People

Eagan Insurance Agency, based in Metairie, La., has added six insurance professionals to its staff.

Joining the family business are Andrew Eagan and David Strassel, both members of the fifth generation of the Eagan family to actively participate in the agency.

Eagan, now a marketing representative at the agency, interned at Eagan Insurance while an undergraduate at Ole Miss and worked with a large local broker as commercial renewal underwriter after graduation. He earned a degree in Insurance and Risk Management in 2008, and is pursuing the Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) designation.

Strassel brings more than 15 years of sales, management experience and customer service to Eagan Insurance. He is a licensed insurance professional in the agency’s LaPlace office, serving the River Parishes region. He specializes in personal insurance coverages and commercial lines for small to mid-sized businesses.

Eagan Insurance also has added Ronald S. Paulin and Cindy G. Paulin as associates. For more than 40 years, Ron Paulin has been an outstanding and respected leader in the insurance industry. His career began in the claims department of Fireman’s Fund, where he quickly advanced to property claims supervisor for the State of Louisiana. After steadily developing his book of business, Ron Paulin and an associate established a successful independent insurance agency. He then joined Eagan Insurance as an associate and mentor. He is licensed in property and casualty, as well as life and health insurance placement.

Cindy Paulin has been a prominent figure in the insurance industry since 1968. Her expertise in property and casualty insurance focuses on large, complex corporate risks, as well as small to mid-sized businesses. She also has extensive experience in life and health coverages. Cindy Paulin has achieved both the Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) and Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) Insurance designations, and taught CIC classes for several years.

Lisa Neathamer is a licensed insurance professional who joined Eagan Insurance as an account executive. Neathamer has been involved in the insurance industry for more than 20 years, and has expertise in property and casualty insurance placement and service, marine coverages and personal lines. Neathamer has been an assistant to Ron Paulin for the last 11 years. She achieved the CPSR designation and is a member of the Insurance Women of Greater New Orleans.

Leslie Selle Kyle is a licensed insurance specialist with more than 12 years of experience in property and casualty account management and customer service. She joined Eagan Insurance Agency as an account executive. Kyle comes from a family of insurance professionals that are still actively involved in the industry. She is a graduate of Ursuline Academy and is a member of the Insurance Women of Greater New Orleans.

Aon Corp. named John Bayeux managing director of Aon Risk Services. He will work with clients, the financial institutions markets and other financial institutions specialists to design coverages that address the exposures caused by the current financial crisis.

Bayeux has 22 years of experience as a risk manager and insurance broker in the financial institutions sector. Prior to joining Aon, Bayeux served as executive vice president and financial institutions industry leader for Willis, a position he held since 2004.

Previously, Bayeux spent 14 years at Aon Risk Services and its predecessor companies, ultimately serving as managing director of the firm’s financial institutions practice where he led the efforts to deliver products and services specifically geared to address the risk management needs of sophisticated financial institutions. Bayeux also has served as risk manager for several major financial firms.

David Emerson joined Colemont Insurance Brokers in the company’s Dallas office as vice president and broker specializing in transportation business. Prior to joining Colemont, Emerson was assistant director and vice president for international operations for GSP Consulting. He has also served as vice president for Higginbotham & Associates, where he was hired to create a transportation department for the company, and as vice president for agency operations for American Trucker Insurance (Great West Casualty), which he developed into a profitable operation.

Gregory R. Alperstein has joined Lockton Dunning Benefits in Dallas as vice president and actuary. The company also congratulated Brian Short on his promotion from senior vice president to senior vice president/director.

With more than 14 years of experience in the industry, Alperstein most recently consulted for Towers Perrin’s benefits consulting practice in Tampa, Fla. Serving as an actuarial consultant since 1994, Alperstein gained experience with all aspects of group health pricing, plan design and financial strategy as well as project management, analytics and communication. He is an associate member of the Society of Actuaries and a member of the American Academy of Actuaries.

In his new role, Short will continue to serve on the management committee and lead three separate benefits consulting teams within the Dallas office. Short entered the employee benefits field in 1977 and earned his Chartered Life Underwriter designation in 1981. Prior to joining Lockton Dunning Benefits in 1998, he spent 22 years working for insurance carriers, most recently as the commercial HMO manager for CIGNA HealthCare in Dallas.

Long time Texas insurance agency executive James Peak Elbert, 72, of Galveston died suddenly on Oct. 11, 2009, at his home. Elbert was born in Pampa, Texas, on Feb. 5, 1937, and grew up in Lake Jackson. After working in the property casualty insurance industry in Galveston, he purchased his father’s insurance agency in Lake Jackson and has operated and grown that agency in Lake Jackson, Brazoria and Galveston since 1995.

In 2007, Elbert, president of the Elbert Insurance Agency in Lake Jackson, was honored with the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas Drex G. Foreman Award, the association’s highest honor. The award is named for Drex Foreman, who served as executive director of IIAT for 30 years.

Throughout his insurance career, Elbert was actively involved with Texas windstorm issues, working to find common ground among insurance companies, agents, consumers and elected officials. He was chair of TDI’s Windstorm Depopulation Committee and a member of TDI’s Advisory Building Code Committee. He served as chairman of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association and the FAIR Plan board. He also was past president of the Texas chapter of the Alliance for Insurance Education and a former Executive Board member of the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas.

Insurance Network of America, based in Austin, Texas, announced the addition of Steve Swinney, who has joined the company’s Professional Services Practice Group. He will serve the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.

Swinney has had a solid background in the insurance industry. He has worked for major insurance companies including UNUM, American General and Standard. He also has worked with major corporations and professional service organizations in the areas of executive and employee benefits.

Ironshore Inc. has named Rod Todd as head of its newly established Lloyd’s Property Operation, and promoted Peter Coleman to head of Ironshore’s Bermuda property operations.

Todd has extensive experience in the Lloyd’s Property marketplace. Before joining Ironshore Bermuda in 2007 as senior vice president and property underwriter, he worked at Talbot Underwriting Syndicate as a joint team manager for property direct and facultative. He also previously served as managing director and underwriter at Faraday Syndicate, a wholly owned subsidiary of Gen Re.

Coleman will provide strategic direction and oversight in the development of Ironshore’s Bermuda property operation. He joined Ironshore as a senior vice president and property underwriter at Ironshore’s inception in January 2007. He previously served as principal of Integro London, where he was oversaw marketing, design and structure of complex property programs in the London and European markets.

Topics Texas Agencies Underwriting Property Market Property Casualty Aon Risk Management Casualty