Wholesaler AVRECO has added Charles Becker as assistant vice president on its health care staff at its Chicago location. Becker is responsible for the marketing and sales of AVRECO’s specialty health care products.
Becker comes to AVRECO following six years at Classic Insurance Services, where he specialized in the placement of medical malpractice for doctors and small group practices.
A graduate of Bradley University, Becker will handle the placement of physicians medical malpractice accounts and work with affiliated medical facilities such as MRI centers, surgery centers, nursing and assisted living facilities. His immediate focus will be on marketing AVRECO wholesale products to existing and prospective AVRECO clients who may not normally participate in the non-standard and hard-to-place markets.
AVRECO, founded in 1962 with offices in Chicago and New York City, is one of the largest independent insurance wholesalers in the United States and has access to over 100 insurance companies. AVRECO specializes in niche business, including medical malpractice and professional liability insurance, non-profit and for-profit D&O, employment-related practices insurance, property for both large accounts and packages, general casualty, and excess liability.
RLI Corp. has hired Jeffrey D. Fick as vice president of human resources. Fick will oversee RLI human resources and administrative activities.
Fick comes to RLI with 19 years’ experience as an attorney and human resources executive. He recently served as vice president, human resources and community relations at HNI Corporation, the Muscatine, Iowa-based office furniture manufacturer. During his tenure at HNI, he also served as senior counsel, acting general counsel and corporate secretary. Before that, he practiced law with private firms in Minneapolis, Minn., and West Des Moines, Iowa. Fick holds a JD with distinction from the University of Iowa College of Law, and a BBA in economics, also from the University of Iowa.
RLI, a specialty insurance company based in Peoria, Ill., offers a diversified portfolio of property and casualty coverages and surety bonds serving “niche” or underserved markets. RLI operates in all 50 states from 23 office locations.
The American Insurance Association announced that John L. Birkinbine, Jr. has joined AIA’s Midwest regional office as assistant vice president. In his new position, Birkinbine will be responsible for advancing AIA’s state-level legislative and regulatory priorities in the 11-state Midwest region.
Birkinbine joins AIA from MultiState Associates Inc., a nationwide state and local government relations management company, where he was a partner since 1996. Prior to MultiState, he served in a variety of government relations and business development capacities at both national trade associations and corporations. Birkinbine also served in the Illinois House of Representative for six years as state representative from the northern suburbs of Chicago.
Birkinbine received his BA in American government from Colby College in Waterville, Maine. He currently is president of the Village of Northfield, Ill., and is a former board member of the Northfield Park District and Winnetka-Northfield United Way.
The American Insurance Association represents over 435 major insurance companies that provide all lines of property and casualty insurance and write more than $120 billion annually in premiums. The association is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and has representatives in every state.
Safelite Group, Inc. has appointed Mark Placenti vice president of marketing and business development. Placenti joins Safelite from Columbus, Ohio-based Fahlgren Advertising. His new responsibilities include advertising, public relations, communications along with consumer, client and Web marketing.
Placenti previously held positions with The Circle K Company, SBC Advertising and Whole Brain Films. His account experience includes C/S/K Automotive, National Tire and Battery, Worthington Industries, Scotts Professional Products and Eddie Bauer Home. Placenti is a graduate of The Ohio State University and resides in Upper Arlington.
Columbus, Ohio-based Safelite Group provides property and casualty claims management solutions and auto glass products and services. Safelite Group is the parent company of Safelite Solutions LLC, a third party administrator of property and casualty claims, Safelite AutoGlass, the nation’s largest provider of auto glass repair and replacement services, Service AutoGlass, a leading U.S. auto glass wholesaler, and Safelite Glass Corp., a leading fabricator of aftermarket windshields.
Cooper Gay & Cashman (Minneapolis) and Cooper Gay Group (London) announced that Wendy Hayes has joined as senior vice president in charge of the catastrophe modeling division of Cooper Gay & Cashman based here.
Previously, Hayes was at Risk Management Solutions (RMS) in Minneapolis, where she served as product marketing director, focusing on the “RiskLink” catastrophe modeling software.
