People

Dallas-based regional insurer, The Republic Group, appointed Jim Drawert to the new position of vice president – Industry Relations. Additionally, Cathy Link has joined Republic as chief underwriting officer.

Drawert joined Republic in 2003 as vice president – chief underwriting officer. In his new position, Drawert will lead the company’s industry relations and lobbying activities.

He has over 40 years experience in the insurance industry and is known and respected by all segments of the industry. He will lead Republic’s efforts as the industry seeks much needed reform of the Texas Windstorm Pool to ensure it is fiscally responsible to our citizens and our industry.

Prior to joining Republic, Link was branch Underwriting director for Kemper Insurance Companies in Dallas and, most recently, Regional Sales executive and field vice president for Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company where she was responsible for an eight state region.

The Insurance Council of Texas (ICT) elected Dorothy Langley as chair of its Board of Directors effective Jan.1, 2008.

Langley has been a part of the Unitrin Property & Casualty Insurance Group since 1992. She currently serves as vice president and general counsel of Kemper, A Unitrin Business. She also worked for AIG as a manager attorney for a staff counsel operation and in private practice in Boston.

Langley is a member of the Legal and Government Affairs Committee of PCI, Texas and Massachusetts bars and authorized house counsel in Florida.

Craig Sparks, president of Union Standard Insurance Company, was elected vice chairman. Other newly elected officers include Treasurer Jim Harms, branch vice president of the CNA Insurance Group, and Secretary Dennis Devlin, regional vice president of the Travelers Companies.

James Langford, assistant vice president at the Texas Farm Bureau Insurance Cos., will serve as immediate past chair president.

Also on the ICT board of directors are: Robert Zeman, Allstate Insurance Company; Gerard Butler, Chubb Group of Insurance Companies; Frank Galitski, Farmers Insurance Group; David Radakovich, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company; Richard Mayer, The Republic Group; Joe Johnson, United Fire Group; and Robert Gilbert, USAA.

The Republic Group’s James Drawert also serves on the board as an advisory director.

Dallas-based McQueary Henry Bowles Troy LLP (MHBT) announced the appointment of Bill Henry as a board member of the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce, effective January 2008.

Henry, who is chairman and chief executive officer at MHBT, will serve a three-year term. As a member of the Chamber’s board of directors, Henry and the other board members will be responsible for the management and control of the business and affairs of the Chamber.

The Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter of Risk and Insurance Management Society (DFW RIMS) named Mark Shults of McGriff, Seibels & Williams as the Distinguished Associate of the Year for 2007. He is vice president and producer in McGriff’s Commercial Insurance Division.

Each year, DFW RIMS selects one associate member who excels in the risk management organization and helps advance the RIMS mission.

Shults is the first recipient of the award to come from the brokerage community and was recognized for his energetic efforts to help the organization achieve its goals

Shults has been active in RIMS for four years, serving on the Fall Conference Committee, Social Committee, Ad Hoc Committee on Value Added to Membership as well as several community service projects.

Greg Vanek of Waco was elected president of the Association of Fire and Casualty Companies in Texas (AFACT) for 2008 – 2009. Vanek is the president and chief executive officer of National Lloyds and American Summit Insurance Companies, known as NLASCO.

Craig Sparks, president of Union Standard Insurance Company in Dallas, was elected vice-president. Lyndell Haigood, regional vice-president of State Auto Insurance Company in Wichita Falls, was elected secretary/treasurer.

Gina Boone, assistant vice-president and associate counsel at Republic Insurance Group in Dallas, was elected director at large and past president Dianne Morris, president of Association Casualty Insurance Company, will serve as a director.

Alton Thomas, a retired insurance company executive, will continue in the position of AFACT executive manager.

AFACT is a trade organization representing Texas property and casualty insurance companies.

Robert Swayze, executive vice president of Eustis Insurance & Benefits in New Orleans, was elected president of RiskProNet International, a network of 26 independent insurance brokers throughout the United States and Canada.

Three new board members also have been elected. They are Gerry O’Connor, senior vice president of Old National Insurance in Indianapolis; Bradley Potter, vice president – Operations of BFL Canada in Vancouver; and Phil Marsh, senior vice president of Wick Picher Insurance Inc. in Phoenix.

Dallas National Insurance Company added five new outside directors: Oklahoma Banking Commissioner Mick Thompson; former Arkansas Insurance Commissioner Mike Pickens; Laura Wehrle, a former insurance executive and workers’ compensation expert; Marta Prado, a successful business executive from Florida; and Betty Patterson, retired Deputy Commissioner of Finance for the Texas Department of Insurance.

Dallas National reported it ended the first three quarters of 2007 with a net income of $9.4 million on net premiums of $66.7 million. Net premiums through the third quarter of 2007 are approximately the same as the company’s total net premium for 2006, according to Dallas National President Chris Nehls. The company is licensed to provide property and casualty insurance in 35 states and the District of Columbia

Zurich named Kevin McCracken as executive vice president – Casualty and Joseph Tocco as executive vice president – Property for the insurer’s Global Corporate in North America unit, effective Jan. 1, 2008.

Both will now report to Paul Horgan, the unit’s newly appointed chief underwriting officer.

McCracken will be responsible for casualty coverage, including all large casualty accounts, excess workers’ compensation and international casualty business written in North America. He joined Zurich earlier this year as senior vice president-casualty, Northeast Region, and leader of the company’s excess workers’ compensation business nationally.

Prior to joining Zurich, McCracken was senior vice president of ACE USA’s Mid-Atlantic region.

Tocco will be responsible for property lines, including highly protected risks, global property, boiler and machinery, health care and national accounts property segments. Tocco joined Zurich from Munich Re in 1996 as vice president and national director of engineered lines, and was appointed senior vice president – Northeast Region property manager in 2001.

Atlanta-based NationsBuilders Insurance Services Inc. (NBIS), founder and exclusive program underwriter for ProBuilders Specialty Insurance Company RRG, announced that Peter H. Foley resigned from his positions of president, CEO and director to pursue other interests.

The company said it is not making any structural changes to its business strategy or model, noting NBIS has experienced profitable growth in recent years.

Assurex Global named Bill Jeatran as its newest and 52nd chairman of the board. Jeatran, chief executive officer of RJF Agencies, Minneapolis, Minn., succeeds Paul J. Hering, managing principal and CEO of Barney & Barney LLC in San Diego.

Gautam Boda, managing director of J.B. Boda & Co. Pvt. Ltd. in Mumbai, India, is a new board member. Two returning board members are Tom Cornish, president and CEO of Seitlin in Miami, Fla., and Johnny Pitts, co-chief manager of Lipscomb & Pitts Insurance LLC of Memphis, Tenn.

Jeatran’s RJF Agencies, a risk management and employee benefits agency, serves middle-market companies throughout the upper Midwest from its Minneapolis headquarters.

Marsh appointed Sarah Richmond as a risk consultant in its Europe, Middle East and Africa Product Risk Practice. Marsh noted that she is the first of three new appointments to this expanding team, with others to be announced early in 2008.

Before joining Marsh, Richmond was with Danone, Waters UK & Ireland. Richmond will be based in Marsh’s London office, and will provide professional consulting services for manufacturing clients who have an exposure to product recall, product tampering, product contamination, product safety or liability issues.

To submit information for “People” e-mail sjones@insurancejournal.com.

Topics Carriers Texas Workers' Compensation Property Property Casualty Casualty