People – West

Der Manouel Insurance Group in California has named Jim Wood as director of marketing.

Wood will work with the DMIG consultants and service staff in finding the carrier solutions for clients. He will also help to develop industry specific programs and services.

Wood began his career in the insurance industry in 1992. He was previously a workers’ compensation marketing manager at DiBuduo & Defendis Insurance.

DMIG is an insurance brokerage, risk management, and employee benefits consulting practice with offices in Fresno and Pleasanton.

Jamie Hunter has joined Lockton’s Mountain West operation in Denver, Colo., as a propertycasualty producer.

Prior to Lockton, Hunter was the director of business development for McGladrey, an assurance, tax and consulting service. He focuses on helping companies manage risk.

Kansas City, Mo.-based Lockton is a privately held independent insurance broker.

Walnut Creek, Calif.-based Ascension Insurance Holdings LLC has made a series of senior management changes.

Edward Nathan Page, previously chief financial officer and executive vice president, has been promoted to president.

Jamie Linden, who has been vice president of finance and Western region chief financial officer at Ascension since 2013, has been promoted to chief financial officer.

Page, who joined Ascension in 2013, has more than two decades of experience in operations, finance, strategy and organizational development.

Linden has spent his career helping to identify opportunities to increase revenues and reduce costs.

Ascension Insurance Holdings is the parent company of Ascension Insurance Inc., an insurance agency that offers risk management and benefits consulting services.

Kevin Eggleston has joined HUB California as managing director responsible for the hospitality practice.

Eggleston will be based in the HUB California Sacramento office.

Eggleston began his career in management positions with luxury hotels in Boston, Charlotte, San Francisco and Denver. He has spent more than 20 years developing and applying insurance products that target the hospitality industry’s risks and exposures.

Most recently Eggleston was national hospitality practice leader with Wells Fargo Insurance Services.

Chicago, Ill.-based HUB International Limited is an insurance brokerage that provides property/casualty, life and health, employee benefits, investment and risk management products and services.

Willis North America has named Paula Bernal public entity practice leader at Willis of Arizona.

Bernal will be based in Phoenix, and lead Willis of Arizona’s public entity practice and be responsible for driving business development within Willis’s portfolio of local and national public entity clients. Bernal will report to Carolyn Smith, managing partner at Willis of Arizona.

Bernal has more than 15 years of experience in the insurance industry. Previously she served as national sales director at Travelers. Before that she was assistant vice president at PENCO.

Willis North America is a unit of Willis Group Holdings plc, a risk advisory, re/insurance broking and human capital and benefits firm.

Alliant Insurance Services has named Christopher David Harney a senior vice president in its real estate group. He will be based in Alliant’s Newport Beach, Calif., headquarters office.

Harney will provide risk management and insurance solutions to a client roster of real estate investors.

Harney has experience developing and implementing complex risk management programs. Prior to Alliant he was senior vice president within the Orange County office of a brokerage firm.

Alliant is a brokerage firm that provides property/casualty, workers’ compensation, employee benefits, surety and financial products and services.

The American Insurance Association has named Katherine Pettibone Western region vice president for state affairs.

The AIA appointment was effective Oct. 1.

Pettibone will be based in the association’s Sacramento, Calif., office. The Western region includes the states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington.

Pettibone joins AIA from the Civil Justice Association of California, where she was legislative director since 2010. She previously served as a senior legislative analyst in the California governor’s Office of Planning and Research.

AIA is a P/C insurance trade organization representing

roughly 325 insurers that write more than $127 billion in premiums annually.

SullivanCurtisMonroe has named Rob Wallace as a vice president in its Los Angeles, Calif., office, and Chad Werley as a broker associate in its Irvine, Calif., location.

Wallace develops strategies to reduce risk and improve operational outcomes, with a focus on the real estate, chemical and paper industries. Werley structures cost-effective insurance programs for clients, with a focus on the construction and food industries.

Prior to SCM, Wallace was a vice president at Elkins Jones Insurance Agency. His background includes positions in sales and management.

Prior to SCM, Werley held positions at Tutton Insurance Services and Sundance Insurance Agency in both sales and management

SCM is a privately-held insurance brokerage and risk management consulting firm.

Lockton Cos. has named Jeff Schermerhorn vice president in its cyber technology practice.

Schermerhorn will be based in Lockton’s Los Angeles office. He will offer clients tailored programs to shelter them from the increasing threat of cyber attacks.

Schermerhorn will focus on customizing professional liability and cyber liability insurance programs for clients.

Prior to Lockton Schermerhorn was vice president in the national cyber liability and erros and omissions practice for Marsh & McLennan Cos. Before that he was product counsel for CNA Insurance, and he has served as a corporate attorney in California.

Kansas City, Mo.-based Lockton is a privately held, independent insurance broker.

Heffernan Insurance Brokers has named Todd Davis assistant vice president of employee benefits in its Walnut Creek, Calif., office.

Davis will be working with Jani De La Rosa, director of employee benefits, to grow the division.

Davis has a sales background consisting of recruiting, software and insurance.

Headquartered in Walnut Creek, Heffernan has offices in San Francisco, Petaluma, Menlo Park, Los Angeles and Orange County, Calif.; Portland, Ore.; St. Louis, Mo.; Long Island and New York, N.Y.

Topics California Alliant Arizona