executives and will have front-line commercial underwriting responsibilities, promoting CIG’s personal, commercial and agricultural product lines in the state, and actively seeking Washington-based insurance agencies to partner with as CIG continues to expand its business in the Northwest.
Rongey has more than 25 years of experience in the commercial insurance industry. She will be responsible for the territory west of the Cascades.
Donovan brings more than 25 years of commercial and personal lines underwriting experience to the position. She will focus on the area east of the Cascades.
Reno, Nev.-based AMERCO appointed Sam Shoen president of its subsidiary Repwest Insurance Co., a property and casualty insurance company domiciled in Phoenix. Shoen will lead the company’s operations across North America and will be based in the company’s Phoenix headquarters.
Shoen joined the company in 1990. His career has included senior leadership positions at AMERCO’s major subsidiary, U-Haul International Inc., where he was responsible for leading the organization’s Web-based evolution.
Repwest is a P/C company that offers specialty insurance for personal, commercial and reinsurance markets.
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