People

Topa Insurance Co. has named Olive Chang assistant vice president of reinsurance and programs.

Chang will be located in the Calabasas, Calif., office.

Her duties include managing reinsurance and programs operation.

Chang joined Topa in 2015. She was previously the business leader and country head of Thailand for Aon Benfield. Prior to that, she was a senior vice president with Guy Carpenter.

Topa is a wholly owned subsidiary of Topa Insurance Group.

Lafayette, Calif.-based Stone Creek Insurance Agency has named Samantha Dutra a commercial account manager.

Dutra will work to build Stone Creek’s commercial department.

Dutra comes from EPIC Brokers, where she was an account manager. She has also held positions with Legacy Risk and Insurance Services and Arthur J. Gallagher Insurance Brokers.

Stone Creek is a brokerage that specializes in property coverage in the Western U.S.

JLT Re North America Inc. has named Tony Manzitto executive vice president in Los Angeles, Calif.

Manzitto will focus on the expansion of JLT Re’s structured products team.

Manzitto most recently was chief underwriting officer and chief operating officer at Topa Insurance Group. He was with Swiss Re prior to that.

JLT Re is part of the Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc.

Rancho Cordova, Calif.-based Western Insurance Agents Association promoted Kou Brockhouse and Steven Pettersen to vice president.

Both were member services specialists before being promoted to directors of business development at WIAA.

Brockhouse oversees the personal lines department. Pettersen oversees the commercial lines department.

WIAA represents more than 20,000 insurance professionals in California, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico.

Worldwide Facilities has opened a new location in Utah and has named Kyle Domire to lead the office.

Domire most recently was with Burns & Wilcox as a senior broker.

Worldwide Facilities is a wholesale insurance broker and managing general agent.

Knight Insurance Group in California has named Vance Ownbey its managing director overseeing programs, underwriting, new business and product development.

Ownbey previously was chief financial officer, chief technical officer, treasurer and managing director at Knight. He has held several other executive level positions with other firms.

Knight is part of privately held Hankey Group of Cos., a Los Angeles-based financial services group.

San Francisco-based CAL Insurance & Associates Inc. has named John M. Ryan director of employee benefits advisory.

Ryan was a senior director in employee benefits consulting for NFP prior to CAL. He was with Northwestern Mutual before that.

CAL Insurance is an independent insurance agency in San Francisco.

Reno Nev.-based Employers has named Scott R. Grinna as vice president of enterprise program management.

Grinna has experience in IT and program management. Grinna joins Employers from West Bend Mutual Insurance Co., where he was an assistant vice president.

Employers is a holding company.

RIC Insurance General Agency has named Mandi Strange a business development manager focused on the Western region.

Strange will work primarily with retail insurance agents in Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

She was previously with Energi Holdings and Tower Group Cos.

RIC is a wholesale insurance brokerage and managing general agency.

John Finston has joined Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP as a partner. Finston will work from the firm’s San Francisco office.

Finston most recently was deputy commissioner and general counsel for the California Department of Insurance,

Finston was chair of SNR Denton’s insurance regulatory practice group prior to his public service.

Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP is a national law firm with more than 635 lawyers.

Topics California Agencies