People – East

Liberty Mutual Insurance has created a new practice dedicated to schools, municipalities and other public entities, and has appointed Susan L. Kostro as chief underwriting officer, Public Entity.

Kostro will be responsible for growing Liberty Mutual’s book of education and government risks by blending products with dedicated underwriting, risk engineering and claims resources and services.

According to Kostro, Liberty Mutual will work with these segments offering coverage in all lines of business including general liability, commercial auto and workers’ compensation.

Before joining Liberty Mutual, Kostro was senior vice president in Ironshore’s Public Entity Division and held a number of senior positions in the public entity, energy and construction practices of Lexington Insurance Co. and AIG. She began her professional career at Liberty Mutual as a senior underwriter for Business Lines.

ACE Limited announced the leadership team it intends to appoint for the Boston region of the company’s North America field organization. The appointments will take effect upon completion of the acquisition of Chubb, which is expected in the first quarter of 2016.

Mitchell C. Schmidt will serve as senior vice president, North America Insurance, and regional executive officer (REO) of the Boston region. Currently, Schmidt is REO, Northeast, ACE USA.

Schmidt, who was named in an earlier announcement to serve as regional chief operating officer (RCOO) for the Boston region, will have responsibilities that were previously announced for John M. Swords, who retired from Chubb at the end of 2015.

As REO, Schmidt will be responsible for executing the underwriting and sales strategies of the new Chubb’s business units, staff management, production, profit and loss, and distribution management in the Boston region.

Jeffrey A. Updyke will serve as RCOO of the Boston region and report to Schmidt. Currently, Updyke is senior vice president and New Haven, Connecticut, branch manager for Chubb. In addition to his RCOO duties, Updyke will manage the New Haven branch office, and the Rochester, New York, branch office will report to him.

Linda V. Screiner has joined Markel Corp. to become senior vice president for strategic management. She will be based out of the Richmond, Virginia, office.

Additionally, Markel said Schreiner will succeed Pamela J. Perrott, chief human resources officer and senior vice president, who will retire at the end of 2016 after a 27-year career with Markel.

Schreiner will work with Perrott during the transition and will assume the title of chief human resources officer after Perrott’s retirement.

Schreiner was most recently senior vice president for human resources and communications at MeadWestvaco Corp.

The Brethren Mutual Insurance Co. in Hagerstown, Maryland, has hired Kimberly Foltz as Personal Lines underwriting manager.

At Brethren Mutual, Foltz will be responsible for the development and implementation of Personal Lines underwriting.

Foltz brings 26 years of insurance experience in property/casualty marketing and sales with Travelers Insurance Co., Agency Insurance Co., Progressive Insurance, and Metro Insurance Agency.

The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers (CIAB) announced four additions to its association staff.

John P. Fielding is joining as in-house general counsel. Fielding has spent the last nine years with the law firm Steptoe in its Washington, D.C. office, focusing on government relations.

Washington, D.C.-based CIAB, which serves commercial insurance and employee benefits brokers, also announced the hiring of Sandy Laycox, Derrick Johnson and Robert Boyce.

Laycox was named associate managing editor for CIAB’s Leader’s Edge magazine. Previously, she was senior writer/editor for America’s Essential Hospitals.

Johnson was appointed the director of meetings to assist in the running of CIAB’s core meetings and additional business related meetings. He previously was the Northeastern U.S. regional event director for the Young Presidents’ Organization.

Boyce was named industry affairs associate for CIAB’s strategic resources team. His responsibilities will include producing the Cyber Roundup blog and assisting with the Claims & Risk Management Working Group. Previously, he worked on Capitol Hill in the office of Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.).

NSM Insurance Group, a program administrator based in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, has hired Kyle McClellan as a producer on the NSM Retail sales team.

Most recently, McClellan worked at Creative Financial Group as a wealth management and business planning advisor for small capital and middle market businesses as well as C-level executives. At NSM, he will be responsible for prospecting new business.

Topics Chubb