People & Places

The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America’s national board has nominated Alex Soto as the association’s president-elect and has elected Robert Fulwider as the next vice president. Once confirmed by the association membership, Soto will assume his new office at the 2005 Big “I” Convention in New York City Sept. 10-12. Fulwider will move up to the vice presidency at the same meeting. Soto and current IIABA President-Elect William Stiglitz IIIwill be sworn in as president-elect and president, respectively, during the convention.

Soto is president of Miami-Fla.-based InSource Inc. He was elected to the Executive Committee in October 2001. He also has been active in the Big “I” nationally and in the Florida Association of Independent Agents during his 32-year career as an independent insurance agent. He is a past chairman of the FAIA and also a past national director. Nationally, he has served as chairman of the Big “I” Communications Committee, Trusted Choice Branding Task Force and other committees.

Fulwider is principal and president of the Ray Wuestenberg Agency Inc. in West Liberty, Iowa, and of the Fulwider Agency Inc. in West Branch, Iowa. He also is president of Bob Fulwider and Associates, a financial planning agency.

Fulwider also has been very active in the Big “I” at the national and state levels since starting his career as an independent agent in 1973. He is a past chairman of the Independent Insurance Agents of Iowa and currently sits on its Education Committee. He also is the only two-time Agent of the Year in IIAI history and was inducted into the Iowa Insurance Hall of Fame in 2003.

ACE USA, the U.S.-based retail division of The ACE Group of Companies, named Larry Goanos senior vice president and financial services industry practice leader. Based in New York, Goanos will be responsible for coordinating the marketing and distribution of ACE USA’s financial services capabilities, as well as developing new product ideas and identifying opportunities to expand existing relationships in this important market segment. He also will work closely with law firms to create synergies and provide additional solutions to clients.

Goanos most recently served as senior vice president for ACE Professional Risk’s Management and Professional Liability Group, where he oversaw underwriting for financial institutions, as well as commercial accounts with annual revenues in excess of $1 billion. Prior to joining ACE in 2002, Goanos spent eight years as a broker and an underwriter with focus on the financial services market segment, and five years practicing insurance law.

The PMA Insurance Group, a property and casualty insurer in Blue Bell, Pa., specializing in workers’ compensation, has promoted Mario Spina vice president of direct sales. Spina is responsible for managing PMA Direct, a sales and service team that interacts directly with PMA clients in Pennsylvania and Delaware.

Spina started his career with The PMA Insurance Group in 1988 in the claims area. In 1995, he joined PMA’s Direct team as an account executive and later held several management roles. He was previously PMA’s assistant vice president of direct sales.

The PMA Insurance Group also announced that Meg Schumer has been promoted to vice president of Customer Service Center. In her role, Schumer leads PMA’s Allentown, Pa.-based CSC, which is responsible for many of the company’s key service functions. The CSC is staffed by 115 employees. Schumer joined The PMA Insurance Group in 1999, and was previously PMA’s assistant vice president at CSC.

Harleysville Group Inc. announced the appointment of Arthur E. Chandler as senior vice president and chief financial officer. In this position, he will direct the Harleysville, Pa.-based organization’s corporate accounting and financial reporting functions. He will report to Michael L. Browne, Harleysville Group’s president and chief executive officer.

Most recently, Chandler was senior vice president of financial controls for XL America. Prior to that, he was chief financial officer for Kemper Insurance’s casualty division. He also spent nearly 20 years with CIGNA in various finance positions. In total, he has 25 years of financial experience in the insurance industry.

Jon Bannett, senior vice president DVUA of New Jersey Inc., announced the appointment of Kristopher Dohm to the position of property broker. Dohm will be responsible for the brokerage of hard to place property risks, including, but not limited to, habitational risks, chemical, manufacturer, earthquake (primary and excess layers), flood, wind, vacant properties, stand alone contractors equipment, and many others.

Dohm joins DVUA with more than nine years of experience in the insurance industry with emphasis on marketing, commercial underwriting, customer service and sales. DVUA of New Jersey Inc. is a subsidiary of Penn Independent Corp.

National Grange Mutual Insurance Company, an operating unit of The Main Street America Group, was honored as the Top Partner for Commercial Lines by the Independent Insurance Agents of Westchester County, N.Y. at an awards ceremony recently.

In addition, Chubb Insurance was honored as Top Partner for Personal Lines. According to IIAWC officials, both companies are being honored for their achievements as “partners” in sales and service.

Other IIAWC award winners this year included William Cooper Colwell, president of H.E. Colwell & Son, who received the 2005 Frederick H. Dayton Award for his commitment and dedication to the Independent Insurance Agents of Westchester and to his community.

The board of directors of American International Group Inc., which is under investigation by state and federal authorities for certain accounting and reinsurance practices, has reconstituted its executive committee and elected two new outside directors. Frank Zarb will remain interim chairman of the board and lead director but he will no longer be chairman of the executive committee of the board under the new structure. Martin Sullivan, president and CEO, will serve as chairman of that committee. The board has formed two new governance bodies: the Regulatory, Compliance and Legal Committee, and the Public Policy and Social Responsibility Committee.

In addition, the board has elected George Miles, Jr. and Morris Offit as directors. Miles is president and CEO of WQED Multimedia, the public broadcaster in southwestern Pennsylvania. Offit is the co-chief executive officer of Offit Hall Capital Management LLC, a wealth management advisory firm in New York and San Francisco.