People – West

June 15, 2015

Swiss Re Corporate Solutions has named Jennifer Knox to its North America regional sales team as senior vice president and sales leader of the West region.

Knox will be based in Santa Ana, Calif. She is responsible for generating new business, managing broker and client relationships and driving growth in the West region.

Knox has more than 20 years of industry experience.

Swiss Re Corporate Solutions is backed by the Swiss Re Group.

Capital Insurance Group has named Todd Eckert agency development manager for the Ventura territory in Southern California.

Eckert is replacing the retiring John Higbee after 14 years.

Eckert has a background in improving production and profit for national and regional property/casualty carriers.

CIG is a P/C insurer serving the Western U.S.

Burns & Wilcox Brokerage has named Karl Olson vice president and professional liability regional practice leader in its San Francisco team.

Olson will be responsible for delivering professional liability brokerage services and growing the practice. He will report to Burns & Wilcox President Denis Brady.

Olson has 15 years of wholesale brokerage experience. He most recently was vice president/branch manager at Sullivan Brokers Wholesale Insurance Solutions.

Detroit, Mich.-based Burns & Wilcox is owned by the H.W. Kaufman Financial Group.

Alliant Insurance Services has named Jeffrey Strassner a managing director in surety in its construction services group.

Strassner is based in the Los Angeles, Calif., office. He is charged with expanding the commercial surety expertise and delivering contract surety advice to construction firms.

Strassner has 28 years of experience in construction, commercial, environmental and international surety. Prior to Alliant, he was a managing director at a retail insurance broker. He also has experience as a surety underwriter with Safeco Insurance.

Newport Beach-based Alliant provides property/casualty, workers’ compensation, employee benefits, surety and financial products and services.

Victor O. Schinnerer & Co. has named Steve Falecki vice president and forest and logging practice leader.

Falecki will lead Schinnerer’s forest and logging underwriting unit in Sacramento, Calif. He will report to Scott Thomas, senior vice president.

He comes from Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co., where he was West region casualty underwriting director. Prior to that he worked for Marsh as a casualty client advisor.

Schinnerer is an underwriting manager that provides specialty insurance programs.

Lafayette, Calif.-based Stone Creek Insurance Agency has hired three new people for its Northern California office.

Russell Wong has been named a personal lines broker. He specializes in personal lines insurance. Wong has 16 years of experience as a captive agent at CSAA.

Diane Kaplowitz was named personal lines private client representative. Kaplowitz specializes in high net worth clients and life insurance. She has seven years of experience in the private carrier insurance industry. Before Stone Creek she worked as an agent for State Farm.

Marit Winborne was named a marketing intern.

Stone Creek is an insurance brokerage that specializes in personal and commercial lines.

Beazley has named Nicholas Little and Timothy Regilio to the company’s private enterprise team, which focuses on the professional liability needs of small businesses.

Both Little and Regilio will be based in San Francisco, Calif. Little is relocating to San Francisco to strengthen the company’s small business underwriting presence in the U.S. Regilio will be responsible for strengthening broker relationships in the Western region of the U.S.

Prior to Beazley, Little worked at CFC Underwriting as a cyber, technology and media underwriter. Before that he was an assistant underwriter with QBE European Operations.

Regilio was formerly a business development manager with AIG, where he worked to help grow market share in that company’s small and mid-sized commercial market.

Beazley is a specialist insurer.

RENO, Nev.-based LP Insurance Services Inc. has named Trevor Johnson a financial analyst.

Johnson is responsible for financial modeling and forecasting as well as merger and acquisition support for LP Insurance.

Johnson was previously with Sierra Nevada Corp.

LP Insurance specializes in property/casualty, surety, workers’ compensation, employee benefits, medical/professional practice and risk management services.