People – East

Lockton Companies, a Kansas City, Mo.-based insurance brokerage, has hired George Bailey as a senior vice president in its Washington, D.C. office.

He brings nearly 25 years of experience in the employee benefit and risk management space to his new role, where he will lead client teams and focus on bolstering the firm’s continued growth.

Before joining Lockton, Bailey spent the past 16 years at Mercer, where he worked directly with clients on a range of health, welfare, talent and voluntary benefit plan services. He was also responsible for driving growth and client development at Mercer’s D.C. and Baltimore offices.

Smith Brothers Insurance, an independently operated insurance agency headquartered in Glastonbury, Conn., has hired Paul Cellucci as its director of strategic growth.

In his new role, Cellucci will be responsible for leading Smith Brothers’ long-term growth strategy and merger and acqusitions activity, with a focus on the Massachusetts and greater New England marketplace. He will also work with Smith Brothers’ sales leadership on organic growth and producer development. His hiring comes as the firm works to build out its New England platform and expand each of its risk managed focused disciplines.

Previously, Cellucci was president of Cross Insurance’s Southern New England region. Before that, he served as senior vice president of Eastern Insurance Group Kemper Corp. has named George D. Dufala Jr. as president of its property and casualty division.

Dufala will report directly to Joseph P. Lacher Jr., Kemper’s president and chief executive officer, and will be based in Chicago.

He is succeeding Joseph W. Metz, who has been serving as interim head of the property and casualty division since the departure in February of Denise Lynch. Metz will resume his duties as president of personal and commercial lines.

Dufala’s direct reports will include the executives who lead the Kemper Personal and Commercial Lines, Kemper Specialty California and Alliance United businesses as well as various property and casualty insurance supporting functions.

Most recently, Dufala was executive vice president of services at Erie Insurance Group, where he was responsible for claims and services, as well as crisis prevention and management. His 23-year experience at Erie also included a series of roles of increasing responsibility spanning sales and operational leadership functions.

He is “particularly experienced in helping turn around underperforming businesses,” according to the announcement.

Fidelis Group Holdings LLC (FGH), a maritime insurance provider headquartered in Covington, La., together with its subsidiary, Continental Underwriters Ltd., has hired John Kirchhofer as vice president of its marine division.

Kirchhofer will be responsible for expanding the group’s brown water hull and primary marine liability geographical footprint as it works to grow its national portfolio of marine products. In his new role, Kirchhofer will report to H. Elder Brown Jr., chairman of FGH, and will be based in the group’s New York City office.

Kirchhofer brings more than 20 years of marine industry experience to his new role. He most recently served as national hull manager and senior underwriter at XL Catlin. Prior to that, he was vice president at RLI Marine.

VALE Insurance Partners, a New York-based managing general agency focused on writing specialty property and casualty insurance, has hired Lidore Alexandra DeRose as vice president and underwriter. In her new role, DeRose will join VALE’s transactional risk team and focus on underwriting and marketing the firm’s rep and warranty insurance products.

Prior to joining VALE, DeRose served as senior underwriting counsel at Concord Specialty Risk. Before that, she practiced law for 10 years as a corporate attorney at Kirkland & Ellis and DLA Piper.

While practicing law, she advised both corporate and private equity clients on M&A transactions and led teams responsible for the primary due diligence and negotiation of the transaction documents.

Cross Insurance, a Bangor, Maine, headquartered insurance agency, has hired Christopher S. Hersey as vice president and treasurer of its parent company, Cross Financial Corp.

In his new role, Hersey will be responsible for expanding the company’s brand and managing operations for its accounting and treasury functions.

Previously, Hersey served as treasurer at Dead River, a South Portland, Maine, headquartered heating fuel provider. While there, he was responsible for tax, cash management, financial modeling and consolidated reporting.