People – Southeast

Following a six-year tenure as Citizens Property Insurance Corp.’s chief financial officer, Sharon Binnun has accepted a position in the private sector. Binnun is joining Cypress Property & Casualty Insurance Co. as executive vice president of finance. Cypress is a Jacksonville, Fla.-based P/C insurer that has not done depopulation business with Citizens, the state-created insurer of last resort.

Prior to joining Citizens as CFO in 2007, Binnun was deputy commissioner with the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation for two years. Binnun has 20 years of insurance experience.

The National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI), the workers’ compensation rating organization, appointed Katherine Antonello to the position of chief actuary. Antonello succeeds Dennis Mealy, who is retiring after 11 years of service. She will be based in NCCI’s headquarters office in Boca Raton, Fla.

Antonello spent the past 12 years at Lumbermen’s Underwriting Alliance, a multiline carrier writing a significant number of large workers’ compensation accounts. Antonello also previously worked as an actuary with Liberty National Life Insurance Co. and Milliman & Robertson.

This will be Antonello’s second stint at NCCI. For five years during the late 1990s, she was employed as an actuary at NCCI.

Bill Roberts has been named president and chief operating officer of GEICO, the insurer said. Tony Nicely will continue to serve as chairman and chief executive officer.

Roberts had served as executive vice president of GEICO since 2000 with responsibility for marketing and advertising, information systems, telecommunications and the Internet business unit, staff development, military marketing, and GFR sales. He will continue to serve as chairman of the GEICO Insurance Agency.

Roberts joined GEICO in 1984 and served as vice president of marketing from 1985 to 1991. He then served as assistant vice president for underwriting in GEICO’s regional office in Macon, Ga. He was elected group vice president in 1994 and senior vice president in 1997.

“I will continue to be very actively involved in the overall management of the company, but I could not be more confident that Bill is ready to tackle these new responsibilities,” said Nicely.

Richard Ward, chief executive officer of Lloyd’s, has announced his intention to resign at the end of this year.

Ward joined Lloyd’s as CEO in April 2006. Previously he worked as both CEO and vice chairman at the International Petroleum Exchange (IPE), re-branded ICE Futures. Prior to that, he held a range of senior positions at BP.

Lloyd’s Chairman John Nelson said the early announcement will allow Lloyd’s to select a successor in a timely manner. The Council of Lloyd’s and Franchise Board will now conduct a process with a view to the appointment of a successor before the end of the year, Lloyd’s said.

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance – the new commercial P/C insurance unit of Berkshire Hathaway – appointed Lori Spoon Rafkin as senior vice president, customer and broker engagement. She is based in New York.

Spoon Rafkin was previously broker relationship leader, North America, at Zurich Insurance.

Prior to her role at Zurich, Spoon Rafkin was executive vice president and chief administrative officer, commercial finance division, at CIT Group. Before that, she held numerous senior level positions at Marsh Inc. She began her career as an international underwriter with Chubb.

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance officially commenced operations on June 13. It provides commercial property, casualty, healthcare, executive and professional lines insurance and programs.

Based in Boston, the new company has regional underwriting offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York.