People – Midwest
Mark C. Russell has been tapped as the next president and chief executive officer of Ohio Mutual Insurance Group, succeeding the company’s current retiring leader Jim Kennedy.
Russell comes to Ohio Mutual from Columbus, Ohio-based Grange Insurance, where he has served in a variety of key roles since December 1997 — most recently in several executive vice president positions, as interim president of Grange affiliate Integrity Insurance, and roles overseeing information technology, marketing, agency relations, customer experience, and claims.
Prior employers include Century Surety Insurance Group and Anthem Casualty Insurance Group (Shelby, Ohio), and Crum and Forster Commercial Insurance (New Jersey and Louisiana).
Russell holds the CPCU, ARM, and CCLA professional designations, and currently sits on the board of governors for the National Insurance Crime Bureau.
Ohio Mutual Insurance Group, founded in 1901 with its home office in Bucyrus, Ohio, and a regional office in Saco, Maine, partners with nearly 400 independent agencies to distribute quality property/casualty insurance products throughout Connecticut, Indiana, Maine, New Hampshire, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
Michael Stone, long-time president and chief operating officer of RLI Corp., is retiring at the end of 2015, ending 20-years of service at the Illinois-based specialty insurer.
RLI said Stone will continue to serve on the RLI board after he leaves his two executive positions on Dec. 31.
There is already a chosen successor. Craig Kliethermes, executive vice president of operations, becomes RLI’s next president and COO effective Jan. 1, 2016.
Stone is retiring after having served as RLI president and COO since 2002. He first joined the company in 1996. He started as vice president of claims before becoming executive vice president in 1998.
Kliethermes joined with RLI in 2006 as vice president, actuarial services. Before RLI, Kliethermes gained experience in various executive roles at Lockton Companies, GE Insurance/Employers Reinsurance, and John Deere Insurance Co.
RLI focuses on niche property, casualty and surety markets.
Insureon, an online provider of small business insurance, added Andrei Utkin as chief marketing officer. He is based in Chicago.
Utkin previously was with information and analytics firm Neustar. He also formerly worked at Capital One where he led the company’s foray into digital marketing.
The company also has promoted Lou Friedmann to senior vice president, Strategic Partnerships and Customer Excellence.
Scott Dillabaugh joined the leadership team of Lockton Companies’ Benefits Agency as senior vice president. He will be based in Kansas City.
Dillabaugh will focus on business development, fostering the company’s culture, and driving innovation. He will also be assisting several of Lockton’s largest clients, working on new business opportunities, and driving strategic initiatives within the practices.
Dillabaugh is in the process of relocating to Kansas City from Cleveland, Ohio, where he served as president of Hylant Group Cleveland. Prior to Hylant, he held senior roles at M&T Bank and Marsh & McLennan Companies.
XL Catlin’s Excess & Surplus (E&S) Casualty business unveiled a new geographically-focused structure and named three new regional leaders.
Coy Rudd is appointed East regional vice president in New York; Ankur Chokshi was named Central regional vice president, based in Chicago, while Scott Noffsinger assumes the Western regional vice president role, working from Scottsdale, Arizona.
The E&S Casualty product lines include commercial excess liability insurance coverage for contractors, products liability, general casualty, and transportation classes of business on both a primary and excess basis.
Aspen Insurance appointed Dominick Tassone as executive vice president, Programs, for its U.S. business.
Tassone’s appointment ise effective from Oct. 1, 2015, when Tom Muller, current head of Programs for Aspen U.S. Insurance, retires after a career spanning 35 years.
Tassone joined Aspen Insurance in 2010 and has 35 years of industry experience.
He will report to Cliff Hope, executive vice president, head of Property & Casualty for Aspen U.S. Insurance.
Brian Griffith joined QBE North America as executive vice president, Field Management and Distribution.
The insurer said Griffith will lead the strategy for all distribution channels across QBE, as well agency management activities. This includes engagement with all U.S. major trading partners, as well as engagement at the regional level.
Griffith began his career as an underwriter with The Hartford more than 22 years ago.