People – Midwest

Matthew Nichols has been elected president of the National Association of Professional Surplus Lines Offices Ltd. (NAPSLO) for the 2013 term.

Nichols has served on the NAPSLO board since 2005 and has chaired several committees. Currently, he is the president of All Risks Ltd., a large independent property/casualty wholesale insurance brokerage firm. Previously, Nichols held senior positions at Colony Management Services Inc. in Richmond, Va., throughout his 20-year insurance career.

NAPSLO is a national trade association representing the surplus lines industry and the wholesale insurance marketing system.

Zurich in North America (ZNA) has appointed Dalynn Hoch as its new chief financial officer. She is based in Zurich’s North American headquarters in Schaumburg, Ill.

Hoch succeeds Vibhu Sharma who has been appointed to the position of group controller at Zurich’s global headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland. Sharma succeeds Malcolm Gilbert, who will retire in 2013.

Hoch joined Zurich in 2009 as head of the North American Commercial’s finance planning and performance management team and was also a member of the Zurich in North America Finance leadership team. Prior to joining Zurich, Hoch was a partner at KPMG, working for the international accounting firm for 15 years.

Midwest-based medical professional liability insurer, MMIC, has promoted Steve Lacke to senior vice president, Insurance Operations.

Lacke joined MMIC as vice president and chief actuary in 2009. In his new role, he is responsible for the company’s underwriting and IT functions in addition to his actuarial role.

Lacke has more than 20 years of actuarial experience and has a strong background in pricing, reserving, reinsurance and strategic planning. He is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society and a member of the American Academy of Actuaries.

MMIC Group Inc. provides professional liability insurance and risk services primarily in Minnesota, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

Property/casualty insurance provider Norman-Spencer Agency Inc., based in Dayton, Ohio, announced that Joe Drozda has joined the company as director of sales.

Drozda joins Norman-Spencer after various sales roles of increasing responsibility at LexisNexis. Most recently, he was the sales strategy and planning manager, leading cross-functional teams to improve the productivity of the U.S. sales organization.

Prior to joining LexisNexis, Drozda was a regional sales manager at Altria Sales & Distribution formerly known as Philip Morris USA, where he began his career. Under his guidance, his region showed dramatic improvement and sales growth.

Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. appointed Robert Haibi to the position of personal insurance distribution and agency management executive, based in Chicago, Ill.

Haibi has full distribution responsibility for personal lines business, focusing on the specialized needs of the high net worth market.

A 15-year veteran of the insurance industry, Robert has experience in claims leadership, business development, sales, and marketing.

Most recently, Haibi was the senior vice president for the central zone at Chartis responsible for development of sales and marketing strategies for 26 states and sales distribution for nearly 500 captive agents. Previously he was a business development manager for AIG Private Client Group in West Palm Beach, Fla. He also worked in claims leadership at Progressive Insurance.