People

Jacksonville, Fla.-based Harden & Associates has added Chris Huber as a Commercial Insurance account director. Harden & Associates also named Kathryn McKenna as a Personal Insurance account director.

Prior to joining Harden, Huber worked as a commercial account executive at Jack Rice Insurance. Huber also brings five years of experience and knowledge from the finance industry.

McKenna will focus on high net-worth clients with complex insurance needs. McKenna brings 15 years of experience in the insurance and finance industry. Most recently, McKenna focused on insurance services for marine and RV dealers at Veritas Insurance Group.

The Professional Liability Underwriting Society (PLUS) honored Kevin M. LaCroix with its 2008 PLUS Founders Award and John J. Degnan, with its 2008 PLUS1 Award at the organization’s 21st Annual International Conference.

The Founders Award recognizes a member of PLUS who has made lasting and outstanding contributions to PLUS. The Award is presented in honor of PLUS Founder Angelo J. Gioia.

LaCroix is a partner in OakBridge Insurance Services, of Beachwood, Ohio, and an Insurance Journal columnist. OakBridge is an insurance intermediary focused exclusively on management liability issues. LaCroix has been involved in directors’ and officers’ liability insurance issues for more than 25 years.

The PLUS1 Award is presented to a person whose efforts have contributed substantially to the advancement and image of the professional liability industry. John Degnan, vice chairman and chief operating officer of The Chubb Corp., was named to his position in June 2008. He had served as chief administrative officer since 2002 and assumed the additional title of chief ethics and legal compliance officer in 2005. He has held various titles since joining Chubb & Son in 1990 as a senior vice president and general counsel. Currently, John serves on the boards of the American Institute for Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters.

Farmers Group Inc., the Los Angeles-based subsidiary of Zurich Financial Services Group, has promoted Paul Hopkins to chairman of the board. In addition, Hopkins will assume responsibilities overseeing Zurich’s Latin America operations. Previously, Hopkins was CEO.

Bob Woudstra, formerly president and chief operating officer, succeeds Hopkins as Farmers Group Inc. CEO.

Hopkins joined Farmers in 1978 as an agent and subsequently became a Farmers employee where he held positions of increasing responsibility in the sales and marketing areas. He credited the company’s success during his tenure as CEO to its agents, district managers and employees. He is a member of the Group Management Board of Zurich Financial Services (Zurich) and president of U.S. Personal Business.

Woudstra has given 35 years of service to Farmers and to Foremost Insurance Co. He joined Foremost Corp. of America in 1973 as controller. In February 1999, he was promoted to chief operating officer of Foremost, which position he held at the time Foremost was acquired by Farmers in March 2000. In April 2005, Woudstra was promoted to executive vice president of Property and Casualty Operations and relocated to Los Angeles. In May 2007, he was appointed to president and chief operating officer.

Janet (Riewold) Bordonaro has been named vice president in charge of new business for Bankers Risk Management Consultants based in Naples, Fla. She will be based out of the Naples, but her territory includes the entire U.S. Bordonaro spent seven years on Bankers’ sales force covering Florida’s Broward, Monroe and Dade counties from 1996 through 2003 when the Bankers book of flood business was sold. She then joined Fidelity to help transition the business and remained there since. In her new position, she will be working largely through the Bankers family of affiliates, utilizing her vast relationships with affinity groups and other companies to create new business for Bankers.

Bankers Risk Management Consultants is a subsidiary of Bankers Financial Corp.

Dennis Marvin, vice president of Ocean Marine for Max Specialty, was elected chairman of the American Institute of Marine Underwriters (AIMU). He succeeds Richard J. Decker, president of AIG Global Marine, who completed his two-year term as chairman. Marvin becomes the 49th chairman since AIMU was established in 1898. .

Marvin has been in the marine insurance industry since 1976 when he was a management trainee at the Marine Office of America Corp. He moved to Wm. H. McGee in 1981 where he held a variety of positions. Following the acquisition of McGee by Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co., Marvin became vice president for ocean marine underwriting at Fireman’s Fund Specialty in 1999.

XL Insurance has opened a new regional office in Atlanta. Diann Jones, business development director for the Southeast, will be based in the new office, and will be joined by senior property underwriter Kevin Holmes, senior claims counsel Matthew Ford and XL Global Asset Protection Services’ regional account leader Joseph Lynch.

Jake Terrell will manage the new Southeast regional office for Quaker Special Risk in Duluth, Georgia. Terrell worked previously with Maxum, Aon and DPIC. He has also worked as the risk manager for the Self Insured Risk Management Pooling Programs for the Georgia County Association, where he helped create a Vermont domiciled captive. Terrell is being joined by Kris Dobbins and Joan Lee. Dobbins comes from a casualty underwriting background. Lee’s expertise is in professional liability and support services.