People – Midwest

Barbara Flanigan, a 30-year insurance industry veteran, has been named CEO of Applied Systems Client Network (ASCnet), the Des Plaines, Ill.,-based user group of Applied Systems technology.

Flanigan joins ASCnet from Gallagher Bassett Services, where she was vice president-carrier practice. Prior to that, she held a variety of posts at CNA Insurance, where she was the company’s representative on the Agents Council for Technology (ACT), part of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA); and the ACORD-Users Group Information Exchange (AUGIE).

Westchester, Ill.-based American Westbrook Insurance Services LLC, a full-service insurance brokerage firm, has appointed Christine Seitz as vice president and director of communications, a new role within the company.

Seitz has 20 years of experience as a communications professional, 17 of which have been in insurance brokerage. Prior to her new role, Seitz was senior communications specialist for the Midwest Region with Willis Group in Chicago and its predecessor companies.

Liberty Mutual Insurance’s commercial insurance strategic business unit has appointed Mike Martin as executive vice president and general manager, national insurance property. He will lead a unit that provides property insurance, inland marine and equipment breakdown products to mid-sized and large accounts.

Martin has 25 years of commercial property insurance experience. Before joining Liberty Mutual, he handled risk transfer and loss prevention as senior vice president and North America chief property underwriter for XL insurance.

SECURA Insurance, based in Appleton, Wis., announced that President and CEO John Bykowski will retire from the company effective July 1, 2014.

Bykowski has led SECURA for 16 years of long-term profitable growth by building a people-focused culture and first-rate agent relationships, the company said. He will continue as chairman of the board after his retirement.

Dave Gross, senior vice president – underwriting operations, was appointed president and chief operating officer on Sept. 1. In this capacity, he adds responsibility for claims operations, with Senior Vice President Scott Huiras reporting to him. This promotion positions Gross to become president and chief executive officer upon Bykowski’s retirement. Gross joined SECURA in 1997 as vice president – sales.

Senior Vice President and CFO Kathryn Sieman was appointed executive vice president, making her the company’s second-highest ranking executive. She also will remain CFO and continue to lead the company’s finance and information technology areas. Sieman joined SECURA in 1992.

Stevens Point, Wis.-based Sentry Insurance announced that Sentry president and CEO Peter G. McPartland assumed the role of chairman of the board, replacing Dale R. Schuh, who retired on Aug. 30.

McPartland joined Sentry in August 2010 as president and chief operating officer. He was elected to the board of directors that same year. In 2012, he was named chief executive officer.

Amerisure Mutual Insurance Co., based in Farmington Hills, Mich., announced that Doug Pontious has joined the company to lead its data warehouse, advanced reporting and analytics-based business intelligence practices.

Pontious joins Amerisure from Lifestyle Lift where he served as chief information officer and chief of staff. Prior to that, he established his own IT consulting company specializing in business and information technology leadership services. He has also held several executive and IT leadership positions at StarTek, SITEL/General Motors and Ford Motor Co.

International insurance brokerage and risk management firm Integro Insurance Brokers has hired Jeremy Gillespie, who joins the firm’s management risk practice as assistant vice president in the Chicago office.

Gillespie brings considerable management liability and cyber insurance experience. For the past three years he was a client manager at HUB International.

At Integro, he will be responsible for servicing clients’ directors and officers liability, employment practice liability, fiduciary, crime, privacy liability, and errors and omissions risks.

Ron Levitt has taken on the role of sales leader in Swett & Crawford’s Chicago office. Levitt will continue as a senior broker in addition to taking on his new leadership role.

Levitt began his career with Aon and was head of two divisions specializing in various financial facets of the insurance industry. Prior to joining Swett & Crawford, he worked as a strategist for McDonald’s Corp.

Lindsay Scott has been named as the legislative liaison for the Ohio Department of Insurance. She will work in the executive office’s legislative affairs division.

Scott’s duties will include interfacing with legislators, government agencies and other stakeholders on insurance matters, as well as addressing constituency insurance issues.

Scott joined the department from Atlanta, Ga., where she worked in public affairs. She is currently pursuing her Registered Health Writer designation from The American College.

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance – the recently launched commercial P/C insurance unit of Berkshire Hathaway – hired James Roser as chief information officer.

Roser was most recently IT head of global insurance, global reinsurance and associated infrastructure at Markel Inc. He was previously vice president at Alterra Capital, which Markel acquired earlier this year. Before that, he spent nearly 10 years at The Travelers in various roles.

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance has regional underwriting offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York.