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Insurance brokerage Marsh appointed Ron Marx as a senior vice president in its San Diego office. Marx brings 30 years of risk management and insurance experience to Marsh. He joins the company from Willis, where he led the technology and risk management practices. He previously was a corporate risk manager at Cisco Systems and Gateway Computers, and a broker in the San Francisco Bay area and San Diego. He also spent a decade working at Industrial Indemnity and Wausau Insurance Cos.
Texas-based Higginbotham & Associates has appointed Dick Lepanen executive vice president in its Austin office. Lepanen brings 24 years’ experience in operations management and new business development, with the last 17 years in the employee benefits marketplace. He will use that experience to expand the firm’s employee benefits production. Lepanen joins Higginbotham from Aon Consulting in Austin where he led the Employee Benefits Consulting division.
The St. Louis, Mo., office of independent insurance brokerage, Lockton, named Robert W. (Bob) Reiff as the office’s new chief operating officer. Reiff brings 20 years of experience in the insurance industry to Lockton. Prior to joining Lockton, Reiff spent years with The Hartford as senior vice president in charge of distribution, field service, associations and products. He also worked for Standard Insurance Co. for 14 years, most recently as vice president of Sales and Marketing.
James J. Almy has been promoted to underwriting manager of the Utica National Insurance Group’s Errors & Omissions division. Almy began his career with Utica National in 1994 as a Commercial Lines underwriting trainee at the company’s Eastern Regional Office (ERO). He was promoted to underwriter in 1995 and senior underwriter in 1997, followed by being named account underwriter in 1999. In 2004 he was promoted to ERO underwriting supervisor, the post he held at the time of his latest promotion.
The ACE Group named David Furby as division president, Commercial Property & Casualty, for ACE’s Overseas General operations. He will oversee the company’s commercial business outside of North America as well as the reinsurance ACE purchases for its international operations. Furby, based in New York, previously served as president and CEO of ACE Tempest Re Group in Bermuda. Before that, he was director of Reinsurance for Syndicate 2488 at ACE Global Markets from 1999 to 2002. He joined ACE in 1996.
Pending regulatory approval Joseph Clabby, president of Regional Operations for ACE USA, will succeed Furby as president of ACE Continental Europe. Based in Paris. Clabby will have responsibility for ACE’s insurance business in 18 countries across Europe.
OneBeacon Insurance Group is launching a new E&S lines business and has appointed Dennis Crosby as president of the business, OneBeacon Excess and Surplus Lines. OneBeacon said the new division will both support its current business and selectively write in the E&S market. Crosby, a 30-year veteran of the industry, most recently served as president and CEO of ACE Westchester and chairman of ACE Commercial Risk Services, where he was accountable for wholesale distribution of specialized products. He spent 23 years with St. Paul Travelers in a variety of senior roles including commercial middle market, insurance operations and public sector services.
Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle has named Gordon Ito as state insurance commissioner. Ito has been with the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs for more than 17 years. He has served as chief deputy insurance commissioner since 2000. Prior to that, he worked as the supervising staff attorney of the Insurance Division from 1993 to 2000. Former Commissioner J.P. Schmidt resigned in June for a private sector job with a law firm.