People

February 20, 2017

Milwaukee, Wis.-based insurance brokerage Robertson Ryan & Associates recently voted in two new shareholders and a new board member.

New shareholder Matt Cruise joined Robertson Ryan & Associates in 2002. He is a second-generation insurance agent who became a licensed agent at age 18.

New shareholder Jeff Frank began his insurance career in 2004 as a business development underwriter at West Bend Mutual Insurance Co. In 2009 Jeff joined his father, Howard Frank, at RRA.

Bill Evans was voted onto the board of directors for a three-year term. Evans started at RRA in 2003 and became a partner in 2013.

Wholesale insurance broker Gemini Risk Partners, based in Chicago, appointed Yosha DeLong as managing director.

DeLong most recently served as the London regional executive for Ironshore Europe Limited, overseeing all IronPro product lines, the company’s professional liability division.

DeLong has more than 19 years’ experience in the insurance industry, having worked as both an underwriter and broker. She started her career in Seattle as an EPLI underwriter for Professional Risk Corporation (PRC).

Gemini Risk, an independently owned and managed division of Chicago-based Oswald Companies, focuses on all lines of professional liability, with specializations in lawyers professional liability, architects and engineers, and accountants professional liability.

Insurance brokerage firm, Hylant, has named Kevin O’Donnell and Tony Packo III to new roles within the leadership team at its headquarters in Toledo, Ohio.

O’Donnell was appointed senior vice president, Property/Marine/Global Practice leader. He will manage the practice and build strategies to further enhance the Hylant brand through new business growth and customer support, domestically and internationally, within the Worldwide Broker Network. He will support the claims practice leader in the design of property claims standards and processes, and serve as the lead claims advocate.

Packo has been promoted to vice president of Strategic Operations. In his new capacity, Packo will have operational oversight of Hylant’s Risk Practice and Service groups, as well as oversee client engagement strategy to facilitate further growth and enhance the client experience.

Hylant was founded in 1935 and is a full-service insurance brokerage with 14 offices in Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee and Florida.

POWERS Insurance and Benefits, headquartered in the St. Louis, Mo., area, has hired Robin Bender as a personal account manager.

Bender will assist producers in acquiring new business, as well as handling the sales and service of specific POWERS’ clients. She will work with the agency’s producers to coordinate lead generations and marketing plans for existing clientele.

Bender has more than 20 years of insurance industry expertise including 12 years of catastrophe property claim adjustment experience. Prior to joining the agency, Bender worked for several insurance companies on both personal and commercial line claims.

Founded in 1991, POWERS Insurance and Benefits provides personal and business insurance, surety, risk management and employee benefits.

Robert Halvorsen has joined the Technology Practice Leaders team at HUB International Midwest, a division of HUB International Limited.

As a technology practice leader (TPL), Halvorsen will be responsible for helping to provide customized technology support and guidance to HUB International Midwest clients.

Most recently, Halvorsen served as senior account manager and client relationship manager with bswift, a benefits and HR software company based in Chicago, where he was responsible for managing one of the company’s largest books of business and overseeing numerous new client projects. Halvorsen has several years of experience in the insurance industry.

Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Acrisure LLC has named D. Michael Sherman as strategic advisor, reporting to Greg Williams, CEO and president of the rapidly growing insurance broker.

Sherman brings more than 40 years of experience in the insurance industry to his new role at Acrisure. He began his career at insurance brokerage Dawson Insurance Inc. in 1978, where he served as CEO beginning in 1986. He continued as Dawson Platform chairman and CEO following its sale to AssuredPartners, from 2012 to year-end 2015, and served as vice chairman of AssuredPartners Inc.

Acrisure has 96 platform locations in 26 states and approximately 3,000 employees throughout the United States.