People – East

Chubb, the world’s largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance company, has appointed Jeffrey Updyke as regional manager for the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Regions of the company’s commercial insurance division in North America.

In this role, Updyke will be based in the firm’s New Haven, Conn., branch office and succeeds Jane Peterson, who will retire from Chubb in January after 32 years of service. Updyke will report to Steven Pozzi, senior vice president of Chubb Group and division president of North American Commercial Insurance.

Chubb’s operations in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions serve commercial customers in the middle market through independent agents and brokers across a network of nine branch and field offices. Updyke will be responsible for executing the underwriting and sales strategies of this business unit, as well as staff management, production, profit and loss, and distribution management.

Updyke is a 25-year insurance professional. He joined Chubb in 1991 and has held various underwriting and marketing roles of increasing responsibility during his tenure with the company.

Most recently, he served as regional chief operating officer for the company’s Northeast region, where he oversaw Chubb’s operations in Connecticut, western Massachusetts, and upstate New York.

NJM Insurance Company, a West Trenton, N.J.-headquartered property and casualty insurer, has announced the retirement of Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Charles A. Prall, effective Dec. 31, 2016, after a career at NJM that spans more than three decades.

Prall will be succeeded by finance leader Alastair C. Shore, who joins NJM with more than 25 years of property and casualty insurance experience.

Most recently, he was executive vice president and chief financial officer for CUNA Mutual Insurance Group of Madison, Wisc., where he led the company’s core financial services, including capital planning, treasury and expense management.

In addition to his responsibilities as CFO, Shore will be a member of NJM’s executive leadership team, reporting directly to Flynn.

According to Flynn, Prall and Shore worked closely together throughout the month of December to ensure a smooth, effective transition and transfer of knowledge, assuring continuity of the organization’s stewardship of policyholder resources.

Workers’ compensation specialist The MEMIC Group, headquartered in Portland, Maine, has promoted Deb Sabatino to the position of director of human resources.

In this role, she is responsible for planning and managing human resources operations and programs.

Sabatino has more than 25 years of human resources experience in the hospitality, healthcare, retail and insurance industries. She began her career at MEMIC in 2008 as a human resources specialist and was promoted to human resources manager in 2015.

Prior to MEMIC, she worked in human resources at Starwood Hotels and Resorts, Cole Haan, Maine Medical Center and Marriott International.

The MEMIC Group includes MEMIC Indemnity Company, MEMIC Casualty Company, and parent company Maine Employers’ Mutual Insurance Company. As a super-regional workers’ compensation specialty insurer, The MEMIC Group holds licenses to write workers’ compensation across the country. The group insures more than 20,000 employers and their estimated 300,000 employees, and holds more than $1.2 billion in assets.

QBE North America, an operating division of global insurer QBE Insurance Group Limited, has appointed Kris L. Hill as chief financial officer.

Hill will assume her new role effective Jan. 17, 2017, and also serve as a member of the QBE North America Executive Management Board. She will relocate with her family at the end of the school year in 2017 and be based in New York City.

At QBE, Hill will be responsible for leading the company’s North American Finance organization, including business segment actuarial and financial teams and the accounting management and tax functions. She will report directly to Russell Johnston, chief executive officer at QBE North America.

Hill succeeds Richard Dziadzio, who served as chief financial officer from July 2013 to July 2016. Dziadzio subsequently was appointed chief financial officer of Assurant in June 2016.

With more than 25 years of insurance operations and financial leadership positions, Hill most recently served as executive vice president of field operations at Liberty Mutual, Surety, after having served for nearly four years as senior vice president and chief financial officer at Liberty Mutual, Surety, and three years as senior vice president and chief financial officer at Liberty Mutual Safeco Insurance.

Topics Maine Chubb