People – West

Idaho Department of Insurance Director Bill Deal announced he is retiring.

His retirement is effective on Dec. 31.

Deal was appointed by Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter and began his eight-year tenure on Jan. 2, 2007.

“My time with the Department of Insurance has been a rewarding one with challenges met and successes achieved,” Deal said in a statement. “I have had the pleasure of working with dedicated and professional people who have the best interests of the citizens of Idaho at heart and who work hard to provide superior customer service.”

Deal spent 46 years in the insurance industry and eight terms in the Idaho House of Representatives.

“I hate to think where we would have been for the past eight years without Bill Deal at the Department of Insurance. His professionalism and steady hand have made a world of difference for the agency and the people and businesses it serves,” Otter said in a statement.

Joe Berg has joined Lockton’s Denver, Colo., office as a property/casualty insurance producer.

Prior to Lockton Berg was with Enhanced Capital Partners, and worked closely with several portfolio companies on financial reporting, mergers and acquisitions, and compliance.

Kansas City, Mo.-based Lockton provides clients with risk management, insurance and employee benefits consulting services.

Woodruff-Sawyer & Co. has named Richard Nakamura as vice president in the firm’s property/casualty practice.

The firm also named Justine Ekstrom senior benefits consultant in the Portland, Ore., office.

Nakamura will work on building the practice’s client base. His focus will be on larger complex clients.

He has expertise working with clients in a variety of industries including technology, construction, agriculture and manufacturing. Prior to Woodruff-Sawyer, Nakamura was a senior vice president at Wells Fargo Insurance Services.

Ekstrom will assist employers in designing and managing benefit programs. She will drive planning, manage projects and execute delivery of results to her customers, and she will also keep clients apprised of industry trends, innovations, best practices and the complex landscape of health care reform.

Ekstrom has more than 28 years of employee benefits experience providing strategic consulting services. She has experience working with large self-funded employers.

Her career in the benefits field has ranged from a large national health insurance company to an independent consulting firm. Most recently Ekstrom worked as a lead consultant and principal at Mercer Health and Benefits.

San Francisco, Calif.-based Woodruff-Sawyer is an active partner of Assurex Global and International Benefits Network and has offices throughout California, in Portland, Ore., and in Denver, Colo.

Milestone Risk Management of Irvine, Calif. has named Steve Stonehouse its new president.

Stonehouse begins at the start of 2015.

Stonehouse created Stonehouse Consulting Group after retiring from the carrier CNA in 2012 and has been working with both insurance companies and insurance agencies.

“Milestone is a unique operation with a truly consultative relationship with their clients,” Stonehouse said. “I have known Ron Hoefer for nearly 20 years and always admired and respected his unique approach to handling the risks facing his clients. This close relationship with clients was so familiar to my years in the surety business that when Ron asked me to join it seemed like a natural fit.”

Milestone clients range from construction to printing and manufacturing and operates out of its three offices in Irvine, San Diego and Riverside.

USG Insurance Services Inc., a national wholesaler and managing general agent, has launched of a professional division in El Segundo, Calif.

The firm has also hired Frederick Fisher as director of professional liability. Fisher will be based in El Segundo.

This specialty practice division will offer errors and omissions, directors and officers, employment liablity, data/cyber, crime, riduciary, and architects and engineers.

Fisher is a member of the editorial board at Agents of America, an instructor with the School of Professional Liability, a course designer and instructor at the Academy of Insurance, the senior technical advisor for the IRMI Manuals on professional liability and a speaker and lecturer on real estate errors and omissions loss control, and insurance broker E&O prevention.

Prior to USG, Fisher most recently held positions of founder, president and CEO at E.L.M. Insurance Brokers Inc.

USG has 17 offices across the country.

Integro announced it is enhancing its aviation practice with the addition of sector specialist Leslie DeWald as managing principal.

DeWald and her team of four will be based in Park City, Utah. They specialize in aviation and aerospace insurance.

DeWald previously worked as president of SterlingRisk of Utah.

New York, N.Y.-based Integro is an insurance brokerage and risk management firm that operates from offices in the U.S., Canada, Bermuda and the United Kingdom.

Reno, Nev.-based Employers Holdings Inc. has named Terry Eleftheriou executive vice president and chief financial officer.

Eleftheriou started Nov. 10.

Eleftheriou replaces William E. Yocke, who in April informed the company of his decision to retire as of June 30, 2015. Yocke will stay on in an advisory role until his retirement.

Eleftheriou was recently principal of Aeolus Capital Partners. Prior to Aeolus Capital, Eleftheriou was executive vice president and group chief financial officer of Scottish Re Group Ltd. Prior to that Eleftheriou was a group finance executive with XL Group Ltd.

Employers Holdings through its subsidiaries, operates in 31 states and the District of Columbia.

York Risk Services Group has named Bijan Bijarchi vice president of risk management practices.

Bijarchi will be based in Orange, Calif., and will oversee strategic growth initiatives, including new product development.

Prior to York, Bijarchi held a variety of leadership positions in claims, managed care and account management at national third party administrators and managed care companies.

Parsippany, N.J.-headquartered York is a national provider of risk management, claims handling, specialized loss adjusting, managed care, pool administration, loss control and other insurance services.

San Diego, Calif.-based Surmount Insurance Services has named James Phin a commercial lines coverage specialist in its firm.

His focus is on working with manufactures and startups.

Phin has more than a decade of sales experience. He previously worked for Barney & Barney.

Surmount’s specialties include aerospace, construction, energy, gaming, healthcare, life science, manufacturing, real estate, transportation, technology and wholesale.