People – East
The Massachusetts Association of Insurance Agents (MAIA) announced that longtime President and Chief Executive Officer, Francis A. Mancini, will retire from the association at the end of 2016.
MAIA has formed a search committee to oversee the process of selecting a new president and CEO.
Mancini has been in his position since 1994. Previously, he served as director of Government Affairs for 14 years for one of MAIA’s predecessor organizations, the Independent Insurance Agents of Massachusetts.
Commenting on his pending departure from MAIA, Mancini stated that the Massachusetts insurance landscape has changed dramatically since he began his tenure with the association in 1974.
But one thing that hasn’t changed, Mancini observed, is that the independent agency system remains the distribution channel of choice for Massachusetts consumers.
“Despite the obstacles faced by independent insurance agents over the years, their resilience and professionalism have kept them the dominant leaders in an evolving marketplace,” Mancini said.
The Rhode Island Insurance Division, part of the Department of Business Regulation, announced that the Insurance Division’s Associate Director Elizabeth Kelleher Dwyer has been named Rhode Island’s superintendent of Banking and Insurance.
Dwyer was appointed as the new superintendent by the director of the Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation. Dwyer succeeds Joseph Torti III, who left the post at the end of 2015. Torti joined the private sector and now serves as vice president of Regulatory Affairs at Fairfax Financial.
Boston-based Safety Insurance Group Inc., one of the largest home insurers in Massachusetts, announced that David F. Brussard, current president and chief executive officer, will retire effective March 31.
Brussard, 64, will remain as non-executive chairman of the Board of Directors of Safety Insurance Group. He has been with Safety Insurance Group for 40 years, serving 17 years as CEO.
The Board of Directors has appointed George M. Murphy, vice president of Marketing, as the new president and CEO. Murphy, 49, began his career at Safety in 1989 and has held a variety of positions in the marketing department including, most recently, the vice president role since 2005.