People – East
Lockton Cos. announced Frank Vento has joined as vice president and leader of the investment management practice in Lockton’s Washington, D.C., office.
In his new role, Vento will help develop risk management and insurance services for investment advisers, mutual funds, broker-dealers, private equity funds, alternative investment funds, and other investment management vehicles and firms.
Vento previously worked at a captive insurance company sponsored by the Investment Company Institute, a trade group for investment advisers and funds. In that role, he was responsible for underwriting professional and management liability programs, client service, and retention revenue growth.
The Pennsylvania Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (PAMIC) announced that Ron Gallagher will become the next president of PAMIC.
Gallagher will assume the duties of that office on March 10, overlapping for three months with current president, Steve Elliot, who is retiring in the summer of 2014 after serving PAMIC for 15 years.
Gallagher joins PAMIC after a 24-year career with the Pennsylvania Insurance Department. Most recently he was appointed and served as deputy insurance commissioner since June 1, 2000.
CED 1976 LLC, a Fairlawn, N.J.-based managing general underwriter, has appointed Diane Fowler as director of marketing for its Jewelers unBLOCKed product. She is based in New York.
In her new role, Fowler will lead marketing initiatives for Jewelers unBLOCKed, a proprietary insurance portfolio designed to provide coverage to the jewelry industry. Fowler recently retired as executive director of the Professional Insurance Agents (PIA) of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and New Hampshire, after a 35-year career within PIA and the insurance industry.
EPIC (Edgewood Partners Insurance Center), a retail property, casualty and employee benefits insurance brokerage based in San Francisco, announced James R. Loughlin has joined the firm as managing principal, risk solutions. He is based in New York.
EPIC said Loughlin will play a leadership role in a new EPIC risk management initiative. Prior to joining EPIC, Loughlin was director of risk management for Insight Portfolio Group LLC. Loughlin also spent 14 years at Marsh Inc., where he managed the financial institutions advisory team for the New York operation of FINPRO, the Financial and Professional Insurance Division of Marsh.
Michael H. Lee, Tower Group International Ltd. chairman, president and chief executive officer, has resigned from the company and the company’s board of directors to pursue personal and other career opportunities.
William W. Fox, Jr., who had served as a member of the board and of the board’s audit, corporate governance and nominating committees until his resignation from the board on Dec. 31, 2013, is expected to succeed Lee as president and CEO of Tower upon the finalization of his employment terms, the company said.
Also, Jan R. Van Gorder, lead independent director of the board and a member of the board’s audit, compensation and corporate governance and nominating committees, will succeed Lee as chairman of the board.
Van Gorder, age 66, had previously served on the board of directors of Tower Group Inc. from February 2009 until March 2013, when TGI merged with a subsidiary of Canopius Group Holdings Ltd. and became a subsidiary of the Tower. Van Gorder’s experience in the property/casualty industry includes employment at Erie Insurance Group.
Fox, age 72, who has 40 years of experience in the insurance and reinsurance industry, became a director of TGI in April 2006. His positions in the industry included stints with Balis & Co. Inc. and its successor, Guy Carpenter.
Narragansett Bay Insurance Co. in Pawtucket, R.I., has appointed Timothy Moura as senior vice president, marketing, agency and client services.
Moura has nearly 20 years of experience in the insurance field. He most recently served as vice president, business development, commercial lines for Tower Group Cos., where he managed relationships with top national producers. Additionally, he has worked for OneBeacon Insurance Group as regional vice president, personal lines.
In his new role, Moura will develop and execute strategic marketing initiatives to promote the expansion of NBIC’s homeowners insurance market along the Eastern Seaboard. He will also be responsible for the development and oversight of agency relationships to advance the company’s overall business objectives.
Greg Agnone has been named president and chief executive officer of the Chestnut Hill Insurance Group in Chepachet, R.I. Chestnut Hill Insurance Group is an insurance brokerage specializing in the area of captive insurance. Agnone brings decades of experience in this area.
His experiences include working as assistance vice president of underwriting at The Travelers Cos., underwriting manager at Liberty Mutual National Accounts, and director of captive program development at The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc.