People
Aon Re Global named Jan-Oliver Thofern CEO and chairman of its German subsidiary, Aon Ruck.
Thofern was previously a member of the company’s executive committee. He succeeds Holger Gaserow, who plans to retire at the end of the year.
Thofern has been with Aon since 1993, beginning his career at Jauch & Hubener reinsurance brokers before transferring to Aon Ruck. He has been a member of the management board since 2005, and a member of the executive committee since 2006.
General Star Management Co. appointed Gregory J. Diorio chief operating officer and Joseph L. Majsak chief marketing officer. Diorio will oversee all underwriting divisions while Majsak will oversee the new marketing services division, which was created to provide focused marketing and product development services.
The company’s claim and administration units will report to Victoria J. Seeger, chief underwriting officer.
P. Cole Palmer will replace Majsak as manager of the company’s casualty division and will also manage the professional brokerage division. Within the casualty division, James M. Richardson will serve as Western regional manager, while Michael Keane will serve as Eastern regional manager.
Monarch E&S Insurance Services promoted Mark Kaufman to chief operating officer. The company said the position is commensurate with the duties he has been taking over the past year. He will share the day-to-day duties of running the company’s six offices.
Arrowhead Group named Robert Kingsley president of commercial programs. He will be responsible for the commercial auto, specialty contractor, public transportation and surety underwriting, customer service and operations departments. He also manages current and new carrier relationships. As a member of the commercial division executive team, he will develop marketing strategies and oversees new product development efforts.
Kingsley came from Financial Pacific Insurance Co., where he was regional vice president, executive vice president, chief operating officer and president before being promoted to CEO in 1999. He oversaw the sale of the privately held company to a publicly traded buyer in 2005.
Professional Program Insurance Brokerage of Novato, Calif., named Alan Preston vice president of operations, responsible for all internal operations. He will oversee the company’s planned expansion later this year.
Preston was formerly a corporate vice president for Chevron Corp., responsible for global human resources.
M.J. Hall and Co. Inc. promoted Sarah Marsh to broker/underwriter, based in Stockton, Calif.
Marsh has been the marketing representative for M.J. Hall for two years. She will focus on property and casualty business for the excess and surplus lines brokerage firm.
Also, Nate Rubin joined the company as accounting manager in Stockton, Calif. Rubin has more than 14 years of insurance accounting experience, 13 of which were at an excess and surplus wholesaler in Redondo Beach, Calif.
Additionally, the company named John Stawecki vice president, branch manager and broker in its Woodland Hills, Calif., office.
Stawecki will focus on the casualty side of the excess and surplus insurance business including: primary casualty, excess and umbrella coverage for construction risks (residential and commercial), hard-to-place products accounts, habitation, manufacturing risks and pharmaceutical business. He will also focus on growing M.J. Hall’s production in the E&S market in Southern California.
Elise King was appointed manager of California State Compensation Insurance Fund’s newly formed Business Services Operations Department. In this position she oversees records, forms and fleet management, as well as printing, employee travel, and mail services.
King joined State Fund’s Woodland Hills office as a sales representative in 1984. In 1995 she advanced to field services manager of the Oakland District Office, helping the department become No. 1 in broker business. State Fund recognition of King’s work includes a Supervisory Award in 2006, and a commendation for her role in opening State Fund’s Pleasanton campus in 2007.
Additionally, SCIF named David Wiley assistant manager for its customer service center in Fairfield.
Wiley joined the organization’s Oakland district office when he was hired as an underwriter in 2001. He also served as the district’s fraud liaison and represented State Fund as a recruiter at job fairs. In 2004, he relocated to corporate headquarters in San Francisco when he became assistant premium billing manager for insurance services.
