People & Places

Reinsurer AXIS Re announced the promotion of Dan Osterrieder to head of Casualty North America. Osterrieder will be responsible for general liability, auto, umbrella and excess, workers’ compensation, professional and management liability, among other areas.

Osterrieder joined AXIS Re in March 2019 as a strategic account executive in North America. Prior to his work at AXIS Re, he held a number of underwriting and account manager roles at companies including American International Group, Willis Towers Watson and Swiss Re.

He will continue to be based in AXIS Re’s New York region and will report to Jason Busti, AXIS Re president for North America.

American International Group announced that David McElroy, previously president and CEO of the North American operations of General Insurance, has been promoted to CEO of General Insurance and executive vice president at AIG.

McElroy will lead the General Insurance Executive Leadership Team and join the AIG Executive Leadership Team, reporting to Peter S. Zaffino, AIG’s president and global chief operating officer.

Zaffino, who has been serving as CEO of General Insurance, AIG’s property and casualty business, began taking on more enterprise-wide responsibilities as president and global chief operating officer in January. McElroy joined AIG as president and CEO of surplus lines writer Lexington Insurance Co. in October 2018 and was promoted to president and CEO of North America for General Insurance in June 2019.

Before joining AIG, McElroy held numerous leadership roles within the insurance industry, including executive chairman of Arch Insurance Group and vice chairman of Arch Worldwide Insurance Group.

Lockton has promoted Ryan Duffy to president of its Washington D.C. and Northern Virginia offices. Duffy is responsible for the ongoing stewardship of new and existing clients in the region. He oversees new business development and the overall client experience.

Since joining Lockton in 2005, he has become a member of Lockton’s Financial Services practice, specializing in the placement of management and professional liability, errors and omissions, corporate property and casualty insurance, corporate health and welfare consulting.

Duffy has experience in the technology, government contracting, financial institution and real estate industries.

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey has announced the creation of the Data Privacy and Security Division within her office to protect consumers from threats to the privacy and security of their data. Healey has also named Sara Cable as chief of the new division.

As division chief, Cable will expand the office’s work protecting consumers’ data privacy and empower consumers in the digital economy while also promoting equal and open access to the internet. Cable has served as the director of Data Privacy and Security within the AG’s Consumer Protection Division since 2016.

In this position, she has spearheaded the office’s cybersecurity and data privacy protection efforts, including bringing an enforcement action against Equifax Inc. over its 2017 data breach that resulted in an $18.2 million settlement for Massachusetts. Cable has also led several multistate investigations of cybersecurity and data privacy incidents. She joined the AG’s Consumer Protection Division in 2011 as an assistant attorney general.

She previously worked as a litigation associate at Bingham McCutchen LLP, focusing on antitrust and intellectual property claims.

Palomar Insurance has added Austin Golson to its sales team as an account executive, specializing in the transportation industry. Golson is licensed in property and casualty insurance and has experience in the transportation and commercial industries.

He previously worked at Assured Partners Turner & Hamrick Agency. He will work to help clients understand the risks for their specific industry and company and help shape Palomar’s insurance products for its clients.

Palomar Insurance delivers insurance programs to U.S. and international companies. It is headquartered in Montgomery, Ala., with offices in Georgia and Tennessee.

Gridiron Insurance Underwriters Inc., a program manager specializing in program business on a regional and national basis through select retail and wholesale producers, has hired Ben Murphy as its new head of Property.

Murphy joins Gridiron after 15 years as an underwriter in the Lloyd’s of London market. He held previous positions with both Hiscox and Neon and has served in a variety of capacities in London, from underwriting commercial property business, to most recently, managing binder business at Neon.

Murphy will focus on expanding Gridiron’s footprint and capabilities in both the commercial and homeowner’s marketplace, with an emphasis on expanding capacity and building a profitable and geographically diverse portfolio. Gridiron maintains relationships with several global insurers, with a focus on niche program business, and is headquartered in Plantation, Fla.

Insurance Office of America (IOA) has added Jared Mongold to its expanding team. Mongold joins the Melbourne, Fla., branch office as an employee benefits specialist.

