People & Places

National

Matt McHatten, president and chief executive officer at MMG Insurance, is the new chair of the Insurance Information Institute’s (Triple-I) Executive Leadership Committee (ELC). McHatten succeeds Jennifer Kyung, CEO and founder of NextGen Underwriting and former P&C chief underwriting officer at USAA.

McHatten joined MMG in 2001 and previously served as executive vice president and chief operating officer. McHatten is past chair and member of the NAMIC Management Conference Board, as well as a past member of the Hartford Steam Boiler Advisory Board.

Zurich North America, headquartered in Schaumburg, Illinois, promoted Stan Bernard to head of industry practices for U.S. Middle Market. Bernard succeeds Lynn Zeitler, who retired in December after 31 years with Zurich.

Bernard, who is based in Maryland, has been with Zurich since 2021. He previously served as assistant vice president and commercial officer at CNA and as a financial institutions underwriter with Chubb.

Commercial property insurer FM, based in Johnston, Rhode Island, appointed Randy Hodge as chief operating officer (COO). Hodge will take over the role from Bret Ahnell, who will retire in March. Hodge joined FM in 1990 and most recently served as executive vice president, staff insurance operations.

Alliant Insurance Services, headquartered in Irvine, California, named senior vice presidents Bryan Salek and Angela Kirby to lead its new government contractors-focused segment within Alliant Specialty.

Salek has over 25 years of experience in risk management and insurance programs, most recently serving as Marsh’s managing director and government contracting practice leader.

Kirby has over a decade of experience and most recently served as a senior account executive at Marsh.

Westchester, A Chubb Company, and Chubb’s Excess and Surplus Lines division, headquartered in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, named Nick Gatt, previously chief operating officer (COO) for Westchester Programs, as head of Westchester Programs. Gatt succeeds Franklin Sanders, who has been appointed head of global underwriting for Chubb Group. Shawn Parker, former senior vice president, Westchester Program Services, succeeds Gatt as COO.

East

B. F. Saul Insurance, headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, appointed John Horcher, Jr. commercial lines producer. Horcher, based in Philadelphia, previously served in vice president positions at Marsh, HUB International and Arthur J. Gallagher.

Midwest

Players Health, headquartered in Minneapolis, hired Brian McDowell, Tate Gillespie and Jordan Poydras to its leadership team. McDowell joins Players Health as chief revenue officer, Gillespie joins as the director of NIL strategy and partnerships, Poydras joins as Players Health’s NIL division as a risk advisor.

Omaha National Group, Inc., based in Omaha, appointed Joan Klucarich as its chief actuary. Klucarich most recently served as actuarial manager with Risk & Regulatory Consulting.

Columbia Insurance Group (CIG), headquartered in Columbia, Missouri, hired Aaron Rieth as vice president of excess and surplus (E&S). In this newly created position, Rieth leads the development of CIG’s direct-to-agent E&S solution. Rieth has 20 years of experience and most recently served as product director at Blitz Insurance.

Great American Insurance Group, headquartered in Cincinnati, promoted Todd D. Gambrell to divisional president, excess liability. Gambrell succeeds John V. Bracca, who retired in January after over 30 years of service. Gambrell joined the company in 1994 and most recently served as divisional senior vice president.

Cincinnati Financial Corporation, headquartered in Cincinnati, promoted several leaders in its commercial/life operations and personal/specialty operations.

Sean M. Givler, senior vice president, commercial lines, leads the commercial/life insurance operations, oversees commercial lines, management liability and surety, sales and marketing, and The Cincinnati Life Insurance Company. Will Van Den Heuvel, senior vice president, personal lines, leads the personal/specialty insurance operations and oversees Cincinnati Re and Cincinnati Global Underwriters Ltd. Teresa C. Cracas, chief risk officer, oversees executive responsibility for corporate marketing and communications, human resources and policyholder experience. Chet H. Swisher was named vice president, commercial lines, and Scott A. Schuler, vice president, personal lines.

South Central

Larry Chim joined Alliant Insurance Services, based in Irvine, California, as senior vice president within its employee benefits group. Chim, based in Dallas, spent over 13 years at Mercer, most recently serving as a partner and Dallas office health practice leader.

Spot Insurance, headquartered in Austin, Texas, appointed Joel Hamann as CEO. Hamann joined Spot in 2021 and most recently served as vice president of finance. He previously served as director of finance, technology and several other roles at Kohl’s Corporation. Hamann began his career in sell-side equity research with Robert W. Baird & Co.

Alliant Insurance Services, headquartered in Irvine, California, named Ben Guttenberger as vice president within its Alliant Americas division. Based in Houston, he most recently served as a risk advisor at USI Insurance Services. He previously worked as a risk advisor at Brady, Chapman, Holland & Associates and as a sales agent at State Farm.

Southeast

After serving as president of Lockton’s Southeast region for 20 years, Neil Metzheiser has been named CEO of the region, based in Atlanta. Metzheiser became president of Lockton Southeast in 2004 and was a producer. Before that, he worked with the Hobbs Group and AIG.

Matt Kennedy joined Alliant Insurance Services, headquartered in Irvine, California, as vice president within its employee benefits group. Based in South Carolina, Kennedy will work across the Southeast region. Kennedy has over 15 years of experience, most recently as senior vice president and head of national sales at Health Plans, Inc.

Boston Mutual Life Insurance Company, headquartered in Canton, Massachusetts, appointed Jonathon Eric Pointer as regional sales director for the Southeastern region in its distribution and business development department. Pointer has over 25 years of experience, including 20 years at Aflac as district sales coordinator and independent agent.

Alliant Insurance Services hired Johnny Osborne as senior vice president within its Alliant Americas division. Based in Huntsville, Alabama, Osborne has over 10 years of experience and most recently served as senior vice president at Marsh McLennan Agency.

West

LP Insurance Services LLC, headquartered in Reno, Nevada, named David Drach director of information technology. Drach has more than 25 years of experience, most recently as director of IT SaaS operations at eTrigue Corp.

Delos Insurance Solutions, headquartered in San Francisco, named Gloria Hendrickson as its new head of reinsurance. Hendrickson most recently chief operating officer and chief underwriting officer at NormanMax Insurance Holdings and New Paradigm Underwriters.

CompScience, headquartered in San Francisco, hired Jeremy Silver as senior vice president of client service and success. Silver is a founding limited partner at Success Venture Partners and most recently served as vice president of customer success and services at Aquant.

Symphony Risk Solutions, headquartered in San Francisco, named Corey Tobin director of Symphony Grow, its specialty business focused on the cannabis industry. Tobin has more than 15 years of experience in the cannabis and insurance industries. He most recently served as senior vice president at IMA Financial Group.

Mark Petruziello joined Alliant Insurance Services as vice president within its employee benefits group. Based in California, he works with clients across the West Region. Petruziello has over a decade of experience, most recently serving as a principal at Mercer.

EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants hired Charlie Rosson as Northern California growth leader. Rosson previously spent nearly nine years as Woodruff Sawyer’s CEO and most recently was the Bay Area practice leader for USI.