People & Places

Suzanne Matheson has joined Los Angeles-based Elkins/Jones Insurance Agencyas vice president. Previously, Matheson was managing director at Tegner Miller in Santa Monica with iMANAGEMENTgroup, which she brought to Lyddy Martin Co. before joining Elkins/Jones. Matheson has been a broker since 1978, beginning her career ar James Econn & Co., and specializes in business management clientele and entertainment risks.

Mike LaRocca has been named executive managing director of Beecher Carlson, responsible for increasing the Atlanta-based brokerage and risk management firm’s existing business in Southern California and expanding operations to additional locations in the Western United States. LaRocca will operate from Beecher Carlson’s new Los Angeles office. LaRocca has more than 25 years of experience in the industry and specializes in revenue growth and sales leadership. Prior to joining Beecher Carlson he served as regional executive officer at Willis North America, where he was responsible for operations in eight southeastern offices. He also served at Aon Risk Services, Johnson & Higgins and Marsh & McLennan. LaRocca also served as a litigation attorney with Rose, Schmidt & Dixon in Pittsburgh.

Beecher Carlson also appointed Mike Blecher as managing director of its Los Angeles office. Blecher will be responsible for increasing Beecher Carlson’s existing business and expanding operations in Southern California. Blecher has more than 25 years of experience in the industry and specializes in providing comprehensive insurance programs for all types of maritime business. His experience includes work with several of the world’s largest marine and energy companies. Prior to joining Beecher Carlson, Blecher served as senior vice president, partner at Lockton Companies where he was responsible for managing client relations and new business development. Prior to joining Lockton Companies, Blecher helped establish Oland International, a Los Angeles-based firm specializing in marine insurance.

Zurich North America has announced the appointment of H. Lindy Hardman III as a regional executive for the Southwest. He will be responsible for driving and leading the development of strategic marketing initiatives, distribution, and general operations as part of Zurich’s new regional structure. Hardman will head Zurich’s Southwest region, headquartered in Glendale, Calif., which consists of southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming. He joined Zurich in 2001 as a regional vice president with the Specialties business unit. Prior to joining Zurich, Hardman served as an executive vice president with Crump Insurance Services.

Philidelphia-based ACE USA named Richard Vincelette senior vice president, public entity, for ACE Casualty Risk. Vincelette will be responsible for building ACE’s public entity capability in the United States. He will specialize in providing coverages for federal, state, county, township and municipal government, special districts, government agencies and authorities, and the public education sector. Prior to joining ACE, Vincelette was national practice leader, public and nonprofit for Willis Risk Solutions.

Seattle-based Safeco has named Richard Kelly as the company’s new chief investment officer. Kelly will lead the team responsible for managing the company’s investment portfolio. He also will be a member of Safeco’s senior leadership team. Kelly brings more than 20 years of experience in analyzing, executing and leading investment strategies for property/casualty insurance companies. Most recently, Kelly served as chief investment officer for Main Street America Group. Before joining Main Street America Group, he served as senior vice president and chief investment officer at Ohio Casualty Corp.

Keenan announced that Paul Volkman has been named chief information officer. Volkman will be responsible for developing and implementing information technology initiatives, including information systems to support operations. Volkman comes to Keenan from Gemstar-TV Guide where he served as vice president of Enterprise Applications. He previously worked for Vivendi Universal Games and Accenture.

Julie Haddock has been hired has an assistant vice president at Heritage General Agency’s Orange County, Calif., office. She will be responsible for the production of surplus lines business, both open brokerage and MGA. Haddock has more than 20 years of experience. She started her insurance career at Mercury Insurance Group, worked at another retail agency and then moved into the excess and surplus lines arena. She served as vice president of operations at Trinity E&S and as a broker at Swett & Crawford in Irvine. Haddock most recently served as assistant vice president/broker at American E&S Insurance Brokers in Irvine.

Woodruff-Sawyer & Co. announced that Brendan Williams has joined their firm as Southern California directors & officers and IPO practice leader. Williams will also be responsible for leading Woodruff-Sawyer’s Southern California technology and life science initiatives. He will lead new business development activities and provide strategic risk management consultation for public, private and non-profit organizations. Williams’ background includes 16 years of insurance industry and financial services experience. He has provided risk management consultation and transactional services for a myriad of companies. He specializes in directors & officers liability, initial public offering insurance, employment practices liability, professional liability and M&A insurance products. Williams previously served as an underwriter early in his career. Most recently, he was senior vice president with Worldwide Facilities Inc. and the financial services practice leader for Worldwide Facilities’ offices throughout North America. He has also held positions throughout Southern California with Chubb, Sedgwick and Marsh.