Jim Newberry, assistant vice president and risk control manager of Island Insurance in Honolulu, has received the Risk Management/Insurance Practice Specialty Safety Professional of the Year Award. The award is from the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE). Newberry has nearly 30 years of experience in the insurance industry. Island Insurance Co., Ltd. is Hawaii’s largest locally owned and managed insurance carrier, offering property and casualty protection.
Zurich in Canada has announced the appointment of Bob Fellows as senior vice president, Distribution, Marketing and Communications for Zurich’s business in Canada, effective immediately. He will be responsible for driving Canada’s distribution strategy including the Canada Top 50 Broker Program. He will be headquartered at Zurich’s office in Toronto. Fellows joins Zurich after eight years with St. Paul Fire and Marine where he served as president and Chief Agent. He also has held various leadership positions with Royal & Sun Alliance, Allendale Insurance and Arkwright Insurance.
David Daniel was named chairman of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (Big “I”). He will lead the organization as chairman for the 2009-2010 term. Daniel is president of Daniel & Eustis Insurance in Baton Rouge, La. Prior to his election to the IIABA executive committee in 2004, Daniel served on the board of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of Louisiana for eight years and became president in 1997. On the national level, Daniel has also served on IIABA’s Technical Affairs Committee and was chairman of the Big “I” Governance and Communications Task Force.
The Big “I” also installed J. Michael Miley<,strong> of Gibson Insurance Group as the chairman-elect. Miley began his insurance career in 1973 and joined Gibson Insurance Group in 1983. He began his involvement with the association at the local and state level, serving as president of the Independent Insurance Agents of Indiana from 1995 to 1996. In 1997 Miley was elected to Big “I” Board of Directors representing Indiana. The Independent Insurance Agents of Indiana has twice named him the Agent of the Year.
Yates and Associates has hired two new employees in its property and casualty underwriting department: Laura Ruetz and Sheila Webb. Both will be responsible for new business development. The Tustin, Calif.-based firm said Ruetz has been in the insurance business for 11 years, most recently as a commercial business underwriter for the past five years. She is a cat lover and works with the Humane Society of the United States. Webb has worked in the business since 1971. She has been a commercial department manager and a western regional coordinator, among other things. She has 13 grandchildren, so she says she finds it easy to keep busy when not working.
Willis HRH has named Jason M. Richardson as managing partner of its Colorado operations. In his new role, Richardson will be responsible for the company’s retail offices in Denver and Greenwood Village, reporting to Bill Creedon, national partner, South Central Region of Willis HRH. Richardson will be based in Denver. Richardson most recently served as a senior vice president with insurance broker Beecher Carlson in Atlanta, where he focused on large, national risk management clients, in particular those in the Construction and Real Estate sectors.
Nautilus Insurance Group and Great Divide Insurance Co., member companies of W. R. Berkley Corp., have appointed Raymond J. Hall as assistant vice president-underwriting special projects. Hall joins Nautilus from a national insurance company where he served as regional director. Hall has over 10 years of industry experience.
James Cassara III has been promoted to assistant vice president-underwriting, south region. Cassara has over 15 years of industry experience, specializing in underwriting excess and surplus lines. Nautilus is an excess and surplus and specialty lines carrier.
Curtis R. Chalmers has been named assistant vice president-miscellaneous professional liability. Chalmers joins Nautilus from Vela Insurance Services, another W. R. Berkley member company, where he served as senior underwriter-professional liability. His background includes product line development, underwriting, marketing and sales.
Nautilus and Great Divide are located in Scottsdale, Arizona, employ more than 250 people.
Virginia-based specialty insurer Markel Corp. has appointed Nathan J. Warde as executive underwriting officer. Warde will oversee Markel’s property lines operations in the United States. Ward has almost 30 years experience in diverse underwriting and insurance operations and most recently was president for Aspen Insurance U.S. and CEO for Aspen Specialty. Prior to then, he was executive vice president for Arch Insurance Group where he led the strategic development of Arch’s entry into the U.S. specialty property marketplace.
The Travelers Cos. Inc. has appointed Scott Higgins as president of Travelers Construction. Higgins most recently served as chief underwriting officer for Travelers Middle Market business units. He joined Travelers in 1991, and has served in a variety of positions within the company. In his new role, Higgins will look for opportunities to grow the Travelers Construction business through disciplined underwriting and specialized claim and risk control services. He will also look for ways to further strengthen Travelers’ relationships with its independent agents and brokers.
Topics USA Agencies Excess Surplus Underwriting Canada Risk Management
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