Rodney Pierson

Twig Branch

Seattle, Wash.-based Physicians Insurance A Mutual Company has announced that Rodney A. Pierson has been named senior vice president, CFO and treasurer. Pierson’s long history in finance includes his recent executive role with Shurgard Storage Centers Inc., and his position as senior vice president and CFO for Safeco Corporation of Seattle. In his 28 years with Safeco Corporation, Pierson was responsible for financial and accounting functions. Before assuming the job of CFO, Pierson held the positions of controller for Safeco as well as vice president and controller of Property and Casualty Insurance Subsidiaries. Pierson started his career at Coopers & Lybrand of Seattle, where he was a senior accountant performing audits for numerous public and private companies.

Curtis J. Perata has been promoted to CEO of the Jenkins Athens Group, headquartered in Concord, California. In addition to his duties as president of the firm’s P/C brokerage, Perata will also oversee the operations of the firm’s employee benefits and third party claims administration divisions. Perata joined Jenkins Athens in 1989. He previously owned his own insurance agency, Robert Nehls Insurance Brokers, which he purchased in 1984. Jenkins Athens acquired Perata’s company in 1989. During his first few years at Jenkins Athens, Perata worked as a producer on large accounts on the P/C side. In 1994 he became vice president of sales and in 1997 took over responsibility for all P/C operations. He became president of property/casualty in 2001.

William “Twig” Branch has been appointed as the Leavitt Group’s vice president of development, southeastern states. Branch will help build the Leavitt Group in the southeastern United States, operating out of Charlotte, North Carolina. Branch will work with other agencies in the area which are interested in affiliating with the Leavitt Group. Branch comes to the Leavitt Group from the Iroquois Group, an organization that also works with independent insurance agencies. Branch served as president of the Iroquois Group from 1992 to mid-2004.

The Fresno, California office of Hilb Rogal & Hobbs Insurance Services recently hired Kaye Wells as marketing director. Wells has 21 years of industry experience. She has worked in various areas of insurance, including marketing, underwriting, and program management. Wells specializes in casualty, auto, and agricultural lines of insurance. She previously served for two years on the Agricultural Producer Advisory Council for One Beacon Insurance.

ACE USA, the U.S.-based retail division of The ACE Group of Companies, named Larry Goanos senior vice president and Financial Services Industry practice leader. Based in New York, Goanos will be responsible for coordinating the marketing and distribution of ACE USA’s financial services capabilities, as well as developing new product ideas and identifying opportunities to expand existing relationships. He also will work closely with law firms to create synergies and provide additional solutions to clients. Goanos most recently served as senior vice president for ACE Professional Risk’s Management and Professional Liability Group, where he oversaw underwriting for financial institutions, as well as commercial accounts. Prior to joining ACE in 2002, Goanos spent eight years as a broker and an underwriter with substantial focus on the financial services market segment, and five years practicing insurance law.

Seattle-based Kibble & Prentice has hired Dave Ross as vice president of the Employee Benefits and Private Client groups, where he will be responsible for business planning, day-to-day operations, sales and client account management. Ross spent his 20-plus year career with Great West Life in a range of positions in sales and management, including several years as general manager of the company’s Pacific Northwest Division. Most recently he had overall responsibility for national account management.

Mountain View, Calif.-based Lawson-Hawks Insurance Associates has hired Josh M. Nail as vice president of its employee benefits division. He will be responsible for coordinating clients’ overall benefit strategies in accordance with their specific financial and business goals. Nail has over eight years of experience as a senior sales representative for a major national managed care company as well as an industry leader in medical stop-loss coverage. He specializes in employee benefits across both medical and ancillary coverage lines for small and large employers.

Bermuda Dunes, Calif.-based Trinity E&S Insurance Services has hired Michael A. Stith as executive vice president. He will be responsible for growing the California General Agency located in Bermuda Dunes, and for supervising all binding contract and brokerage underwriting and processing units. Stith previously served as director of West region binding authority for Burlington Insurance Group’s Scottsdale, Arizona office, where he handled underwriting and marketing functions. He also served with Century Insurance Group. He has more than 35 years of experience in the P/C industry.

