People – South Central
Texas Mutual Insurance Co. announced that Joe Yurkovich has accepted the position of senior vice president of strategic planning.
He returns to Texas Mutual after serving as region president for the Southern Region at SeaBright Insurance Co. Prior to Sea Bright, Yurkovich served as senior vice president of underwriting at Texas Mutual for six years. He has 35 years of insurance industry experience.
San Antonio-based SWBC added Joan Cleveland to its executive team as CEO of SWBC Life Insurance Co. Prior to joining SWBC, Cleveland worked for eight years at Prudential Financial as senior vice president, business development, individual life insurance.
She is a frequent industry speaker and is active in multiple industry committees within the Association of Advanced Life Underwriting and LIMRA, as well as a member of the board of directors of the American Bankers Insurance Association.
Sean Jackson has joined insurance broker IMA Inc. as leader of its newly created IMA Global Risk. Jackson will be based in Kansas City and will direct efforts within all of IMA’s offices in Colorado, Kansas and Texas.
Jackson has 21 years of international insurance experience in both client service and management roles. He most recently served as the founding manager of the WorldRisk Underwriting Center for AIG. From 1997 to 2010, Jackson developed the international practice at a large privately held insurance brokerage. He also previously held various field underwriting and production positions with Chubb and AIG.
Global Risk is a newly created division within IMA’s Special Risk group and is working with all IMA offices to drive international client service strategy to IMA’s existing multi-national accounts and prospective clients.
Swett & Crawford Wholesale appointed Anthony “Tony” Mastrolia as executive vice president of construction. Mastrolia brings to Swett & Crawford 35 years of experience in insurance and construction risk management. Most recently, he served as managing director, and practice group leader of Marsh in construction.
Prior to Marsh, he spent 15 years at AON Risk Services where he eventually became executive vice president, national broking officer in the firm’s construction group. Mastrolia has also held positions with Gow & Hanna Group, where he co-founded the broker’s construction industry unit, and Corroon & Black.
Fort Worth, Texas-based insurance holding company, Hallmark Financial Services Inc., announced that Kevin Kasitz will serve as interim president of the company’s personal segment, replacing Paul Harrison who has resigned.
Kasitz, who is Hallmark’s chief operating officer, will serve as interim president while the company searches for a permanent replacement.
DeRidder, La.-based AMERISAFE Inc., a specialty provider of hazardous workers’ compensation insurance, promoted G. Janelle Frost, the company’s chief financial officer, to chief operating officer, effective May 15. Frost joined AMERISAFE in 1992 and became CFO in November 2008.
Michael Grasher will succeed Frost as chief financial officer. Grasher is currently senior vice president, Capital Markets and Investor Relations of Fortegra Financial Corp. Grasher is expected to join AMERISAFE in May 2013.
Geoff Banta, currently AMERISAFE’s president and COO, plans to retire in December 2014. Banta joined the company in 2003.
ACE USA, the U.S.-based retail operating division of the ACE Group, announced new executive appointments in its global client executives practice and regional operations in Houston.
Pam Humphrey will assume the position of senior vice president and global client executive for ACE USA. Joe Connelly has been appointed as senior vice president, regional executive officer, of ACE USA’s Houston region.
Humphrey most recently served as senior vice president and regional executive officer of ACE USA’s Houston region. She previously spent 20 years with several other national insurance carriers before joining ACE USA in 1999 as branch manager of ACE USA’s Houston region. She holds the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) professional designation.
Connelly most recently held the position of vice president and national segment leader in the Houston region. Connelly previously held client management and operations positions within the downstream energy industry.
The board of insurance giant Liberty Mutual Insurance elected CEO David Long as chairman of the company, effective June 28.
Long succeeds Edmund “Ted” Kelly, who is retiring as chairman and director.
Long will continue to be president and CEO in addition to taking on the chairman post.
Kelly has served Liberty Mutual in various leadership roles for more than two decades. He first joined Liberty Mutual in 1992 as president and chief operating officer, and was elected CEO in 1998. Kelly was elected chairman of Liberty Mutual in 2000. He retired from the company in June 2011 and continued as chairman of the board.
Long has served in numerous leadership positions at Liberty Mutual over his 28-year career with the company.