People – East

American International Group (AIG) has named Jerry Hourihan as president of Private Client Group for the U.S. and Canada. He will report to Ralph Mucerino, CEO of Consumer Regional, Americas.

Hourihan will be a high net worth client advocate and be responsible for development, implementation and execution of strategies in the Private Client Group business in the U.S. and Canada.

Most recently, Hourihan was executive vice president and chief marketing officer for AIG Personal Lines in the U.S. and Canada. He joined AIG Private Client Group in 2002 as a zone manager for the division’s Eastern zone.

He also managed strategic sales for AIG’s Office of the Customer, and previously served as the division’s national sales and marketing manager. Before joining AIG, Hourihan spent 16 years with Chubb in a number of management positions.

USI Insurance Services in Valhalla, N.Y., has appointed Pauline Sobelman as strategic consultant for its New York metropolitan office. For the past five years, Sobelman served as vice president, senior consultant at Lockton Companies, managing benefit strategies for complex large- and middle-market employers. She brings to her new role more than 20 years of diverse experience with brokers and insurers.

Sobelman brings to USI her expertise in developing employee benefit programs for national corporations and regional enterprises. Prior to serving at Lockton Companies, Sobelman served in account management at Corporate Synergies and vice president/consultant at Marsh/Mercer.

ACE Group has appointed Toby Merrill as division senior vice president of its newly created Global Cyber Risk Practice. Merrill was formerly vice president and national product manager for ACE’s network security, privacy and technology errors and omissions (E&O) liability products in the U.S.

In his new role, he will bring together the underwriting capabilities and services of ACE’s existing cyber risk-related business units around the world for brokers and clients. Merrill is based in Philadelphia and will report jointly to Tim O’Donnell, executive vice president, Financial Lines, ACE Overseas General, and Scott Meyer, division president, Professional Lines, ACE USA.

ACE Group also announced David Charlton has been appointed president of the Property and Casualty and Micro-business Division for ACE Commercial Risk Services. He will lead ACE’s expansion efforts into the property/casualty package and the micro specialty lines market for select small businesses.

Charlton joins ACE from United States Liability Insurance Co., where he most recently served as executive vice president and chief underwriting officer. In his new role, Charlton will report to Juan C. Andrade, ACE Group executive vice president and global head of Personal Lines and Small Commercial Insurance.

Clark Insurance, an employee-owned independent insurance agency with offices in Maine and New Hampshire, hired Kristine Sullivan as a senior account executive in the business insurance department.

Sullivan is an experienced insurance agent and underwriter with more than 25 years of experience in Maine and New Hampshire.

She brings to Clark Insurance expertise in insurance services for manufacturing, retail, social services, banking, the public sector, accountants and engineers. Sullivan previously worked at Kilbride & Harris Insurance Services in South Portland, Maine.

Esurance, the direct-to-consumer insurance company, said Alan Gellman has joined the company as chief marketing officer. Gellman will oversee all of Esurance’s marketing and advertising efforts, including direct marketing, online and offline advertising, search, brand partnerships, communications and customer experience. Esurance is owned by Allstate Insurance.

Most recently at Wells Fargo, Gellman spent the past 10 years in various executive marketing roles. Gellman will report to Esurance President and CEO Gary Tolman and be based at Esurance’s San Francisco headquarters.

Acadia Insurance, a Westbrook, Maine-based subsidiary of W. R. Berkley Corp., promoted Mark Groenheide to assistant vice president, specialty marine. The specialty marine unit provides both inland and ocean marine insurance products to Acadia agents.

Groenheide first joined Acadia as director of marine in 2010. Prior to Acadia, he was with the Hanover Insurance Group as a marine specialist before moving to the ACE Group and working as a senior inland marine underwriter for its global property division.

Acadia Insurance also announced J. Barry May will transition to technical underwriting director in the specialty marine unit.

May joined Acadia as vice president, specialty marine in 2007. During his 30 years in property/casualty insurance, he held senior management positions with Hanover Insurance Company, Allmerica Property Casualty Insurance Group and Global Insurance Network Inc.