West Virginia’s Workers’ Compensation Board of Managers has hired an internal auditor to monitor the accounts, records and fiscal affairs of the Compensation Commission.
Melissa Wood of Charleston, a certified public accountant, will begin her new duties as director of internal audit on July 6.
Wood most recently served as director of transportation auditing for the West Virginia Department of Transportation, a position she has held since 2002. She previously served as audit manager for Arnett & Foster PLLC, from 1988 to 2002 and as a staff auditor for KPMG Peat Marwick from 1986 to 1988.
Wood’s responsibilities will include the evaluation of the adequacy of financial, management and operational controls; compliance with established policies, plans and procedures; the reliability of financial and operational data developed within the Commission; and the appropriation of audit reports and recommendations. She will be responsible for development and oversight of an internal control document known as a Process Model that defines the Commission’s significant business processes, objectives, risks, controls, key performance indicators and other pertinent information, and for conducting an annual risk assessment of these processes.
The National Association of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA) has named Leonard Brevik as executive vice president of the association and CEO of its for-profit subsidiary, PIA Services Inc.
Brevik most recently headed Bak-Brevik Investments, a real estate investment firm. From 2000 to 2003, he served as chief marketing officer and vice president of business development for the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisers. From 1989 to 2000, Brevik held executive positions with the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America (IIABA) and its subsidiary organizations.
Gary Bhojwani has been named president of Commercial Business for Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. He was previously president of Lincoln General Insurance Co., a subsidiary of Kingsway Financial Services.
As president of Lincoln General Insurance Co., Bhojwani reportedly guided the business to rapid growth and an improved bottom line. Lincoln General is a Pennsylvania-based, national insurance company, licensed in 49 states and with nearly $1 billion in annual commercial and personal lines premiums.
Prior to Lincoln General, Bhojwani was founder and president of Avalon Risk Management, a national underwriting manager, third-party administrator, and insurance brokerage. He also worked for seven years at Intercargo Corp., where he began as a broker and served in a series of positions that culminated in his being named president of the company’s Trade Insurance Services subsidiary.
The Swiss-based Zurich Financial Services Group announced the appointment of Axel Lehmann as CEO of Zurich North America Commercial (ZNA), effective September 2004. He succeeds John Amore who, as announced on April 2, is assuming his global leadership role as CEO of General Insurance.
As CEO of ZNA, Lehmann will oversee all Zurich North America General Insurance activities. The heads of Zurich North America units will report to him, and, on behalf of the Group Executive Committee (GEC), he will provide the GEC leadership for the U.S. Small Business strategy development.
He joined Zurich in 1996 and has held various positions in corporate development and executive management. He was appointed to the Group Management Board in 2000 and he joined the GEC as CEO of the Continental Europe Business Division in March 2002.
Zurich said his successor at the helm of the European General Insurance businesses will be announced at a later date.
ACE USA, the U.S.-based retail operating division of The ACE Group of Cos., announced that Thomas Guitian has been appointed vice president, Marketing for ACE USA Accident & Health.
Guitian will be responsible for business development and field operations. He will also focus on growing ACE USA Accident & Health’s account and brokerage relationships in the U.S. and will assist in the expansion of employee and employer distribution channels ranging from mid-sized to the Fortune 500 accounts.
Guitian most recently served as a national sales manager, for Chubb Corp., where he oversaw the management of U.S. field operations for its accident and health division. Prior to that, he held a variety of underwriting, marketing and regional sales management positions in the Mid-Atlantic region for American International Group’s accident and health division, culminating with his appointment as the head of Field Operations.
Florida-based American Professional Liability Underwriters Inc. announced a pair of promotions.
Robert Kenney has been named as president. Kenney has been with AmPro since 1996, and was formerly vice president of the company. Gregg Miller who joined the firm one year ago has been named as vice president.
American Professional Liability Underwriters Inc., a subsidiary of Gabor Insurance Services Inc., is a wholesale broker dedicated solely to the placement of professional liability coverage.
Alabama-based Vesta Insurance Group Inc. announced that Tambra L.G. Bailie has been elected the non-executive chairman of its Board of Directors. In addition, Vesta announced that Kevin Tierney has been elected to the Board of Directors at the annual meeting of stockholders.
A resident of Birmingham, Ala., Bailie is a certified public accountant and has been a Vesta director since January 2003.
Tierney, who resides in Falmouth, Maine, has been in private legal practice since 2000 following 23 years with UNUM Corp.
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