Before joining IOA, Mongold was a senior benefits advisor at Brown & Brown of Florida. He brings more than seven years of insurance experience advising middle market clients on group benefits and commercial insurance with a focus on the high-tech and construction industries.

IOA is a full-service insurance agency founded in 1988 by John Ritenour and Valli Ritenour. Headquartered in Longwood, Fla., IOA has more than 1,200 associates located in more than 60 offices in the U.S. and London.

CAC Specialty (CAC) appointed Lisa Harris as executive vice president of Client Service and Gary King as executive chairman of its newly formed Natural Resources Practice, based in Houston. The Natural Resources Practice will warehouse CAC’s resources focused on serving clients in the energy, mining, power and alternative energy sectors.

Harris joins CAC Specialty with more than 17 years of experience in the insurance brokerage industry. Most recently, she served as managing director at Marsh JLT Specialty.

King joins from McGriff, where he has been a client advisor in the Energy and Marine Division for 20 years.

CAC Specialty is an integrated specialty insurance brokerage and investment banking business.

Houston International Insurance Group Ltd. (HIIG) hired Jason Rollins to join its Commercial Property group as director of underwriting. Rollins has 20 years of experience building highly profitable property books.

He previously was the head property underwriter at International Mining Industry Underwriters (IMIU) in London and most recently was the head of Energy and Mining at GuideOne National Insurance Co.

HIIG is an insurance holding company formed in 2007. Based in Houston, Texas, HIIG has underwriting segments focused on specialty lines and industries, accident/health, programs and large commercial property.

Alera Group, a national independent insurance agency, appointed Tina Hohman as executive vice president and Wealth Management practice leader. In this role, Hohman is responsible for wealth management services offered throughout Alera Group, including financial planning, estate planning, investment management and individual insurance.

Hohman’s expertise is in tailoring solutions and services to support clients’ financial needs. Hohman brings more than 25 years of experience in the insurance and investment industry to Alera Group. Previously, she served as the chief operating officer for Wealth Management at GCG Financial, an Alera Group company. Prior to GCG, Hohman was the director of Client Services at Cleary Gull, where she led the Investment Advisory Private Client Group in specialized client service, operations and marketing.

Hohman will be based out of Alera Group’s headquarters in Deerfield, Ill.

Hagerty, based in Traverse City, Mich., has added Laura Hunter to its Brand team as vice president of Brand communications. Reporting to Soon Hagerty, senior vice president of Brand, Hunter oversees public relations, corporate citizenship and external communications.

Hunter joins Hagerty from Nike, where she partnered with executive leadership in Digital Product Creation to execute digital transformation strategies and lead internal communications for adoption of new tech platforms to streamline digital workflows.

Her background in communications encompasses both in-house and agency experience for Fortune 500 brands including Nike and Mattel, as well as government relations and public affairs for the City of Los Angeles.

Crest Insurance LLC of Denver, Colo., has promoted Jason VanGotten to assistant commercial lines manager. VanGotten’s prior experience includes ownership of a home inspection company and as a producer for Colorado Restaurant Insurance. He joined Crest Insurance in 2018 as a producer.

CREST has offices throughout Arizona as well as in California and Colorado. The brokerage firm writes insurance business throughout the Southwest and continental U.S.

Lockton Insurance Brokers LLC, the Pacific region of global insurance broker Lockton Cos., has named Teena Hostovich as vice chair of Lockton Pacific and Greg Barnes as president of Greater Los Angeles.

Barnes and Hostovich are based in Lockton’s Los Angeles office.

Hostovich will oversee government relations and will focus on solidifying Lockton’s external engagement efforts with regional and national legislators. Barnes will lead a team of property and casualty insurance and employee benefits professionals who serve commercial clients nationally and globally.

Barnes has been with Lockton for nine years in a client leadership role, most recently as executive vice president serving on the executive committee of Lockton Pacific.

Distinguished Programs has named Donna Percival as a regional sales executive, covering territories including Washington state, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Alaska and Hawaii. Percival is based out of Bellevue, Wash., and will be responsible for the sales of the suite of products and services from Distinguished across all industry service sectors.

Percival has more than 30 years of industry experience. She was previously a business development manager at Westchester, a Chubb company. She also worked as vice president of sales, strategic accounts and training for VAMA Inc.