The Professional Insurance Agents of Washington/ Alaska (PIA) elected a new president and board of directors. Mark Balcos of Balcos Insurance is president. Other officers include: President Elect David Babbitt of Babbitt Insurance Group, Vice-President Barbara Kaiser of Sunset Insurance Agency; Treasurer Jim Starr of Starr, Starr & Totton; PIA Western Alliance Representative Jack McCalmant of Big Bend Insurance; PIA Western Alliance Representative Ray Peretti of Hub Insurance Agency; and Immediate Past President & PIA National Director Rich Biggs of Biggs Insurance Agency. Jim Frost of Bell Anderson Insurance was named director.
Lockton’s reinsurance division appointed Michael Quy executive director, responsible for developing the global insurance broker’s specialist engineering and construction treaty reinsurance team.
Quy began his 40-year career in insurance as an underwriter of engineering risks with British Engine in 1967. Until 1997, he held senior underwriting positions dedicated to the engineering and construction class. He joined Willis Re in 1997 on the specialist engineering and construction reinsurance team. In 2001 he was promoted to lead that team and eventually headed up the global engineering and construction practice group for Willis Re when it was formed in 2005.
Scott Epstein joined American E&S Insurance Brokers as underwriting manager, responsible for growing and strengthening the managing general agent unit. He will work out of the company’s San Francisco branch. Most recently, Epstein served as an underwriter and broker with Burns & Wilcox for five years.
Steve Carver joined Bellevue, Wash.-based Baldwin Resource Group as an account executive in its insurance division.
Carver has worked in the industry for several years, having handled insurance and risk management needs for clients in the Puget Sound area. He has a background in financial institutions, venture capital and private equity firms, professional service firms, and contractors.
Law firm Duane Morris named Max Stern and Peter Whalen, partners in its trial practice group in San Francisco, to jointly lead the insurance and reinsurance industry group for the international firm.
Stern is a trial and appellate lawyer practicing in the area of civil litigation. He has represented plaintiffs and defendants in suits involving issues of contract, real estate, business tort and consumer class actions.
Whalen practices in the area of commercial litigation with a focus on insurance coverage, general business and real estate related disputes.
Law firm Reed Smith named Christina Shea counsel for its international insurance recovery practice in San Francisco.
Shea’s practice focuses on insurance coverage litigation, representing corporate policyholders in matters involving third-party liability and first-party property damage. Shea joins Reed Smith from Morgan Lewis, where she had been since the 2003 liquidation of Brobeck, Phelger & Harrison, where she’d been an associate for eight years.
The California El Camino Chapter of the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriting Society announced its 2008 to 2009 officers and directors. The incoming officers are: President Allen N. Zeichik, Hertz Claims Management; President-Elect James C. Taylor, aigdirect.com; Vice President Leo Costantino, AIG Consultants; Secretary Vernon Roske, State Farm Insurance; and Treasurer Tami L. Singer, Burns and Wilcox Ltd.
New directors are: Immediate Past-President Peggy L. Brennan, aigdirect.com; Ruben Snowden, Farmers Insurance Group; Eric B. Stassforth, Tolman and Wiker Insurance Agency; and Vanessa Toureau, State Farm Insurance.
Members of the Arizona Captive Insurance Association (AzCIA) elected two new directors to the 2008-2009 board of directors. The new directors are Brent Hill, vice president at Hill Insurance Services, and Peter Joy, executive vice president of Aon Insurance Managers Inc.
AzCIA members also re-elected the following existing board members for additional three-year terms: Charles R. Cohen, Barger & Wolen LLP; Christopher S. Murray, Caitlin-Morgan Insurance Services; and Ann W. Wick, Strategic Risk Solutions (Arizona) Inc.
New officers for the organization are: President Ann W. Wick; Vice President Christopher S. Murray; Treasurer Joseph Pieksza; and Secretary Brent Hill.
In other AzCIA news, Marc J. Lapointe received the first AzCIA Crystal Cactus Award. He was the author and driving force behind the passage of the Arizona captive law, and founded AzCIA, where he served as president during its initial three years. He is vice president and manager of USA Risk Group Inc. and is responsible for design, implementation, licensure and management of captive insurance companies in domiciles throughout the United States.
Heffernan Insurance Brokers appointed Tino Versoza vice president of financial services, in its Portland, Ore., office.