People and Places

The Main Street America Group announced that Steve Berry has joined the super regional property/casualty insurance carrier as president of its New England Region.

Berry, who has background leading property/casualty sales operations in the New England marketplace, will report to Doug Eden, senior vice president, field operations, and be based at Main Street America’s Keene, N.H., office.

In his new role, Berry will be accountable for the direction, management and performance of Main Street America’s largest region, which includes Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.

Most recently, Berry was assistant vice president, sales and market planning at The Hartford Insurance Group, Hartford, Conn., where he was responsible for implementation of companywide sales and sales management practices.

Prior to joining The Hartford in 2000, Berry spent 16 years at Allstate Insurance Co., where he held a variety of regional roles including territory agency manager for New England and New York, territorial education manager and market sales manager. Berry also is a former candidate for the Connecticut State Senate.

Steve Taylor has been promoted to regional sales director for Encompass Insurance in New York and New Jersey.

Encompass Insurance is part of the Allstate Group and oversees the Encompass, Allstate and Deerbrook insurance lines, which offer automobile, homeowner and related insurance products through independent agents.

Taylor joined Allstate in 1978 as an underwriter trainee. He was promoted to various management positions in underwriting and sales, including regional underwriting manager, territory sales manager, regional sales manager, and most recently as the Encompass regional sales manager for the state of New York.

Patricia Smith has joined InsurBanc, a financial services provider for independent insurance agencies, as vice president of sales and business development. Smith will focus on the needs of independent agencies and develop relationships with them.

Smith joins InsurBanc with more than 17 years of banking experience. Prior to joining InsurBanc, Smith was with GMAC as a business development officer and served as sales director for Liberty Banking in Connecticut.

London-based Hiscox has announced the appointment of Carl Bach within its Global Markets division to spearhead business development operations in the U.S.

Bach will be based in Hiscox’s Manhattan office, working with insurance brokers in the U.S. to increase the flow of business into Hiscox’s London market operation.

Bach joins from ACE where he had spells as president of the UK and Ireland operation and was executive vice president, Global Solutions, providing products and services to U.S. based multinational companies. He was also responsible for ACE’s Foreign Casualty Underwriting Division.

USG Insurance Services Inc., a national wholesale broker of commercial insurance headquartered in Tampa, Fla. appointed Mitchell Aycock as branch manager in Orlando.

Aycock joined USG in March, 2004 as the sales manager for its newly established Orlando office. He began his career 19 years ago, having spent the majority of his career in specialty lines.

The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (the Big “I”) honored an agent leader for her legislative leadership 2006 at the Big “I” National Legislative Conference and Convention. Sharon Emek of CBS Coverage Group in New York, N.Y. was presented the Sidney O. Smith Award for her work in promoting the legislative goals of the Big “I”, including her efforts to extend the federal Terrorism Risk Insurance Act.

Emek is the first woman to earn the Sidney O. Smith Award. She has testified in the debate over a terrorism insurance backstop, not only in her home state of New York, but also before Congress. She also has done media interviews to educate the public and lawmakers on the importance of terrorism coverage. In addition, Emek has been a strong supporter of Insurpac and Big “I” grassroots efforts.

All Risks Ltd., a national independent wholesale broker and managing general agent headquartered in Hunt Valley, Md., announced that Elaine Garner and Julie Arsuaga have joined the firm in its Dallas, Texas, office.

Garner joins All Risks as a broker bringing 20 years of experience in the property/casualty insurance industry, both from a retail and surplus lines background. She most recently worked as a senior marketing representative where she managed medium to large accounts.

Arsuaga joins All Risks as a professional liability broker. She brings 24 years of insurance and related industry experience, the last 11 years working as a senior broker for a multi-state professional liability brokerage firm.

Harleysville Insurance, headquartered in Harleysville, Pa., appointed Jenifer L. Rinehart as senior vice president of human resources. She will be responsible for all human resources and training programs for employees and retirees.

Most recently, Rinehart was senior vice president and human resources director for Chubb Insurance’s specialty insurance division. During her 16 years at Chubb, she also served as its corporate chief diversity officer, and she was the human resources leader for the company’s U.K. and Ireland operation based in London and its Southern zone based in Dallas, Texas. Prior to Chubb, she held human resources positions with Bank of America and Equibank.

David Linton has been promoted to vice president of information services at the American Association of Insurance Services (AAIS), a national insurance advisory organization that develops policy forms and manuals used by more than 600 property/casualty insurers throughout the U.S.

Linton came to AAIS in August 2005 as director of information services. Previously, he had been with Metavante Corp., Meadowbrook, Ill., where he was manager of application development for the corporation’s electronic funds group. Prior to that, he was a technical consultant and manager for ICS Advantage, Aurora, Ill., and held positions in programming and marketing positions at PagePath Technologies, Bensenville, Ill.