People and Places

The National Association of Profess-ional Insurance Agents (PIA) has named Leonard C. Brevik executive vice president of the association and CEO of its for-profit subsidiary, PIA Services Inc. Brevik most recently headed Bak-Brevik Investments, a real estate investment firm.

From 2000 to 2003, he served as chief marketing officer and vice president of business development for the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisers. From 1989 to 2000, Brevik held executive positions with the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America and its subsidiary organizations.

ACE USA, the U.S.-based retail operations of the ACE Group of Cos., announced the appointment of Ken Riegler as senior vice president of national business development and client services for ACE Risk Management (ARM).

He will have overall responsibility for sales, marketing, broker management and product development for ARM. Riegler will be based in New York City and will report to William Curcio, president of ACE Risk Management. Riegler most recently served as senior vice president of national excess workers’ compensation for ARM.

MarketScout, an e-commerce company specializing in the distribution of property/casualty insurance products, announced that Beverly Johnson, formerly of Risc Inc., has joined the company.

Johnson will handle MarketScout agents who have business that does not align with one of the MarketScout “Best of Class” verticals and requires an open market or E&S placement. Johnson has over 26 years of underwriting and marketing experience.

MarketScout is a subsidiary of Insurance Data Systems (IDS), a Dallas-based insurance e-commerce holding company. MarketScout selects a “Best of Class” insurance company for each of its 400 plus industry segments. More than 50 major insurance companies have adopted the MarketScout model.

The National Association of Mutual Insurance Cos. (NAMIC) has selected a group of Washington, D.C., insurance professionals to lead its federal affairs lobbying efforts located in the association’s Beltway office.

Last December, NAMIC Federal Affairs Senior Vice President David A. Winston was named to lead the change and head the department. Winston brings more than two decades of federal government and insurance industry experience to his new position, and has worked on a wide variety of legislative and regulatory issues affecting the insurance industry.

Prior to joining NAMIC, Winston spent more than 22 years with the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, where he was most recently vice president, functioning as chief federal lobbyist and managing their government affairs department and grassroots efforts. Prior to joining NAIFA, Winston served on the staff of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.

Sheboygan, Wis.-based regional property/casualty insurer ACUITY recently promoted Laura Ramos to commercial staff underwriter. Since joining ACUITY in January 2001, Ramos had been a commercial lines underwriter.

Prior to joining ACUITY, she held positions as an individual product manager with New England Financial in Boston and as a marketing and product development intern with the CUNA Mutual Group in Madison. In her new role, Ramos will be responsible for conducting audits, education and training, and coverage research.

ACUITY operates in 12 Midwestern states and writes over $616 million in premium.

University Park, Ill.-based insurance software maker Applied Systems Inc. announced the appointments of Wayne Pardue to the newly created position of chief sales and marketing officer and Tony Villa to the newly created position of executive vice president of product management and marketing.

In these new positions, Pardue will lead the sales, client solutions, applied consulting services, product management and marketing teams. Villa will oversee the product management and marketing teams in their initiatives to continue to build Applied’s brand and market share through the enhancement and promotion of innovative products and services.

Pardue has more than 20 years of experience in the financial services industry. He joined Applied Systems in 1993 as regional vice president of sales, bringing several years of experience with The Agency Manager from his use of the software in his own agency. He was later promoted to national sales manager before taking on his most recent role of executive vice president of sales and marketing in 2000.

Villa has more than 10 years of experience in enterprise software implementation, consulting and product management. He began his career with Applied Systems in 1998 as director of sales for the Diamond System, Applied Systems’ policy processing solution for carriers. In 2003 he was promoted to his most recent position of vice president of product management, in which he is responsible for the development and positioning of all of Applied Systems’ product offerings.

Fairfield, Ohio-based insurer Ohio Casualty Corp. has announced the resignation of Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer Richard B. Kelly, effective April 16, 2004.

Kelly, 49, joined Ohio Casualty in 1986 as an investment analyst and has served in various roles. He has accepted a position with another insurer. Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Donald F. McKee will serve as interim CIO until a replacement is appointed.