Los Angeles-based Topa Insurance Company announced the promotion of Al Ridge to underwriting manager, commercial lines. He will be responsible for managing the commercial lines package department and Topa’s property division. Ridge joined the company in 1994 as a package underwriter and previously served as a senior underwriter of commercial package and property lines.

The Los Angeles office of Crouse & Associates has hired Shawn Hecker as a surplus line broker/underwriter. He will be responsible for building a book of construction business. Hecker has more than 10 years of experience in the insurance industry. He most recently served at Partners Specialty in Santa Monica, California. From 2001 to 2003 he served as broker/underwriter at Wells Fargo. He also worked at American E&S as a surplus lines broker/underwriter. He served for more than four years at Gateway Excess & Surplus.

La Mesa, Calif.-based Access E&S Insurance Services has promoted Roxanne L. Louie to the position of broker. She will be responsible for marketing and placement of new commercial business, including packages, E&O, property, GL, excess and EPL. Louie most recently served as senior account manager at Access E&S. She joined the company three years ago. Louie has more than 20 years of commercial lines experience, mostly serving on the retail side.

Portland, Ore.-based Heffernan Insurance Brokers promoted Steve Williams to president of financial services. He will be working out of the Walnut Creek office, but he will also continue to serve as branch manager in the company’s San Francisco office. Williams also manages several specialty insurance programs, including the contractors program, the four star culinary program and several agency-owned rent-a-captives. Williams merged his family’s insurance agency with the Heffernan Group in 1997. Before joining the family business, he worked for one of California’s largest brokerage firms in San Diego.

The PIA Western Alliance Board of Directors has elected its first set of officers. John Desmarteau of Salem, Ore.-based Beaver State Insurance Agency will serve as president. Leonard Freeman of Orange, Calif.-based Freeman & Pearce Insurance Agency will serve as president-elect. Kevin O’Connell of Great Falls, Mont.-based Talbot Hub International will serve as vice president. Paul Fossett of Albuquerque, New Mexico-based The Insurance Exchange will serve as secretary. Jack McCalman of Spokane, Wash.-based Big Bend Insurance Agency will serve as treasurer.

U.S.I. Holdings Corporation announced the appointment of David E. Estrada as president of its Northern California operation. Estrada has 20 years of insurance brokerage experience including sales, sales management and recruiting. Most recently he was a vice president with MacCorkle Insurance Services and he served as a vice president at Willis Insurance Services in San Jose. He began his career at Guardian Life Insurance Company of America.

San Francisco-based Woodruff-Sawyer & Co. announced that Glenn Smith has joined as a benefits consultant. Smith will provide consultation to clients on their benefits programs and develop new business opportunities for the organization. Smith will operate out of Woodruff-Sawyer’s newly opened office in San Rafael. Prior to joining Woodruff-Sawyer, Smith was with Craford Benefits Consultants. His role as senior consultant in their Group and Healthcare practice included managing consulting engagements for large employers, with primary emphasis on strategic benefit planning, medical benefit cost and quality management. Before joining Craford, Smith worked for two national consulting firms. He has more than 25 years of health and welfare-related experience.

Ed Fuller joined Decision Research Corp. as a sales executive and will be based out of Scottsdale, Arizona. Fuller will be responsible for new business development, with a specific focus on increasing Decision Research’s presence among general agents, MGAs, and surplus lines carriers. He has held sales positions with a number of insurance software companies, including Applied Systems, AMS Corp., Cover-All Technologies and Epic Solutions.

Tim Madden joined GE Insurance Solutions as leader of its North American brokered reinsurance business. Most recently, he served as managing partner at IAT Reinsurance Group, where he was responsible for managing the firm’s relationships with reinsurance brokers. Prior to helping found IAT Re, Madden held numerous management, underwriting and marketing positions at companies such as Mutual Reinsurance Bureau, CNA Reinsurance, Kemper Reinsurance and Allstate Reinsurance.

Lockton Companies appointed Mark Blocker to the post of vice president, employee benefits consultants. Blocker will focus on client development and will be based in Chicago. Blocker has held many client service and management positions including account executive, chief marketing officer, and chairman. Most recently he was the director of national accounts of a national insurance brokerage firm.

South Coast Surety promoted Monica Stone to senior bond specialist. In her new position she will be responsible for producing the large variety of license, permit and miscellaneous surety bonds provided by South Coast Surety.

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