People – West

Burns & Wilcox Brokerage named Susanne M. Waite vice president and senior broker in its San Francisco, Calif., office.

Waite has more than 30 years of experience in insurance, with 14 years in wholesale.

Waite previously was a vice president and broker at Partners Specialty Group and Swett & Crawford. Before that she was with Aon Serivces Group. Her experience in casualty includes general liability, excess and environmental.

Farmington Hills, Mich.-based Burns & Wilcox is an independent wholesale insurance brokerage owned by the H.W. Kaufman Financial Group.

Robertson Ryan & Associates Inc. added Ed Feriance as a vice president in Las Vegas, Nev.

Feriance is a licensed insurance agent and specializes in tow truck operations in California and Nevada and other areas.

He was most recently was an agent with a California-based insurance broker.

Robertson Ryan & Associates offers a range of solutions for business, benefits and personal insurance.

RIC Insurance General Agency has named Jim Watson transportation underwriting manager.

RIC also named Michele Epstein vice president of management and professional lines.

Watson is based in Reno, Nev. He worked as a commercial auto product manager at Capital Insurance Group prior to RIC. He was also an underwriter at Coastal Brokers Insurance Services, and a senior underwriter at the Sutter Insurance Co.

Epstein will be based in Chatsworth, Calif., and produce, enhance and expand product offerings for RIC’s agency partners.

Epstein worked as vice president and broker for AP Specialty before RIC. AP Specialty acquired ELM Insurance Brokers, where she worked in the same capacity. Prior to these roles, Epstein was founder and president of Attorneys and Professionals Insurance Services, as well as executive vice president of Jaymes & Jaymes Inc.

RIC is a wholesale insurance brokerage and managing general agency.

LP Insurance Services Inc. named David Deacon to its Arizona commercial insurance sales team.

Deacon is responsible for developing new business relationships as well as retaining and servicing existing clients.

Deacon was most recently a sales producer at the Leavitt Group before joining LP Insurance.

Reno, Nev.-based LP Insurance has additional offices in Elko, Las Vegas, the Gold River/Sacramento and Truckee, Calif. area, as well as Phoenix, Ariz.

San Diego, Calif.-based Cavignac & Associates has named Doneca Delmundo as an account administrator within the agency’s commercial department.

Delmundo will provide support and assistance to the agency’s commercial insurance account managers.

Delmundo previously was a paralegal for Dostart Hannink & Coveney LLP, where she worked her way up from a receptionist to paralegal.

Cavignac & Associates is a risk management and commercial insurance brokerage.

Woodruff-Sawyer & Co. has named Melissa Schellinkhout as vice president and Northwest practice director.

Schellinkhout will be responsible for oversight of property/casualty operations in the Pacific Northwest, including the firm’s Portland, Ore., and Seattle, Wash., offices. She will also manage insurance company relations and client brokerage activities.

She worked for more than 16 years at Chubb before joining Woodruff-Sawyer.

San Francisco-based Woodruff-Sawyer has offices throughout California, and in Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Hawaii and New England.

QBE North America has named Marcia Blanco as senior vice president and Western region specialty underwriting engagement leader.

She is based in San Francisco, Calif. Blanco will report to Jeff Grange, president of specialty insurance.

Blanco has more than 25 years of insurance industry experience. She joins QBE from XL Insurance, where she was a vice president.

Blanco previously held senior underwriting and leadership positions with Navigators Insurance Co., Kemper Insurance Co., CNA, Executive Risk, Reliance National Underwriters and Swett and Crawford.

QBE North America is part of QBE Insurance Group Ltd. The North America division is headquartered in New York and conducts business through its property/casualty insurance subsidiaries.

Topics California