People

Detroit, Mich.-based H.W. Kaufman Financial Group named Daniel J. Kaufman senior vice president of corporate growth. Kaufman will continue to serve as managing director and lead the Chicago, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and Minneapolis offices.

He returns to the company’s Detroit headquarters after spending 10 years in Chicago, where he led the Burns & Wilcox Chicago office.

Burns & Wilcox is a wholesale brokerage and member of H.W. Kaufman Financial Group.

Alera Group, a Deerfield, Illinois-based national employee benefits, property/casualty, risk management and wealth management firm, appointed John Clark as national employee benefits practice leader.

Formerly the senior vice president and benefits practice leader for Assurex Global, Clark has gained extensive agency and carrier experience through working with some of the most prominent independent insurance agents and brokers in the world.

Alera Group’s more than 750 employees serve more than 20,000 clients nationally in employee benefits, property/casualty, risk management and wealth management.

St. Louis Missouri-based POWERS Insurance and Risk Management and sister company Valley Insurance Agency Alliance (VIAA) named Tim Davis as director of operations for both firms.

Prior to joining the companies, Davis worked for a national online retail insurance agency for nearly 10 years. He holds the Small Business Coverage Specialist (SBCS) designation.

Founded in 1991, POWERS Insurance and Risk Management is a family owned and operated independent insurance agency that provides personal and business insurance, surety, risk management and employee benefits.

Founded in 2006, VIAA is the regional founding member in Missouri and Southern Illinois for the Strategic Insurance Agency Alliance (SIAA).

Managing general agency and surplus lines broker, J.M. Wilson, promoted Andrew Hamilton to branch manager in its Westerville, Ohio, office.

Hamilton will plan the operations of the office, coordinate the staff, and work towards building relationships to foster growth with new and existing independent insurance agents in Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Virginia.

Kurtis Gautz will continue underwriting as a senior transportation underwriter in the Westerville office.

Hamilton began with J.M. Wilson in 2015 as a sales and agency relations specialist for Indiana and Ohio, where he was the primary resource and liaison for insurance agents.

With more than 10 years in the insurance industry, Hamilton has worked as a captive and commercial lines agent, as well as a manager for independent insurance agents.

He holds the Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) designation.

J.M. Wilson also added Mitchell Bailey as assistant transportation underwriter in its Portage, Michigan, office.

Bailey is responsible for quoting new and renewal transportation accounts, setting up and binding policies, assisting underwriters, and serving independent insurance agents in Michigan.

He is a recent graduate of Olivet College. While in college, Bailey interned for J.M. Wilson in the property/casualty and transportation departments.

USG promoted Mark Strayhan to insurance producer/broker in its Troy, Mich., office. He formerly held the title of associate producer/broker. Strayhan will continue building his book of business and agency retail network.

Strayhan joined the USG team in 2016 with five years of sales experience.

USG has 21 locations and four subsidiaries: USG Insurance Services Inc., a national wholesale/MGA operation; Brokers Financial Services (BFS), a premium finance company; Allied American Underwriters (AAU), the specialty division of USG; and Innovations, a full-service marketing, advertising and technology provider to the industry.

California-based Confie, a national insurance brokerage network for personal lines and small commercial insurance, appointed Cesar Soriano as chief executive officer. He has been chief operating officer for Confie since 2016.

Mordy Rothberg, the company’s founder and executive chairman, will continue to serve in the same capacities.

Prior to Confie, Soriano was president and chief operating officer of Interstate National, a provider of finance and insurance products and services. His background also includes roles as CEO and president of RSM McGladrey Financial Process Outsourcing, as well as positions with TravelCick, Bowne Corp., Dun and Bradstreet, and Xerox Corp. Before joining the private sector, he was an intelligence officer in the U.S. Army.

Confie is a portfolio company of ABRY Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm that acquired a majority interest in 2012.

Established in 2008, Confie sells in California, Arizona, Texas, Florida, Washington, Oregon, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Nevada, Illinois, Alabama, Kansas, Wisconsin, South Carolina, Missouri, Louisiana and Indiana.

Joshua Eckrich joined insurance broker Lockton’s Kansas City operation as vice president and producer. He joined Lockton from Aon where he led a team that worked with clients on complex risk management issues.

A former officer in the U.S. Army who fought in Iraq in 2006 and 2007, Eckrich has nearly a decade of experience in the insurance industry.

Eckrich specializes in complex risk relating to real estate, food and agribusiness, and entertainment. Prior to working with Aon, Eckrich supported clients in the entertainment and amusement industries

Lockton also added Sean Coykendall in its Milwaukee office as a property/casualty producer. He will advise clients on construction, real estate and manufacturing.

Prior to joining Lockton, Coykendall worked at The Horton Group in Milwaukee. Coykendall previously interned in Lockton’s Kansas City surety practice while in college.

International broker and risk management firm Integro Insurance Brokers hired Matt Reese as a principal for business development within the national sales practice across all lines of property/casualty insurance, as well as employee benefits. He is based in Chicago.

Reese joins Integro from JLT Specialty USA, where he served as senior vice president for business development. Prior to JLT, he led the Chicago operations of Hays Companies and was a practice leader for USI Insurance Services.

He is experienced providing risk management solutions to clients ranging from large, multinational firms to middle market companies, and across a variety of specialties.

Crop Pro Insurance, a Johnston, Iowa-based managing general agent (MGA) specializing in crop insurance, named Crop Pro co-founder Joe Young as the new company’s president.

Young brings 29 years of insurance operation experience including leadership roles at AmTrust Agriculture Insurance Services, The Climate Corporation and John Deere Insurance Co.

Chicago-based insurance and reinsurance services company, JLT Specialty USA, a U.S. subsidiary of Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc. (JLT), appointed Michael O’Brien as executive vice president.

O’Brien will join JLT’s Chicago office and lead business development efforts in the Midwest.

He brings to JLT more than 20 years of business experience focused on serving clients. O’Brien has spent the past 11 years in insurance brokerage, most recently with Aon serving as managing director.

O’Brien’s sectors of specialization include: public sector, construction, real estate, technology and private equity, mergers and acquisitions, and transactional liability insurance.

DOXA Insurance Holdings LLC, a Midwest-based private equity investment firm acquiring medium to small managing general agencies (MGAs), appointed Kevin Wall as chief financial officer.

A CPA, Wall’s prior experience includes serving as finance director with AON Affinity Insurance Services and senior financial analyst with Johnson & Johnson. As part of the DOXA team, Wall’s expertise will assist the company’s acquired MGAs in implementing and optimizing growth strategies.

Wall joins DOXA in the early stages of the company’s recent acquisition of Promont Insurance Advisors. Based in Chicago, Promont specializes in full-service, hard-to-place excess and surplus (E&S) insurance solutions, catering to insurance carriers, program managers, independent brokers and agents.

Naperville, Ill.-based Berkley Program Specialists appointed Michael Greville as vice president and business development officer.

Greville oversees new business strategy for the company and is responsible for managing prospective program administrator relationships nationwide.

He recently served as vice president of program development at a national programs insurance carrier. He brings 27 years of insurance experience that spans sales/distribution management, program management, MGA management, consulting and underwriting.

Greville also has earned Certified Programs Leader and Certified Sales Executive designations and was a decorated member of the Canadian Armed Forces.

Topics USA Agencies Excess Surplus Ohio Underwriting Agribusiness Illinois Property Kansas Insurance Wholesale Property Casualty Risk Management Aon Missouri Casualty Lockton