Hayes began her reinsurance career at E.W. Blanch Company (now Benfield Inc.), where she worked in catastrophe modeling application and development. She holds B.S. degrees in mathematics and statistics from the University of Minnesota, Institute of Technology.
Founded in 1965, Cooper Gay is one of the largest privately held insurance and reinsurance brokerage groups registered at Lloyd’s of London. The independent company’s worldwide offices are found in over 20 locations in the Americas, Europe and Asia. Cooper Gay & Cashman, a joint venture operation between Cooper Gay Holdings and Michael W. Cashman, is headquartered in Minneapolis.
Insurance brokerage Integro Ltd. has hired three new executives to serve in its Chicago office. Gregory J. Suffield has been appointed managing principal, healthcare; Katherine A. Battaglia will serve as principal, client development, property; and Donald A. Glazier will hold the position of principal, management risk solutions group.
Suffield has more than 20 years of medical professional liability experience, including captive reinsurance placements, designing program structures, and high-level negotiations of complex healthcare accounts. He began his career in 1985 with Health Providers Insurance Company – American Hospital Association, and most recently served as managing director of Marsh Healthcare Practice.
Glazier has more than 20 years of industry experience, most recently serving as vice president and claims advocate for Arthur J. Gallagher and Co. He has also held positions with Allianz Global Risks, Monitor Liability Managers, Inc., Great American Insurance Company – Executive Liability, and law firms Horvath & Wigoda and Paul Heller & Assoc.
Battaglia has more than 30 years of experience in property insurance and brokerage with such companies as Bowes & Co., Johnson & Higgins, Kemper Insurance and London’s Willis, Faber & Dumas, Ltd. She most recently served as senior vice president, property & international practice for Marsh, Inc. in Chicago.
Integro Ltd., through its subsidiaries, is a privately held insurance brokerage and risk management firm specializing in large and complex institutional risk. Integro is based in New York, with offices in San Francisco, Chicago, Bermuda, Toronto and Montreal.
Katie Freeman Insurance Services has hired Kevin Sneed as managing senior broker at its new brokerage office in Warrenville, Ill.
Sneed was most recently managing director of Atlantic Specialty Lines-Midwest in Naperville, Ill., and vice president of marketing and program development for Euclid Managers in Elmhurst, Ill.
In addition, Ben Erdmanis has joined Katie Freeman as an account executive in the Warrenville office. Erdmanis worked with Sneed at Atlantic Specialty Lines and was formerly an account executive at Euclid Managers.
Wausau Insurance Companies named Mark Fiebrink, an executive vice president for the Liberty Mutual Group, president and chief operating officer. Fiebrink replaces Joe Gilles, who will assume a new leadership role within the Boston-based Liberty Mutual Group.
Fiebrink began his career in Wausau as an actuarial trainee in 1973, and he went on to serve the company in several positions of increasing responsibility before he was elected Wausau’s senior vice president for finance in 1987. He served in that position until leaving the company in 1993 to take the position of senior vice president – chief actuary for Wausau’s former parent company, Nationwide Insurance, in Columbus, Ohio.
Fiebrink joined the Liberty Mutual Group in May 1999 as chief financial officer and chief actuary for Liberty’s Regional Agency Markets business unit, and he was promoted to his most recent executive position within the group in 2003.
Wausau, based in Wausau, Wis., is a national property and casualty company providing commercial auto, general liability, property, umbrella, workers’ compensation and other coverages to mid-sized businesses.
Westfield Insurance has named Terry Rhodes executive, personal lines underwriting. In his new position, Rhodes will oversee underwriting in five states responsible for new and renewal personal lines business.
Rhodes has 16 years of personal lines experience and began his career at Westfield in 2000. He has served as a financial analyst and most recently, personal lines division manager.
Westfield also appointed Mary Christian as executive, claims staff operations. She provides strategic direction and leadership for claims activities including enterprise-wide projects focused on achieving corporate goals and key business objectives.
Christian joined Westfield in 2001 with more than 15 years of experience. Most recently she was the director of claims training and development, where she was responsible for management of the claims department’s continuing education programs, employee development program, strategic communications and performance management.
Westfield Insurance, based in Westfield Center, Ohio, provides commercial and personal insurance and surety services to customers in 28 states through more than 1,200 independent insurance agencies.