People

San Diego-based Barney & Barney LLC named Jim O’Connell principal. He also will serve as director of development for programs, specialty insurance solutions. In that role, he is responsible for both regional and nationwide expansion of new and existing programs. He has two decades of experience in the insurance industry.

Members of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners(NAIC) elected 2008 officers during their meeting in Houston. The newly elected officers include: president, Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger; president-elect, New Hampshire Insurance Commissioner Roger Sevigny; vice president, West Virginia Insurance Commissioner Jane Cline; and secretary/treasurer, Iowa Insurance Commissioner Susan Voss.

Praeger was elected Kansas’ 24th insurance commissioner in 2002 and re-elected in 2006. Before becoming insurance commissioner, Praeger served three terms in the Kansas Senate and one term in the Kansas House of Representatives. She also served as mayor of Lawrence, Kan., and was a member of the Lawrence City Commission.

Sevigny was appointed New Hampshire insurance commissioner in 2003. Prior to becoming insurance commissioner, Sevigny was assistant commissioner.

Cline was appointed West Virginia insurance commissioner in 2001. Prior to her appointment as commissioner, Cline operated a government consulting firm, Jane L. Cline & Associates.

The board of directors of the National Insurance Producer Registry (NIPR) elected its 2008 officers

Alaska Insurance Director Linda Hall was re-elected president. Hall has been a member of the NIPR board since June 2003, having served as president since December 2004.

Also re-elected was NIPR Vice President Wesley Bissett, senior counsel for state government affairs for the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America. Bissett is only the second individual to serve in this role in NIPR’s 11-year history, and the first to come from the agent/broker side of the industry.

NAIC Executive Vice President and CEO Catherine J. Weatherford will again serve as NIPR secretary/treasurer.

Atlanta-based Beecher Carlson expanded its National Environmental Practice by appointing Rick Craig and Kyle Strand senior vice presidents. The team expansion increases Beecher Carlson’s presence in San Francisco and expertise in environmental risk management.

Craig brings 17 years of environmental insurance, real estate and environmental consulting expertise. He will be responsible for the company’s National Environmental Practice. Previously, he established and managed the Western Region Environmental Practice for Willis Insurance Group. He also served as the environmental practice leader for Marsh’s San Francisco office.

Strand also has 17 years of experience, in underwriting, environmental consulting and contracting. He will drive environmental insurance placement and servicing. His responsibilities include environmental risk analysis, insurance program design, marketing, contract negotiation and long-term account management.

Previously, he was with Liberty International Underwriters (LIU), where he established the Western Region environmental office in San Francisco in connection with the Liberty/Quanta Renewal Rights Agreement.

Integro Insurance Brokers appointed three national specialty practice leaders.

In Private Equity, Nick Conca is a managing principal and leader of Integro’s New York Management Risk team. He has more than 17 years of experience.

In Real Estate, Anne Anderson is a managing principal in the San Francisco office. She has more than 25 years of risk management experience, with a focus on the property and international marketplace.

In Financial Institutions, William Goett is a managing principal in the New York office with more than 20 years of risk management experience and a focus on financial institutions.

Three industry executives have joined IronPro, the professional liability facility of Bermuda’s Ironshore Inc.

Tom Leahy joins as senior vice president of underwriting and will manage the New York-based underwriting teams. Leahy has 13 years of insurance industry experience including most recently serving as executive vice president, National Accounts Division of AIG Executive Liability, a subsidiary of American International Group Inc.

Jeremy Frumkin and David Rogers have been hired to manage regional distribution and business development for the Western and Central regions, respectively.

Frumkin joins as an assistant vice president located in San Francisco. Prior to joining IronPro, he was branch manager for National Accounts Division of AIG Executive Liability.

Rogers also joins as an assistant vice president and will be based in Chicago. He previously worked in the professional lines group at Endurance Insurance in Bermuda and prior to that worked in Chicago for Chubb and Marsh.

Jafir Young joined Kansas City, Mo.-based Westrope as the western region executive and professional liability broker, responsible for servicing the directors and officers, employment practices liability, fiduciary, crime, miscellaneous errors and omissions, and health care professional needs of retailers located in: Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, Nevada, Utah and Washington. Young brings seven years of underwriting experience to Westrope.

Carpenter Moore added two broker-executives to its errors and omission liability practice. Ted Doolittle was named managing director, global errors and omissions liability practice leader. Mickey Estey joined the company as a managing director. Both executives will be based in San Francisco and have a specialization in privacy and security issues.

