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The Texas Surplus Lines Association Inc. elected new officers and directors at its 52nd annual meeting held Nov. 3, 2008, at the Four Seasons Hotel in Austin.

The new officers are: President Paul Rainey, president of RSI International Inc., Arlington; Vice President Monte Stringer, executive vice president of U.S. Risk Inc., Dallas; and Secretary/Treasurer Todd Teitell, president of Colemont Insurance Brokers of Texas LP, Dallas.

New TSLA directors — elected for three-year terms — are: Michael Berry, Specialty Insurance Managers Inc.; Anna Kizer, Myron Steves; and Jace Westbrook, Quirk & Company.

Existing directors are: Cheryl Corson, RPS – Leicht General Agency; Lisa Heine, Swett & Crawford of Texas Inc.; Bill Staub, RISC Inc.; Tim Martin, Burlington Insurance Group; Andrea Nash, Markel Corp.; Jack Huff, Hull & Company Inc.; Joel Reed, AUI Inc.; and Robin Stough, Towerstone Inc.

The TSLA Executive Committee consists of the current officers and the immediate past president, Lana Parks, The Parks Group Inc.

The Federation of Insurance Women of Texas (FIWT), celebrating 65 years in the Texas insurance industry, installed new officers at its recent annual convention.

Susan Tyner, Pulley Insurance, was elected FIWT president. Other elected officers include: President-Elect Teri Jones, UBI; Vice President Linda Saupp, Texas Specialty Underwriters; Recording Secretary Conya Harris, Johnston Fiss Insurance; and Corresponding Secretary Cindy Jordan, Barnard Insurance.

FIWT was founded on June 2, 1944, at the Hotel Adolphus in Dallas. Ruth A. Fredde, president of the Insurance Women of Dallas, was elected its first president.

Aon Consulting named Chuck Longiotti regional director of the Central West region, which includes Ohio, Michigan, Illinois and all states west of the Mississippi River.

Longiotti brings 27 years of experience in consulting and account management. He comes to Aon Consulting from Mercer, where he was the leader for the western United States region and for Latin America. He also led Mercer’s U.S. West retirement business. He will be based in Irvine, Calif.

Zurich North America named Kevin Whitehead to head its Excess Casualty unit. In this role, he will lead Excess Casualty operations across the United States, with oversight for 11 offices.

Whitehead brings more than 20 years of insurance industry experience to his new role. Prior to joining Zurich, he spent nine years with AIG Excess Casualty, most recently as executive vice president – national accounts, responsible for managing all aspects of the division and leading a nationwide team.

Whitehead also spent two years in facultative reinsurance with CNA Reinsurance and 10 years with Chubb Insurance, primarily in excess casualty.

Zurich’s Excess Casualty unit provides a portfolio of products including lead umbrella, excess liability and ezumbrella.com, an online platform for agents serving small to mid-sized businesses.

Zurich also appointed Christopher Haarmann chief underwriting officer of its Specialties business unit. Haarmann will lead underwriting operations for Specialties products across the U.S.

Haarmann brings 25 years of insurance industry experience to his new role. He joined Zurich in 1998 and has worked in a variety of senior roles, including starting Zurich’s Structured Solutions group and managing a key profit center for Zurich Programs. Most recently he served as senior vice president for Global Liability lines, where he was a member of the start-up management team that created Zurich’s Global Underwriting Technical Center.

Prior to joining Zurich, Haarmann held senior positions with a variety of companies, including Swiss Reinsurance, TIG Insurance, Continental Insurance and AIG, among others.

In addition, Zurich named Delaine Fritz distribution executive for Zurich North America Commercial’s Distribution & Regional Management team. In this role, Fritz will guide the development of Zurich’s regional strategic broker approach as well as efforts focusing on the company’s wholesaler and aggregator distributors. Fritz also is responsible for distribution operations and distributor analytics and reporting. She reports directly to Bob Rheel, head of Distribution & Regional Management for Zurich North America Commercial.

Fritz joins Zurich from American Insurance Group’s commercial business, where she held the post of senior vice president, national sales and marketing, and was responsible for that business’s national distribution plan. Prior to joining AIG, Fritz held leadership positions with other insurance carriers, including St. Paul Cos., CNA and Chubb.

Roger Morris has been named vice president and chief communications officer for the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB). He will be responsible for communications, public affairs, marketing and membership.

Morris is a veteran communications and marketing professional with extensive experience in the insurance and public utilities industries and as a broadcast journalist.

He previously served in executive positions at the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, the Alliance of American Insurers and CNA Insurance. Most recently he has been a senior communications and marketing consultant for numerous insurance organizations and private companies.

Topics USA Texas Excess Surplus Market Casualty