People – Midwest

Wisconsin-based independent insurance agency, Robertson Ryan & Associates (RRA), has added Garrett Maloney, Robert Flath and Brittany Swinton.

Maloney joined RRA as vice president and is based in the Waukesha office. He is an insurance agent for property/casualty personal and commercial lines, health/life and employee benefits. Before joining RRA, Maloney worked in underwriting for Travelers Insurance in the greater Minneapolis – St. Paul area. His father Terry Maloney and brother Ryan Maloney are also agents with RRA.

Flath is vice president, Bonds, and is based Waukesha. He has more than 30 years of insurance and bond experience. He holds the Chartered Property Casualty (CPCU) designation and is an Associate in Fidelity and Surety Bonding (AFSB).

Swinton joined the firm as a customer service representative. She has more than 10 years of commercial lines insurance experience and is based in the downtown Milwaukee office.

Robertson Ryan serves the entire U.S. from 14 branches in Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, Tennessee and Wisconsin.

Insurance broker Hub International Limited (HUB) named Marc Cohen president.

Cohen will replace current president of HUB International, Richard Gulliver, who has been named vice chairman of HUB International.

The brokerage also named Lawrence Lineker, currently president of HUB Canada, as executive vice president of HUB International.

All positions are effective Jan. 1, 2017.

Cohen began his insurance career in the training program at HUB International Group Northeast (HUB NE) in 1988. He has served as president of Program Brokerage Corp. and Claims Administration Corp., HUB NE’s wholesale insurance subsidiary and claims management divisions, respectively. He also was named president of Old Lyme Insurance Co. of Rhode Island, a HUB NE underwriting subsidiary that was subsequently sold. In January 2004, Cohen was named president and CEO of HUB NE and Program Brokerage Corp.

Lineker has 30 years of insurance industry experience. As president of the Canadian region, he oversees all sales and operations for six HUB retail entities as well as HUB Financial, Totten Insurance Group and Beacon Underwriting wholesale operations. He joined HUB in 1998.

Gulliver will continue to lead and grow HUB’s mergers and acquisitions activity. He has more than 35 years of experience acquiring, building and operating insurance brokerage firms. Under his direction HUB has acquired more than 350 acquisitions representing over $1 billion in revenue. Gulliver began his career in January 1977 by opening a one-man shop in Leamington, Ontario, which continues today as a HUB International operation. He was instrumental in creating Insurance Network Solutions in 1995 where he served as president. He was also president of HUB Group Ontario Ltd. and its subsidiary, Gulliver Insurance Brokers.

CNA named Steve Hernandez as senior vice president, Commercial Risk Control.

Hernandez succeeds Bill Boyd who announced his retirement earlier this year after 12 years of service at CNA and a 38-year career in the insurance industry. He will be based in Chicago.

Hernandez joins CNA with more than 26 years of global property/casualty experience. Most recently, he served as senior vice president of Global Risk Engineering for Chubb. He started at Chubb in 1989.

CNA also appointed Maria Cole assistant vice president, branch production leader in St. Louis. She reports to Steve Wachtel, senior vice president and northern zone officer at CNA.

Cole has been with CNA for 18 years, joining in 1998 as underwriting director for the company’s Michigan branch. Most recently, she served as assistant vice president of Commercial Underwriting for CNA’s Kansas City and St. Louis branches.

Cole succeeds Matt Hartigan, branch vice president, who also had responsibility for the Kansas City branch, which he will continue to lead.

Chicago-based insurer, Kemper Corp., announced that James “Jim” J. McKinney will join the company in November as senior vice president and chief financial officer.

McKinney will report directly to Joseph P. Lacher Jr., Kemper’s president and chief executive officer. He replaces Frank J. Sodaro, who will serve as a senior advisor to the company through the end of 2016. During the transition period, Richard Roeske, Kemper’s vice president and chief accounting officer, will serve as interim chief financial officer.

McKinney recently served as chief financial officer for the Banc of California. McKinney has served as principal accounting officer and global corporate controller for International Lease Finance Corp., a division of AIG. He also previously worked for RBS Citizens Asset Finance, KPMG, ServiceGas and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

AF Group, based in Lansing, Mich., hired Jeff Kuss as senior vice president and chief claims officer.

Kuss will lead a team responsible for claims administration, investigative services, medical management, large loss, subrogation and workers’ compensation practices.

Since 2012, Kuss has served as a global claims executive for AIG Insurance. He previously held executive and leadership roles with insurance carriers Liberty Mutual and SAFECO.

AF Group also named Keri Kittmann as director, Strategy, Performance & Administration.

Since 2000, Kittmann has held numerous roles within the organization, including finance systems manager, general accounting manager, director of accounting and controller. She was selected as the organization’s Leader of the Year in 2009.

Kittmann formerly held finance and accounting roles at Citizens/Hanover Insurance and Blue Care Network.

Founded in 1912, AF Group is a holding company that conducts insurance business through its brands: Accident Fund, United Heartland, CompWest and Third Coast Underwriters.

Monique Colizzi, who taught InVEST insurance courses at Charlotte High School (CHS) in Charlotte, Michigan, has been honored with the 2016 InVEST Teacher of the Year Award.

Colizzi has taught InVEST for five years at both Maple Valley High School and CHS, the only high school in the country piloting Epic (an agency management software).

She was nominated for the award by the Michigan Association of Insurance Agents.

Colizzi is president of the CHS Alumni Association, a member of the Insurance Advisory Committee at Olivet College, serves on the Vomberg Trumley Foundation board, Charlotte High School’s Equestrian Team coach, CHS’ SMILE CLUB (promoting happiness and a positive teen environment) founder, and a 4-H leader in Eaton County.

The InVEST program is affiliated with the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers or America (IIABA).