People and Places
David Walker of the Hartland Insurance Agency in Hartland, Mich., has been elected state national director for the Michigan Association of Insurance Agents (MAIA). As state national director, Walker will serve as the Michigan liaison to the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America (IIABA).
Walker is currently serving as president of MAIA and has served as chairman of the Agents Assistance Corp. and Young Agents Council. In 2003, he received the MAIA agent of the year award. The Michigan Association of Insurance Agents is a statewide trade group that represents about 10,000 independent agents and industry employees.
The Worcester, Mass.-based Citizens and Hanover Insurance Cos. announced that Cynthia H. Young has been named president of the companies’ personal lines divisions, effective June 1. As president, she will be responsible for all aspects of personal lines operations and will be a member of the companies’ operating committee.
Young comes to Citizens and Hanover from the Hartford Insurance Co., where she served the last two years as vice president of product management for the company’s South Central region. In this capacity, she was responsible for auto, homeowners and umbrella coverages sold through agency and direct distribution channels in 22 states.
Young also served as a senior product manager at the Hartford prior to this time. From 1993 to 2001, Young held a number of senior positions at Progressive. While at Progressive, she served in leadership roles in the company’s product management division, and was the product manager for the company’s auto insurance operations in Georgia. She also served as senior and regional claims attorney for financial institutions’ directors and officers coverage, Bankers’ Blanket Bond, and Trust errors and omissions products in Progressive’s Diversified Business Group.
Citizens Insurance Company of America is based in Howell, Mich.
Markel Corp. announced that Glen Curley will join the company as president of its Investors Underwriting Managers subsidiary on June 7, 2004. Curley has been involved in the insurance industry for more than 20 years in various capacities.
He has extensive experience in specialty casualty, professional liability, property coverages, and various reinsurance segments. Curley most recently served as senior vice president for the direct reinsurance operations of American Reinsurance.
Investors Underwriting Managers specializes in providing admitted and nonadmitted insurance products in the areas of primary casualty, property, excess and umbrella, and environmental liability.
Nathan Holt joined the Dallas/Fort Worth office of Burns & Wilcox Ltd. in the position of transportation manager. As transportation manager, Holt’s duties will include underwriting commercial auto and garage risks, as well as overseeing the transportation team.
Holt brings 30 years of commercial underwriting experience to his position, as he works to grow and expand the Burns & Wilcox Transportation department. Prior to joining Burns & Wilcox, Holt served as commercial operations manager for W.N. Tuscano Agency Inc. in Greensburg, Pa. Previously he spent 14 years at Gainsco in Ft. Worth, Texas as vice president of underwriting.
Mary Furst has been named director of Catastrophe Services at the international forensic accounting firm RGL—Forensic Accountants and Consultants.
As director of catastrophe services, Furst will oversee the firm’s Worldwide Catastrophe Response Plan (CAT Response), which is designed to provide immediate support in claims management and evaluation resulting from a catastrophic event—whether fire, flood, earthquake, storm, terrorism or war. When the CAT Response is activated, a team of RGL professionals with specialized experience is dispatched to the disaster area to help manage the situation.
Furst has been involved in the field of forensic accounting for more than 23 years, working extensively with insurance companies and attorney clients. In addition to catastrophe management, she focuses her practice on investigative accounting, the measurement of damages and litigation support services.
Mack and Parker Inc., the Chicago hub of the North American insurance broker Hub International Ltd., announced that Tom Okarma has been hired as vice president. Okarma is responsible for building the practice group for architects and engineers in the Chicago hub. He will work in conjunction with Bob Wilson, Hub International’s practice leader for architects and engineers.
Okarma and Wilson have exclusive access to XL Design Professional, a unit of XL Insurance and backed by the financial strength and stability of XL Capital Ltd., a leading provider of insurance and reinsurance coverages on a worldwide basis.
It is a specialized professional liability insurance program created to meet the unique needs of two industry groups, architects and engineers. XL Design Professional is offers loss control and risk management, innovative claims management, specialized underwriting and special programs. Okarma brings more than 32 years of insurance experience, 23 of which focused on insurance products for architects and engineers. Before joining Mack and Parker, Okarma was the CEO and president of DPIC for 5 years and agent and owner of AVA Insurance for 11 years.
Hub also added two new independent directors. Stuart Ross, 67, is a trustee of Hansberger International Institutional Series, a mutual fund. Edward W. Lyman Jr., 61, is vice chair of the board of Harris Trust and Savings Bank in Chicago.