People & Places

National

Chubb, headquartered in Warren, New Jersey, appointed Scott Williams as private equity industry practice leader. Williams has over 15 years of insurance industry experience, joining Chubb in 2009 as division counsel for the private/not-for-profit practice. He succeeds Seth Gillston, who was recently appointed head of global casualty for major accounts in North America.

Trucordia, headquartered in Lindon, Utah, appointed Rajeev Khanna as chief information officer. Khanna has over three decades of experience, most recently serving as global chief technology officer for Aon plc. Prior to Aon, Khanna was vice president of global infrastructure services at Expecia and senior director of global infrastructure services at Asurion.

Liberty Global Transaction Solutions (GTS), part of Liberty Mutual Insurance, headquartered in London, promoted Hilary Weiss to head of Americas. Weiss joined Liberty Mutual in 2018 as associate vice president, Americas M&A, before moving to Liberty GTS in 2021 as head of the company’s Eastern zone. Before joining Liberty, Weiss held underwriting and insurance specialist roles, most recently at XL Catlin.

Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited, headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda, appointed Mariza Costa to the newly created role of head of investor relations. Costa has over 20 years’ experience and most recently served as vice president, rating agency relations and corporate finance, at Everest Group. She previously held roles at AM Best Company’s ratings division as associate director, reinsurance and large commercial and Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty as broker compensation manager.

Arch Insurance North America, headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey, appointed Jeff Kaufmann to the newly created role of executive vice president, head of marine. The unit includes both ocean marine and inland marine products. Kaufmann, who is based in New York, joins Arch from MSIG USA, where he was EVP and head of marine.

Hiscox, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, appointed Adam Denninger chief operating officer. Denninger will lead Hiscox USA’s operations across strategy, transformation, data, and delivery. With over 25 years of experience, Denninger most recently served as Capgemini’s global industry leader for insurance.

East

MAPFRE USA, headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, appointed Mark Pasko as executive vice president, general counsel and secretary. Pasko most recently served as chief legal officer of QBE North America, where he managed the legal and regulatory affairs for QBE’s North American and Bermuda operations.

Roosevelt Road Specialty, headquartered in New York City, appointed Brendan Cook as chief underwriting officer of property. Cook has over 20 years of experience, joining Roosevelt Road Specialty from RB Jones, Inc., where he served as vice president and managing director. Cook previously held senior roles at QBE North America and Crum & Forster.

MSIG USA, headquartered in New York City, appointed David Petrone as Northeast region distribution leader. Petrone has over 30 years of industry experience, most recently serving as major accounts New York zone leader at Chubb. He also spent over a decade at Marsh as a managing director and senior client executive.

The MEMIC Group, headquartered in Portland, Maine, promoted Karl Lagasse to vice president of business technology and hired Jason Ennis as director of architecture and innovation.

Lagasse joined MEMIC in 2021 and has 20 years of insurance technology experience.

Ennis has 29 years of experience in IT, previously serving as enterprise architecture manager at MMG Insurance, technical architect at Unum and enterprise services manager at Wolters Kluwer.

Midwest

Rockford Mutual Insurance Company (RMIC), headquartered in Rockford, Illinois, promoted Ann Kriens to the position of claims vice president. Kriens joined RMIC in 2014 with 20 years of claims experience at Economy/MetLife, serving as an adjuster, support supervisor, property subrogation manager and home operations manager. She most recently served as RMIC’s assistant vice president of claims. Kriens’ promotion follows the retirement of Patrick Kennedy, former vice president of claims and internal counsel.

Tokio Marine HCC, based in Houston, Texas, announced a key leadership transition at its travel-focused subsidiary, WorldTrips, a provider of travel insurance located in Carmel, Indiana. Mark Carney will transition from his role as CEO of WorldTrips to become its chairman.

Philip Hsia has been appointed CEO of WorldTrips. Hsia has led Tokio Marine HCC’s Global Travel Group, including oversight responsibility of WorldTrips, since 2018.

Burns & Wilcox, headquartered in Farmington Hills, Michigan, promoted Bill Gatewood to executive vice president, personal insurance.

Burns & Wilcox is a member of H.W. Kaufman Group, a privately held global insurance organization. Gatewood’s insurance career spans 30 years, with over 14 years of service at Burns & Wilcox and over 10 with H.W. Kaufman Group.

South Central

Hull & Company-Texas, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, promoted Brandt Wilkins to underwriter/broker. Wilkins has been with Hull Texas for three years, managing a book with emphasis in the south-central region of the U.S. He previously served as a commercial lines account manager at Frost and an associate broker at Amwins Group.

Hull & Company-Texas also hired Angelika Gambino, who joins the agency as a commercial lines underwriter/broker. Gambino has over 15 years of experience, with specializations in commercial property and casualty, serving as an underwriter at Burns & Wilcox and a commercial producer at TWFG.

Southeast

The Liberty Company Insurance Brokers, headquartered in Gainesville, Florida, hired Will Bradshaw as a producer based in the firm’s The Browning Agency office in Ponte Vedra, Florida. Bradshaw previously served as a manager for Southern Table Hospitality.

Bradshaw focuses on delivering insurance solutions to clients with complex needs.

West

Acrisure Re, headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, named Danny Souza, senior vice president, as leader of Acrisure Re’s new West Coast office in San Francisco, California. Souza joined Acrisure Re in 2016 and maintains his leadership responsibilities in New York, ensuring collaboration and continuity across both offices.

Alliant Insurance Services, headquartered in Irvine, California, hired Jordan Leclair as vice president. The Phoenix, Arizona-based benefits consultant previously served as vice president, employee benefits, at USI, where he served a broad portfolio of clients.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) elected Patty Kuderer to serve as secretary/treasurer for the Western Zone committee and in an official role on the NAIC’s executive committee.

LP Insurance Services LLC, headquartered in Reno, Nevada, named Founder and CEO Nick Rossi as executive chairman. Rossi founded the company in 2010.

Brian Cushard, president since 2022, was appointed president and CEO. Cushard joined LP Insurance Services in 2020 as vice president of strategic growth. He previously served as a senior vice president at both Woodruff Sawyer and Beecher Carlson.

The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California (WCIRB) appointed Eric Sanders as senior vice president and chief customer operations officer. Sanders has over 25 years of industry experience, including over a decade at QBE, where he served as chief claims and risk solutions officer. He held claims and loss control leadership roles at Fireman’s Fund.

Victor Insurance appointed Mark Damico as president and chief operating officer (COO) of Torrent Technologies, Victor’s U.S. flood insurance technology and services business based in Kalispell, Montana.

Based in Brookfield, Wisconsin, Damico has over 30 years of industry experience, joining Torrent as COO in 2018.

Damico succeeds Kevin Tobin, who is retiring after over 35 years of service.

Alliant Insurance Services, headquartered in Irvine, California, hired Cheryl Blake as senior vice president within its employee benefits group. Based in Georgia, Blake has served in multiple leadership roles, most recently as principal with OneDigital.

Ned Gaines was appointed acting commissioner at the Nevada Division of Insurance. Gaines has over 25 years of experience and recently joined the Nevada Division of Insurance as the chief deputy commissioner. He previously served 12 years with the Washington Office of Insurance Commissioner, most recently as the deputy commissioner of rates, forms and provider networks.

Alliant Insurance Services, headquartered in Irvine, California, hired Karston King as vice president. Based in Utah, King previously served as an insurance broker with GBS Benefits Inc., working in the oil and gas, technology and manufacturing sectors.