People

Marsh has named Lou Ann Layton as its Southeast Zone leader. In this role, Layton is responsible for client initiatives, new business and talent development across the District of Columbia and eight states: Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

Layton, who most recently served as Marsh’s Pacific North Partnership leader in San Francisco, has relocated to Atlanta and now reports to Martin South, president, US and Canada.

Layton began her career at Marsh in 1987 in San Francisco as part of Marsh’s newly established financial and professional liability practice (FINPRO), and subsequently became Western Region FINPRO Practice leader. She later became US FINPRO Practice leader based in New York before relocating back to San Francisco in 2015 to assume her most recent role as Pacific North Partnership leader.

XS Brokers, an independent insurance brokerage in New England, has expanded the company into the Southeast, opening a new office in Orlando and hiring Lori Ault as executive vice president and territorial manager.

The firm now has five offices, including Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and two locations in Massachusetts. This is XS Brokers’ third office expansion within the past year.

The new Orlando location will allow XS Brokers to work with clients throughout the entire Southeast and will provide space to accommodate the growth of employees and business in this territory.

Ault has experience in commercial property/casualty, professional/financial lines, and third party administration. Prior to joining XS Brokers, she was a senior vice president at Admin America Inc., where she created new territory launch strategies.

XS Brokers plans to hire five to 10 people at this newest office location.

SUNZ Insurance Co., a large deductible workers’ compensation carrier based in Florida, has promoted Karen Bolinder from director of financial operations to chief operating officer.

In her new position, Bolinder will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of SUNZ Insurance with direct oversight of the policy administration and payroll departments. Bolinder will also work closely with Therese A. Stevens, president of SUNZ, on the company’s overall operations strategy and execution.

According to Steve Herrig, CEO of SUNZ, Bollinder will work to help continuing to expand the company’s footprint.

Bolinder has more than 30 years of experience in accounting and business operations, policy administration, financial analysis, and system implementations, including guidance and support of operational and financial systems implementations.

SUNZ also announced it has appointed Glen J. Distefano to the position of chief technology officer.

Distefano had been serving as chief operations officer and chief information officer. He has also served on the board of directors of SUNZ since 2008. Distefano joined SUNZ at its inception in 2005 as chief information officer.

Distefano has been involved in the professional employer organization (PEO) and staffing industries since the late 1980s.

Jackie LaRock has joined R-T Specialty LLC as an executive vice president and part of the RT ProExec practice group.

LaRock has experience and expertise in professional and executive liability lines and is located in Nashville, Tenn.

LaRock started her career in private practice as an attorney and spent collectively eight years with Chubb and Hartford. Most recently, LaRock served as a senior vice president with a wholesaler and has over 12 years’ experience as a management and professional liability broker. LaRock’s expertise includes D&O and E&O for private and public companies.

R-T Specialty LLC is a wholesale distributor of specialty insurance products and services and a part of Ryan Specialty Group LLC.

National professional liability and management liability wholesale brokerage Founders Professional has added Adrienne Porter to its Miscellaneous Professional Liability team. Porter joined the team in St. Petersburg, Fla., as a broker and will assist Founders’ retail partners in securing coverage for their miscellaneous professional liability risks.

In this new role, Porter will join a team focused exclusively on miscellaneous professional liability insurance for accountants, insurance agents, realtors and other miscellaneous professions.

Prior to joining Founders Professional, Porter was a professional liability broker with another wholesale firm, where she focused on securing professional liability insurance for lawyers and accountants.

Founders Professional focuses exclusively on the placement of management liability and professional liability insurance risks.