People – West

The Cooperative of American Physicians Inc. has named Sarah E. Pacini its new chief executive officer effective Feb. 1.

Pacini most recently was vice president of risk management and insurance, president of Advocate Physician Partners Risk Purchasing Group, and chairperson of Advocate Insurance Segregated Portfolio Company for Advocate Health Care.

As CEO of both CAP and the Mutual Protection Trust, Pacini succeeds James Weidner, who announced his retirement after serving as CEO since 1995.

Los Angeles-based CAP was established in 1975 by a group of California physicians to manage the escalating cost of medical professional liability coverage. Two years later, CAP formed the Mutual Protection Trust, which provides protection to nearly 12,000 California physicians.

Gorst & Compass Insurance has named Bryan Clark president.

Michael F. Heagerty, who was president, will assume the position of chairman and CEO.

Clark began his insurance career in 1997 when he joined Gorst as an underwriter trainee. He spent the next 10 years on the underwriting side building a book of business.

Clark is active in both the American Association of Managing General Agents and the California Insurance Wholesalers Association.

Chatsworth, Calif.-based Gorst is a full service wholesale brokerage firm. Their product lines include property/casualty, professional liability, personal lines, garage, transportation and workers’ compensation. Regional offices are located in Mission Viejo, San Diego and Sacramento.

Morgan West Jr. has been named CEO and chairman of the board of directors of Dealey, Renton & Associates.

West has been DRA’s president since Jan. 1, 2013, and will continue in this role as well.

Al Chinn, DRA’s president, CEO and chairman since 1992, will continue to serve clients and support the firm as senior advisor and a director.

West previously worked for Kibble & Prentice, a USI company, in Seattle, Wash., as president of property/casualty. West began his insurance career as a life agent in 1985, transitioning to personal lines and eventually into commercial property and casualty.

DRA specializes in professional liability for architects, engineers, environmental consultants and other design professionals. DRA is employee-owned and has offices in Oakland, Pasadena and Santa Ana.

San Diego, Calif.-based Barney & Barney Insurance Services LLC has named Steven Berk its new chief financial officer.

Berk assumes CFO responsibilities from Hal Dunning, who has served as both CFO and chief operating officer of Barney & Barney since 2003. Dunning will continue to run the day-to-day operations of the firm as COO.

Berk has more than 35 years of insurance experience, most recently serving as Marsh USA’s San Diego office head. He joined Marsh in 1980 and has held a number of different leadership positions, including 24 years as either a divisional or regional CFO.

Barney & Barney is a division of Marsh & McLennan Agency LLC, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Marsh. Barney & Barney specializes in commercial property/casualty insurance, employee benefits, workers’ compensation, compensation consulting, executive liability, personal lines and surety.

Woodruff-Sawyer & Co. has named Kevin Panzera vice president and private client growth leader.

The firm also named Kristin Beaulieu vice president in the property/casualty practice.

Panzera will be based in the firm’s San Francisco, Calif., headquarters, and will be responsible for working with all private client teams in various offices.

Prior to Woodruff-Sawyer & Co., Panzera spent the last five years as founder and CEO of a private client firm in South Africa. In the past he was a private client broker with Alexander Forbes, where he designed insurance programs.

Beaulieu will focus on developing business in the life science, technology and financial institution sectors. She will be based in Seattle, Wash., and will focus her efforts in the Northwest.

Woodruff-Sawyer is an active partner of Assurex Global and International Benefits Network. It has offices throughout California, and in Oregon, Colorado, Hawaii and Washington.

Pacific Specialty Insurance Co. has hired Cindy Roth as senior vice president of sales and distribution.

Roth spent 10 years at The Hartford, the last three as the Southwest division executive.

Among her first moves is the promotion of Jason Forster to director of sales. Forster was previously a regional sales manager.

Pacific Specialty is based in Menlo Park and Anaheim, Calif., and serves individuals and small-business owners with specialty and general policies featuring homeowners insurance, personal lines and powersports insurance. Coverage is sold through local independent agents and brokers.

Griffin Underwriting Services has named Cathy Heine personal lines manager.

Heine will be responsible for underwriting a variety of personal lines programs as well as expanding relationships with agency and company partners.

Heine has more than 26 years of underwriting experience. Most recently, Heine was an account executive at Parker, Smith & Feek Inc. Prior to that she held underwriting and management roles at both Safeco and Chubb.

Griffin is based in Bellevue Wash., and is licensed to underwrite insurance in 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead has selected Paul Thomas Glause as the new commissioner of the Wyoming Department of Insurance.

Glause assumed the duties of commissioner on Jan. 3. The job is to regulate the insurance marketplace in Wyoming.

Glause currently serves as vice chairman of the Wyoming Board of Equalization and is a member the Board of Directors for Cheyenne Frontier Days. After graduating from law school, he was a county prosecutor for Weston County and engaged in private practice and served as municipal judge in Rock Springs.

Michael Lahn has joined OneBeacon Surety Group as senior vice president of the Southwest region, which includes Arizona, Southern California, Hawaii, New Mexico, Nevada and Utah.

Lahn has more than 20 years of surety business experience in positions of increasing responsibility at several national carriers.

OneBeacon offers a range of commercial bonds targeting Fortune 2500 and large private companies written through a network of independent agencies, brokers and wholesalers.

IMA Inc. has named Tim Burke as the new director of cyber risk in its Denver, Colo., office.

Burke expands IMA’s capabilities to address some of the most pressing issues facing companies regarding the ever changing cyber, data privacy and network security related risks.

Burke has 19 years of insurance experience, 16 of those specific to technology errors and omissions and cyber risk. He began his specialization at AIG and has been a broker for the past 12 years, most recently serving as the West zone E&O and cyber practice leader for a national brokerage firm.

IMA is a diversified financial services company specializing in risk management, insurance, surety and employee benefits solutions.

San Diego, Calif.-based Atlas General Insurance Services LLC has named Matt Roselle executive vice president of marketing.

Roselle will be responsible for the strategic development of sales and marketing personnel. He will also be responsible for driving profitable workers’ compensation, commercial and specialty insurance premium growth nationwide.

Roselle has more than 16 years of multi-line insurance distribution experience. Most recently, Roselle served as vice president of sales and the chief operation officer of two national brokerage distribution insurance carriers. Roselle also built and sold a general agency.

Atlas is a full service general insurance agency.

Newport Beach, Calif.-based Alliant Insurance Services has named Nancy Arky the company’s Tribal First group as a casualty underwriting manager.

She will oversee the group’s casualty underwriting department, including the management of staff, coordination of sales distribution and establishment of underwriting strategies.

Arky has experience in program design and implementation. Prior to Alliant, she was senior vice president of underwriting for a Denver-based insurance provider.

Alliant provides property/casualty, workers’ compensation, employee benefits, surety and financial to clients, including public entities, tribal nations, healthcare, energy, law firms, real estate, construction, and other industry groups.

Andrea Garcia was named an agency specialist with Stone Creek Insurance Agency.

Garcia’s focus will be to increase new personal and commercial lines business as well as help the service team accomplish a 95 percent retention.

Garcia has been working in the insurance industry as a personal lines and commercial lines agent for the past 12 years.

Her first foray into the industry was with a brokerage in Solano County, where she worked as a receptionist, and after two years she became a licensed agent.

Lafayette, Calif.-based Stone Creek offers commercial, personal and health and life insurance.