People and Places
Cathleen C. Beavers was named general manager of the Texas Automobile Insurance Plan Association.
Previously, Beavers was residual market business advisor for USAA in San Antonio where she managed the auto residual market for the company nationally. She has served in a number of management positions with USAA including product line manager, commercial lines manager and commercial technical support supervisor.
She is completing graduate work at Incarnate Word University in San Antonio for a BBA in Human Resources and holds the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter designation.
TAIPA was created by statute to make automobile bodily injury and property liability insurance required by the Texas Motor Vehicle Safety Responsibility Act available to eligible applicants subject to the rules of the Association.
Arcana Insurance Services LP in Dallas announced that Susan Gropp joined the firm as senior vice president over brokerage/underwriting operations and claims.
She has over 25 years in the insurance business with proficiency in property and casualty underwriting, as well as claims, and has successfully managed both departments in her career. Gropp formerly was senior vice president at Maclean, Oddy and Associates.
Trade credit insurance provider Euler Hermes ACI announced that Rani Christie has joined the company as regional vice president for its new Southern sales region.
The new Southern Region encompasses Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and the Carolinas, and will be headquartered in Dallas, Texas.
Christie is a graduate of the University of Alabama with a degree in corporate finance and investment management. His experience includes leading the sales teams at Digiscript and Private Business Inc. He also has extensive knowledge of finance issues, having been an investment banker earlier in his professional career.
Euler Hermes provides credit insurance, and bonding and guarantees worldwide. With 5,400 employees in 41 countries, Euler Hermes offers a complete range of services for the management of customer receivables.
The North American subsidiary (Euler Hermes ACI) is headquartered in Owings Mills, Md. Euler Hermes is a subsidiary of AGF and a member of Allianz.
Privately held third party administrator Gilsbar Inc., headquartered in Louisiana, added Stephen Cali to its Louisiana sales team as a regional sales manager.
With over 12 years experience in corporate employee benefit sales, Cali joins Gilsbar from Benesys Inc., where he was regional vice president of Sales responsible for sales and retention of TPA clients as well as reinsurance negotiations.
PWIB Texas, a Dallas, Texas-based division of Insurance Specialty Group (ISG), added Josh Taylor as an associate underwriter/broker.
Taylor formerly served as an assistant underwriter with a managing general agency in North Texas where he handled multiple lines.
ISG is a diversified insurance organization with offices in Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, New Jersey, New York and San Antonio.
Lloyd’s of London has selected Richard Ward, former head of the London-based International Petroleum Exchange, as its new chief executive officer.
Ward spent six years as CEO of IPE, which was re-branded as ICE Futures in advance of the parent company listing on the NYSE in November 2005.
Lloyd’s began the search for a new CEO following the resignation of Nick Prettejohn last December, when he left to take over Aviva’s U.K. operations.
Ward has a PhD in Physical Chemistry from Exeter University. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and a member of the Royal Institution and the Institute of Directors. He is a non-Executive Director of LCH Clearnet, formerly the London Clearing House.
The appointment is subject to his formal appointment to the Council of Lloyd’s as a Nominated member and confirmation by the Governor of the Bank of England. It is also subject to approval by the Financial Services Authority.
Ward starts work at Lloyd’s Apr. 24.
Dean & Draper Insurance Agency LP announced that Deborah Foster Ware, the founder and owner of Deborah S. Foster & Associates, has joined the team at Houston-based Dean & Draper.
Foster brings with her over 38 years experience in the insurance industry.
Representing over 200 insurance companies, Dean & Draper provides both personal and commercial insurance with a strong market share in Houston and in other Texas locations of Navasota, College Station and Sulphur Springs.
Shreveport, La.-based Specialty Risk Associates announced that Amber McLin has joined the company as an underwriter at the Baton Rouge branch. She comes to Specialty Risk from a wholesale brokerage firm where she was an underwriting assistant. McLin has been in the insurance industry for over 12 years.
She attended Southeastern Louisiana University and has several industry achievements including ACS (Associate, Customer Service) and AAOA (Associate, Agency Office Administration) through LOMA.
Houston-based HCC Insurance Holdings Inc. retained Luis R. Martinez de la Fuente as a consultant to assist the company’s planned international expansion in Latin America.
Martinez, who has residences in Mexico City and Miami, has been in the insurance industry for over 40 years.
HCC has been writing business for more than 30 years in many Central and South American countries including Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina and Brazil.
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