People – East

Maryland’s Republican Gov.-elect Larry Hogan has named Al Redmer, Jr. to be the state’s insurance commissioner.

Maryland’s current insurance commissioner, Therese M. Goldsmith, previously announced that she would step down from the post when Hogan assumes the governor’s office on Jan. 21. Goldsmith was named to the post for a four-year term in 2011 by outgoing Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley.

This will be Redmer’s second tenure as the top official at the Maryland Insurance Administration. He held the insurance commissioner post from 2003 to 2005 during then-Gov. Bob Ehrlich’s administration.

Redmer has been serving as president of Redmer Insurance Group LLC, an insurance brokerage firm in Baltimore. He also served as president of Landmark Insurance & Financial Group and as CEO of Coventry Health Care of Delaware Inc. Redmer was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from 1991 to 2003.

German insurance giant Allianz announced a new team that will lead the combined Fireman’s Fund and Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty North American business in 2015. Andrew Torrance, president and CEO of Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. (FFIC), has stepped down, handing over this role to Art Moossmann, a member of the Board of Management of Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty SE (AGCS) with responsibility for North America.

Moossmann will take on dual responsibility for both FFIC and AGCS North America (AGCS NA), as president and CEO of both organizations.

Hugh Burgess, AGCS NA’s CEO, became AGCS’s Global Head of Mid-Corporate effective Jan. 1, as previously announced.

In September, AGCS and FFIC announced the integration of their commercial P/C businesses in the U.S. to create one market under the Allianz brand. This took effect Jan. 1, 2015, with the transition to the Allianz brand taking place over the course of 2015.

In December, Allianz announced it is selling the FFIC Personal Insurance business to ACE Insurance, spelling the likely end to the well-known brand name.

Kathleen Zortman, president of FFIC Personal Insurance, will continue to be responsible for the Personal Insurance division in the new organization, reporting directly to Moossmann.

Kevin Walker will remain as chief financial officer for Fireman’s Fund reporting to Moossmann during the transition period while also taking over as head of Allianz Runoff Management US and CEO of SF Re.

Randy Renn, AGCS NA’s CFO, will afterwards step into the role of CFO for the combined AGCS/FFIC North American business.

Henning Haagen becomes global head of AGCS’s Aviation and Paul O’Neill becomes global head of Marine & Energy, taking over the responsibilities for the Americas from Joe Strickland and John Barnwell respectively, both of whom join the new AGCS NA leadership team in new roles.

Entertainment will also become a new global line of business for AGCS Specialty under the leadership of Lauren Bailey, vice president of Entertainment for FFIC.

A.I.M. Mutual Insurance Cos. in Burlington, Massachusetts, has named President Michael E. Standing to succeed John A. Myers as chief executive officer, effective Jan. 1.

Myers, who has been serving as CEO and executive chairman, will stay on as chairman of the company. Standing will maintain his current role as president in addition to taking on the CEO post.

Concurrent with these changes, the company named Paul M. Kehoe as vice president and treasurer. Previously, Kehoe was controller for A.I.M. Mutual.

As vice president and treasurer, Kehoe succeeds Gregory Shah, who had held the positions since 1994. Shah has been named advisor and corporate secretary, reporting to the board of directors.

Fred C. Church Insurance, an independent insurance agency in Lowell, Massachusetts, has appointed Mike Reilly as president and Chris Duble as chief executive officer, effective Jan. 1.

Both Reilly and Duble have been serving as executive vice president, commercial account executive.

They succeed Herman Laturnau who has been serving as president and CEO. Laturnau announced his retirement in December but will remain a corporate officer and chairman of the board of directors until his retirement is official at the end of 2015.

Eastern Insurance Group in Natick, Massachusetts, has hired Janice Belmonte as vice president and account executive for Eastern Benefits Group, the firm’s employee benefits division.

Belmonte will work out of Eastern Benefits Group’s Norwell, Massachusetts, office. She will handle group employee benefits consulting.

She most recently was vice president of business development for group benefits at Sapers & Wallack Inc. She has also worked as senior associate at Mercer Health & Benefits.