People – South Central

Bill Martin has been elected president of the Combined Agents of America LLC (CAA) for 2014 – 2015.

Other members of CAA’s management committee include new Treasurer Pete Bibby, new Second Vice President Mack Purifoy and re-elected Secretary Robert Porter.

Martin is president of Grona Boles Martin Bloxsom Insurance in San Antonio.

Bibby is managing partner of Bibby, Brilling & Associates LLP in Dallas, which also has a location in Ennis, operating as Arden Insurance Agency.

Purifoy is owner of Purifoy & Company Insurance in Temple, Texas.

Porter is president of Porter Insurance Agency in Brownwood, Texas.

Also serving on the CAA management committee are: Chairman of the Board Bill Kliewer, managing partner of BKCW Insurance Agency in Killeen, Texas; Executive Vice President Bill Barnard, partner at Barnard Insurance Agency LLP, in Wichita Falls, Texas; and Past President Roger Luttrell, president of Benton-Luttrell-Brown, headquartered in Van Alstyne, Texas.

CAA’s 52 member agencies are located in Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma.

Commercial property/casualty insurance brokers Arthur Haas and Jeffrey King joined the Swantner & Gordon branch office of Higginbotham in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Haas will serve the general business sector while King will concentrate on energy and habitational accounts.

Haas was most recently development officer and associate athletic director for development at Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi. He managed contribution, endowment and sponsorship fundraising programs for the school’s athletic department since 1999.

King came to Higginbotham from Pamlab LLC in Corpus Christi where he was a medical sales representative for three years and grew his territory sales to the top fourth of the company. That was preceded by positions at Paris Aquatic Center, Red River Publishing, Vista Management and Young Life.

USG Insurance Services Inc., a national wholesaler and MGA, promoted Michael Horton to first vice president, production manager in its Mandeville, La., office.

Horton joined USG in January 2003 as a producer/broker in the Troy, Mich., office. Since then, he has held producer/broker roles in both the Illinois and Louisiana offices.

XL Group named Michele Sansone president of its North America property insurance business and head of its global risk engineering division, XL GAPS.

Sansone previously was chief underwriting officer, property. She will now direct XL Group’s property underwriting activities, including general property and energy property business across the United States, Canada and Bermuda. She will also oversee XL Group’s global network of risk engineers who provide on-site property risk analysis and support clients’ property loss prevention programs. Sansone joined XL Group in 2011 from Zurich NA.

The Austin Association of Insurance Professionals has installed officers and directors for 2014/15.

New officers are: President Mari Beth Matott, Admiral Insurance Co.; President-Elect Tiffany Way, All Risks Ltd.; Vice President Janie Frias, RPS; and Treasurer Melissa Reed, IIAT.

Directors are: Shelia Moore, Wortham Insurance; Rhonda Bowles, Service Lloyd’s; Terah Casey, State Auto; and Kimmi Cantwell, MDO

The 2013/14 Insurance Professional of the Year award was presented to Mari Beth Matott, Admiral Insurance Co., for all of her hard work and dedication to AAIP in the past year.

Swiss Re Corporate Solutions appointed Jeff Summerville as head of Financial and Professional Services in North America. In this managing director role, he will lead underwriting teams for corresponding lines of business.

Summerville’s primary responsibility will be Swiss Re Corporate Solutions’ regional growth strategy for management liability and executive risks; professional liability; and the construction industry.

Summerville has 25 years of experience in the financial and professional liability market. He has held underwriting and senior positions with Chubb, Zurich and, most recently, Endurance Specialty Holdings.

As senior vice president, global product line manager at Endurance, he was responsible for underwriting oversight of all management liability, professional liability, surety and trade credit insurance and reinsurance business. He will report directly to Robert Petrilli, head of the North America division.

Markus Zwyssig, who held the financial and professional services role on an interim basis, will continue to lead the regional specialties underwriting teams as head of specialties for North America.