People – Midwest

The Grinnell Mutual board of directors has selected Jeff Menary to succeed Larry Jansen as president and chief executive officer of Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Co. located in Grinnell, Iowa.

Menary will replace Jansen upon Jansen’s retirement in December 2017. Since July 2014, Menary has served as the company’s executive vice president of Line Operations.

During Menary’s 37-year career at Grinnell Mutual, he has served in a variety of roles. He joined the company as a marketing representative and has worked as a marketing and reinsurance manager of the Iowa-Wisconsin region; director of Underwriting and Production; assistant vice president of Commercial Lines; vice president of Underwriting and Production; and vice president of Reinsurance.

He holds the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU), Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC), Associate in Risk Management (ARM), Certified Risk Manager (CRM) and Associate in Reinsurance (ARe) designations among others.

Chicago-based CNA appointed former Chubb executive Joyce Trimuel to fill a new executive position as chief diversity officer. She will also carry the title of senior vice president.

At Chubb, Trimuel was most recently vice president and Kansas City branch manager for Chubb. While there, the 20-year insurance and underwriting veteran founded the Lead.Link.Leverage initiative, offering more than 200 women business leaders in the Kansas City community professional career development.

Maximum, an independent, Chicago-based excess and surplus lines insurance wholesaler, added Bria Christensen as a producer in its Omaha, Neb., office.

Christensen most recently held a wholesale brokerage position at Ascension Risk Services. Getting her start in North Dakota before settling in Omaha, she gained underwriting and sales management experience early on in her career.

In business since 1998 and headquartered in Chicago, Maximum is a full-service brokerage firm and specializes in property, casualty, transportation, DIC, builders risk and professional lines coverage.

Willis Towers Watson appointed Imran Qureshi to head the company’s U.S. Midwest region. Qureshi will be responsible for managing and growing the company’s business and client relationships across the Midwest. In addition, he will join the North America Leadership team.

Qureshi joined Willis Towers Watson in 1999 and has held several leadership positions, most recently having served as market leader for Greater Chicago and Wisconsin, where he led the growth of those markets. Prior to joining the company, Qureshi worked at consulting and brokerage firms in the U.K. and the U.S.

WestCongress Insurance Services LLC, a newly formed managing general agent headquartered in Detroit, Mich., has hired three senior underwriting professionals — Richard “Dick” Barrett, Dan Barrett and Michael Horn — to lead the firm’s efforts in the specialty commercial insurance marketplace.

Dick Barrett, vice president, is the segment manager responsible for leading the team of insurance professionals in the oil and gas arena. He has more than three decades of experience in the insurance industry.

Dan Barrett, vice president, is the segment manager responsible for artisan contractor insurance solutions. He brings practical knowledge as both an underwriter and a broker, thus giving him a unique perspective on the needs of all parties.

Horn, vice president, is the senior account executive for excess casualty. He has worked with virtually all major wholesale brokers, and has delivered policies for Fortune 1000 companies writing high attachment, high capacity business.

WestCongress is a coverholder with Lloyd’s of London and currently offers commercial general liability and commercial excess liability insurance solutions for targeted small and middle market risks in the energy, artisan contractor and security industries.

AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (AXIS Capital) appointed Kelly Dworniczek vice president, Public D&O and Fiduciary Product manager, for AXIS Insurance’s Commercial Management Solutions (CMS) team. She is based in Chicago.

Dworniczek will oversee product strategy, development and analysis for AXIS Insurance’s D&O and Fiduciary Liability products, and will report directly to Mark Paccione, executive vice president of CMS at AXIS Insurance.

Dworniczek has nearly 15 years of experience in the insurance industry, most recently serving as assistant vice president, underwriting and management liability lead, at CNA.

An attorney, she is a member of both the Illinois and New York state bars, and is an active member of the Professional Liability Underwriting Society.