People and Places

J.J. Morrow, Jr., formerly the managing director of St. Paul Travelers Insurance Company in Chicago has joined Georgia-based Swett & Crawford’s Chicago office as a property broker. Since 1997 he has managed nearly $90 million in premiums for St. Paul Travelers, overseeing the effort of six underwriters and their assistants while continuing to oversee his own book of 50 policies with $25 million in premiums.

Morrow began his career at American International Group in Chicago as a property underwriter in 1993 and in 1996 joined Chubb & Son Inc. as a senior underwriter to manage a book of business consisting of property, ocean marine, inland marine and boiler and machinery coverage.

Chicago-based Fort Dearborn Life Insurance Co., a subsidiary of Health Care Service Corp., a Mutual Legal Reserve Company, recently announced the addition of David J. Bryan to its group operation as manager of international sales. Earlier this year Fort Dearborn Life became the exclusive member of the Swiss Life Network for the United States. This partnership allows Fort Dearborn Life to provide group ancillary benefit solutions to both domestic and foreign multinationals in the United States.

As manager of international sales, Bryan will lead the coordination of Fort Dearborn Life’s delivery of products and services as a member of the Swiss Life Network. Bryan joins Fort Dearborn from the International Consulting Group, where he advised multinational companies with design and implementation of benefit plans. In addition, Bryan held senior positions at Insurope and Generali, both major international benefit networks. Fort Dearborn Life identifies itself as among the country’s leading providers of employee benefits, group life, short- and long-term disability, group dental and individual annuity programs.

The Hylant Group, headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, has hired Steve Stuart as a Property Risk senior consultant in its Troy, Mich., location. Prior to joining Hylant, Stuart was a vice president and senior consultant at Marsh Risk Consulting, a unit of Marsh USA Inc. He is a member of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), American Institute of Chemical Engineers and the NFPA Explosion Protection Systems Committee. His focus at Hylant will be in the areas of Loss Control and Property Risk Consulting.

The Hylant Group also recently hired William Gahr as a claims consultant, vice president in its Cleveland, Ohio, location. Prior to joining Hylant, Gahr was manager for Crawford & Company’s Integrated Service Center for the Ohio and Kentucky region since 2002. He was director of Workers’ Compensation for LTV Steel Co. from 1984 to 2002. Gahr started his career in the insurance industry in 1982 as corporate manager of safety for Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp.

The Hylant Group, headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, identifies itself as a full-service business insurance brokerage with ten offices in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana.

Greg Thompson, president and chief executive officer of THOMCO, is the new president of the Target Markets Program Administrators Association, a national organization serving program managers.

THOMCO, headquartered in metro-Atlanta, was established in 1977 and has been an MGA focused on program business since the early 1980s. In 1979, Greg Thompson joined the firm after two years in New York with Marsh and McLennan. Since then, he has served as president of THOMCO.

Zurich Financial Services Group a plans to move its Latin American regional headquarters from Santiago, Chile, to Miami in early 2007. The company also appointed Jaime Paredes as the new chief executive officer of Zurich Latin America. He succeeds Gaston Aguirre, who, Zurich said, “is stepping down from this role as he has decided not to relocate to Miami for personal reasons.” Paredes joins Zurich from ACE, where he has been chairman and CEO of its Latin American business since 2003.

The Commerce Group Inc. in Massachusetts announced that Lawrence R. Pentis of California will join the company’s senior executive team in January. He will be responsible for insurance operations outside of Massachusetts as the executive vice president and chief operating officer of American Commerce Insurance Co. in Ohio and Commerce West Insurance Co. in California.

Pentis most recently served as senior vice president for insurance operations, for the California State Automobile Association, which serves northern California, Nevada, and Utah. During his 17 years at CSAA, he managed product management, underwriting and claims. More recently, Pentis expanded CSAA’s business from writing in three states to 16 states over a three year period.

Merchants Insurance Group announce that Michigan insurance agent Bruce Morris has been named the vice-chairman of Merchants’ National Co-Chairman Advisory Council. The Merchants’ advisory council is comprised of a select group of independent insurance agents who give their professional insight on the insurance industry and regional market trends.

Bruce Morris is the president of Morris Insurance Group and the P.L. Marti Insurance Agency. Morris Insurance Group is a full-service agency with locations in Macomb and Oakland counties.

Louisiana-based FARA appointed Tony Mendez as account executive responsible for all business development and client service initiatives in Florida for FARA. He is based in the company’s Boca Raton office.

Prior to this appointment, Mendez was employed by Liberty Mutual Insurance Group, where he recently served as regional operations manager for Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas. He held increasingly responsible sales positions with the company during his 11-year tenure. Mendez began his career with Hughes Anderson Engineering where he served six years as an outside sales representative.

FARA also named David Jankosky as an account executive responsible for business development and client service initiatives in California. He is based in the company’s Signal Hill office.