People

Juan Andrade and Jonathan Bennett have been named as interim co-leads of the Property and Casualty Operations of The Hartford.

Their appointment to those interim positions follows the departure of Neil Wolin, president and chief operating officer of the The Hartford’s Property and Casualty Operations, who has accepted a position in the White House as Deputy Counsel to the President for Economic Policy and Deputy Assistant to the President.

Andrade is currently executive vice president of sales and distribution for Property and Casualty. He joined The Hartford in 2006 when he assumed leadership of the P/C claims organization. Prior to joining The Hartford, Andrade held several leadership positions with The Progressive Corp., and also held management positions with American International Group.

Bennett is currently executive vice president of personal lines and small business insurance. Bennett joined The Hartford in 1999 as staff assistant to Ayer. He has since served in several leadership roles at the company, including vice president of corporate development, head of the eBusiness Ventures Team, and senior vice president of product management for the personal lines division. He was promoted to his current role in 2005.

Lassiter Ware Insurance in Florida has added John A. Turner to its staff as executive vice president of the Employee Benefits Division. Turner most recently served as president of J. Rolfe Davis Insurance Co., headquartered in Orlando. Prior to his tenure with J. Rolfe Davis, Turner worked in executive positions with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida and United Healthcare.

Richmond, Virginia-based Markel Corp. has promoted Britt Glisson to chief administrative officer. In this role, he will be responsible for assuring efficient, cost effective operations for Markel Corp. in North America.

Glisson joined Markel in1990, first as chief financial officer and later as president and chief operating officer of Essex Insurance Co. In 1996, he became president and chief operating officer of Markel Insurance Co., the positions he held just prior to his promotion.

Markel also named Mike Crowley as president of Markel Corp.’s Specialty Division. In his new position, Crowley will be responsible for specialty insurance business, which includes Markel Insurance Co. and Markel American Insurance Co. Prior to joining Markel, Crowley was president of Willis HRH North America, and has previously held senior positions with Johnson & Higgins and Palmer Cay.

Thomas V. Flaherty has been named chairman West Virginia’s BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Co.’s board of directors. In addition, BrickStreet Senior Vice President and General Counsel Thomas J. “T.J.” Obrokta Jr. was named to the board in his role as an officer of the company. Flaherty, a lawyer with Flaherty, Sensabaugh and Bonass, succeeds H. Skip Tarasuk Jr. of Davis and Tarasuk Insurance of Fairmont. Tarasuk, BrickStreet’s chairman during the workers’ compensation insurance carrier’s first three years, chose not to seek re-election to the board last October.

Kathleen Haskell and Christopher Smyth have joined Venture Insurance Programs’ Preferred Club Program’s team of underwriters. In their new positions, Haskell and Smyth will write new business and renewals, market and sell Preferred Club products and services as well as maintain relationships with carrier and broker partners.

Haskell most recently served as a senior underwriter for AIG Specialty Excess. She and has also held previous positions with Patriot Underwriting Managers, Commonwealth Risk Services and Marsh & McLennan Inc.

Smyth most recently served as underwriter at C&R Insurance Services where he generated new business with a focus on lawyers’ professional liability.

The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) has hired two Capitol Hill veterans with financial services backgrounds. Kathy Mitchell and Dylan Jones have joined NAMIC’s Federal Affairs team as its new Democratic lobbyists.

While working in the offices of Florida Rep. Tim Mahoney and Oklahoma Rep. Dan Boren, Mitchell worked with the House Financial Services Committee on property/ casualty insurance issues.

Jones gained experience in the financial services industry as a staff member for Reps. Paul Kanjorski, chairman of the Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises, and Carolyn McCarthy. He also served as tax and budget counsel for Nevada Rep. Shelley Berkley, chair of the Democratic Caucus Tax and Budget Task Force and member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Mitchell will be the lead lobbyist on all natural disaster issues, including the extension and reform of the National Flood Insurance Program and statewide building codes.

Jones will focus on issues related to protecting the use of underwriting tools, such as credit-based insurance scoring.

Zenith National Insurance Corp. said board member Leon Panetta has resigned to become director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. President Barack Obama chose Panetta, a former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton and a former Democratic congressman from California, to head the agency. Panetta had served as a member of Zenith’s audit committee and its nominating and corporate governance committee.

Zenith named Jerome L. Coben, a partner at Zeughauser Group, as Panetta’s replacement. Coben will serve on the audit committee and the health care committee.

Topics Florida Property Casualty