People – East

Erie Insurance Group President and Chief Executive Officer Terrence W. Cavanaugh announced his plan to retire at the close of 2016.

Erie Insurance said it has launched the process to appoint a new CEO, with the Board of Directors aiming to have Cavanaugh’s successor in place by the end of the 2016 first quarter. The successor will report directly to Cavanaugh through the remainder of 2016, taking on the CEO role at the onset of 2017. Cavanaugh, 62, joined Erie Insurance as president and CEO in 2008 after a 33-year career with Chubb Group of Insurance Companies.

Erie Insurance, based in Erie, Pennsylvania, has more than 5 million policies in force and operates in 12 states and the District of Columbia.

Former U.S. Senator Ben Nelson will not renew his contract as chief executive officer of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), the group announced.

Nelson’s current term ends on Jan. 31, 2016. He began his tenure at NAIC in January 2013. The NAIC is an organization of state insurance regulators. Nelson’s two-year contract came with an annual base salary of $950,000.

Nelson said he will return to his private law practice in Nebraska and Washington, D.C. and be available in a consulting role to the NAIC as needed during this transition.

The Virginia State Corporation Commission’s Bureau of Insurance has appointed Rebecca Nichols as deputy commissioner of the Property and Casualty Division.

Nichols joined the Bureau of Insurance in 1985 in the Rates and Forms Section of the Property and Casualty Division. She has held several increasingly responsible positions including, most recently, chief insurance market examiner.

Nichols succeeds Mary Bannister, who is retiring in November after 35 years of service at the Bureau of Insurance. Bannister joined the Bureau in 1980 and held a number of increasingly responsible positions before being named deputy commissioner of insurance in 1998.

In addition, Don Beatty, most recently senior counsel with the Office of General Counsel at the Virginia State Corporation Commission, was named the Bureau of Insurance’s deputy commissioner of policy and compliance, a new position. He will serve as a central resource for all Bureau of Insurance divisions on matters involving regulatory policy.