The California Alliance of Insurance Agents and Brokers named John Sibthorp director of sales. He will be responsible for growing Alliance membership and marketing the group’s products and services.

Diane Ketcham was named program manager for the California State Compensation Insurance Fund’s Project Services Office (PSO), which supports the development and implementation of State Fund projects and studies.

Ketcham began her State Fund career in 1987 as a workers’ compensation insurance representative in San Bernardino, Calif. In the ensuing years, she began expanding her career to include management positions in claims/rehabilitation.

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

Also named during the recent election is new board member, Gautam Boda, managing director of J.B. Boda & Co. Pvt. Ltd. in Mumbai, India; and two returning board members: Tom Cornish, president and CEO of Seitlin in Miami, and Johnny Pitts, co-chief manager of Lipscomb & Pitts Insurance LLC of Memphis, Tenn.

Valiant Insurance Group Inc., a New York subsidiary of Bermuda-based Ariel Holdings Ltd., named Ursula M. Kerrigan general counsel and senior vice president of its U.S. property/casualty insurance operations. Prior to joining Valiant, Kerrigan was with Liberty Mutual’s Liberty International Underwriters division as director of compliance as well as chief counsel.

Also, Stephanie R. Davenport in New York as vice president of finance. Davenport will be responsible for financial control processes, as well as management of high-profile and complex client issues. Davenport served as senior vice president of fiduciary accounting and claims at Gallagher Re (formerly John P. Woods Co. Inc.).

Atlanta-based NationsBuilders Insurance Services Inc. 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.

Risk Management Solutions based in Newark, Calif., named Robert Bentley chief operating officer. Bentley, who was previously Global COO at Guy Carpenter & Co. LLC., will be responsible for all operational aspects of RMS. He previously worked for Guy Carpenter, Aon Re and Marsh & McLennan Securities Corp.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. named Daniel S. Glaser, an American International Group executive who began his career as a Marsh broker, chairman and CEO of its insurance broker, Marsh Inc.

Glaser currently serves as managing director of AIG Europe (U.K.) Ltd. and regional president of AIG’s American International Underwriters (AIU), UK/Ireland division. He joined Marsh on Dec. 10, 2007.

Glaser began his career in the insurance industry as a Marsh broker in 1982. He worked at Marsh for a decade, serving in roles in New York, London and Saudi Arabia.

Glaser succeeds Brian M. Storms, who was forced out of the position in September. During the search for a successor, Michael G. Cherkasky, president and CEO of parent Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. (MMC), served as acting CEO of Marsh.

Glaser currently lives in London and will relocate to MMC’s corporate headquarters in New York, the company said.

OneBeacon Insurance Group appointed Terry Thompson senior vice president and chief underwriting officer of the company’s U.S. operations.

Reporting to CEO Mike Miller, Thompson will be responsible for key underwriting matters, including underwriting guidelines, catastrophe management, corporate insurance and reinsurance, and the consideration of new business opportunities.

Thompson joined the company in 1998. Prior to joining the company, she had 15 years of industry experience with carriers including Fireman’s Fund and Zenith Insurance.

Trinity E&S Insurance Services Inc. based in Bermuda Dunes, Calif., named Phil Tanner an underwriter responsible for commercial lines. He will handle the territories of California, Nevada and Arizona.

Los Angeles-based Lemac & Associates named Richard Wilson assistant vice president specializing in construction, wrap-ups, products liability, premises liability and excess liability. A native of London, Wilson began his insurance career as a broker at Lloyds of London. By late 2002, he came to California and worked for two Los Angeles wholesalers, where he learned the casualty business and placements for the construction industry.

Chatsworth, Calif.-based Compass Insurance Group of Agencies hired Paul D. Laufer as senior broker. During the past five years, Laufer was with a local retail insurance agency and has been focusing on professional liability and products liability.

Arrowhead Wholesale Insurance Services based in San Diego, Calif., announced two internal promotions.

Michael Guilbault will be account executive for the company’s high value homeowners division. Most recently, Guilbault worked as an account manager in the workers’ compensation division.

Amanda Hall was promoted to account manager within the workers’ compensation division.

Flood & Peterson Insurance of Greeley, Colo., added Rusty Lear, a 21-year veteran of the surety bonding industry, to its staff. Lear, who has worked in Colorado for 15 years, previously worked for eight years as an executive construction surety underwriter, where he managed underwriting operations throughout the West.

Topics California New York Agencies Workers' Compensation Underwriting Kansas Market Pollution London Risk Management AIG