People – Midwest

Brent Olson has been named director of marketing and programs for St. Paul, Minn.-based CHS Insurance, a national agribusiness insurance broker and full-service insurance subsidiary of CHS Inc.

In this role, Olson will oversee the overall marketing of proprietary programs and captive insurance offerings, as well as explore new product opportunities for farmers and ranchers.

Olson brings more than 20 years of insurance experience to CHS Insurance, serving most recently as the operations manager for Farmers Union Insurance Agency.

CHS Insurance Services LLC is licensed across the U.S and represents major carriers in 70 markets.

Portage, Mich.-based insurance wholesaler, J.M. Wilson, promoted Robyn Shepherd to the position of property/casualty underwriter in its Carmel, Ind., office.

The company also added two new property/casualty underwriters, Robbin Nichols and Blayne White, in Michigan.

Shepherd previously served as surety underwriter for more than seven years before her promotion. Prior to joining J.M. Wilson, she was a loan officer at HSBC.

Nichols has 37 years of experience in the insurance industry, where she gained on-the-job training working for a number of insurance companies and managing general agencies. Nichols is licensed to write property/casualty and surplus lines insurance in six states.

White graduated from Olivet College in May 2015 with a Bachelor’s degree in Insurance and Risk Management. He has earned designations of Certified Authority on Workers’ Compensation (CAWC), University Associate Certified Risk Manager (UACRM) and University Associate Certified Insurance Counselor (UACIC).

Prior to earning his degree, White worked as an intern for J.M. Wilson.

John A. Davis and Paul B. LeStourgeon have joined The Cincinnati Insurance Co. in its newly expanded reinsurance assumed initiative known as Cincinnati Re.

Davis, managing director, head of casualty reinsurance, will oversee the strategic direction, underwriting and marketing of the company’s casualty reinsurance assumed portfolio.

A 20-year veteran of the reinsurance industry, Davis most recently served as head of North American casualty treaty reinsurance for Endurance Reinsurance and has held senior underwriting roles at Partner Re and ACE Tempest Reinsurance.

LeStourgeon, managing director, head of reinsurance analytics, will drive the reinsurance assumed actuarial and catastrophe modeling analytics.

He has been in the reinsurance industry for more than 20 years focused on actuarial consulting, pricing and financial modeling. LeStourgeon is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and a Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst (CERA).

In April, Cincinnati Insurance announced the expansion of its reinsurance assumed operations, which had been a relatively small line of business for the company since the 1990s.

The Cincinnati Insurance Co. is a subsidiary of the Cincinnati Financial Corp.

Talent recruiting organization Korn Ferry hired Laurie O’Shea as co-head of its Global Insurance Practice. She will be based in the Chicago office.

O’Shea has 25 years of experience in recruiting talent for the global insurance market.

Prior to Korn Ferry, O’Shea worked at a global search firm, where she was global head of the Insurance Practice, as well as a member of the CEO & Board and Inclusion Practices.

O’Shea is a former member of both the Chicago Finance Exchange and Illinois Venture Capital Association.

Allstate’s online auto and home insurance agency Answer Financial added two insurance professionals to its leadership team.

Brendan Cummings joins Answer as the director of Business Development to build partnerships with carriers.

Cummings brings 18 years of business development experience within the insurance industry as the vice president of Business Development with NGI, a national insurance marketing firm, and Insureon, an online agency for micro-business insurance. Cummings also held business development roles with Safeco Insurance Co., Superior Access, The Hartford, GRX Technologies and Insure.com.

Steve Beard joins Answer as the new director of Carrier Relations and Development to build and expand relationships with insurance carriers on Answer’s platform.

Beard brings 20 years of insurance experience, including 10 years with Answer Financial’s sister company, Esurance, where he managed channel relationships before moving into a sales director position. He also has prior experience with Erie Insurance, managing a territory of local independent agencies.