People & Places
Steven Levy, the longtime president and CEO of Munich Re US, plans to retire on April 1. Munich Re executive Marcus Winter will replace him, the company disclosed.
Levy has worked for Munich Re US for 23 years, holding a number of leadership positions, including president of the Credit & Surety Division and chief financial officer. He has held his current job since 2014 and has served as a member of the Munich Re US P&C Executive Board since 2008.
Winter currently serves as head of Reinsurance Development for Munich Re. Since 2002, he has held several roles with Munich Re, including head of CU Cross Lines based in Munich, and general manager, Non-Life, Munich Re, Australia, based in Sydney. For his new position, Winter will be based in Princeton, New Jersey, and report to Anthony Kuczinski, CEO of Munich Re US Holding.
The founders of Renaissance Alliance Insurance Services, a membership alliance of independent insurance agencies, have retired after 21 years of leading the company. Bruce and Janet Cochrane retired from their full-time roles within the Massachusetts-based insurance agency partnership organization, effective Jan. 1, 2021. They originally started the company in the late 1990s.
Executive Chairman Kevin R. Callahan and President Robert A. Bondi now lead the executive committee. Bruce will remain a member of the Renaissance Alliance board of directors and serve as special advisor to Callahan. Callahan said the company would continue its geographic expansion.
Signal Administration, a Wilton, Conn.-based provider of Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act benefits, has appointed Carole V. Kirk to the position of chief financial officer. Kirk, a finance executive who has served with global property/casualty insurance and reinsurance companies, will join Signal Administration, effective January 1, 2021. She will report to Signal Administration President and CEO Richard W. Wood.
Kirk has more than 30 years of experience in financial management oversight and directing strategic global business project initiatives in her various leadership roles within the re/insurance industry, with first-hand knowledge working with the Lloyd’s of London market and European-based companies. Most recently, she served for six years as senior vice president and chief accounting officer and group controller of The Navigators Group prior to its acquisition by The Hartford.
Kirk’s industry tenure spans all aspects of corporate accounting and financial reporting, including investment strategy, SEC and local financial reporting, audit reviews and assessments, as well as annual and actual budgeting projections. She interacted with The Navigators Group senior management team, its U.K. board of directors and investment advisers on the acquisition deal book, due diligence process and transactional inquiries leading to the company sale. Kirk held the post-acquisition position as senior vice president of integration and management of the worldwide Transfer Pricing Study for The Hartford.
The Liberty Company Insurance Brokers has added Mike Cuevas to the firm’s Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, office.
Cuevas has more than 30 years of experience with previous stops at Coastal Premier and Van Ameringen’s Insurance. Cuevas has worked with clients in all lines of risk management including, life and health, personal and commercial coverages. Cuevas will work to service the high value home market.
Property/casualty insurance executive Tracy Brown has been named manager of the Private Client Division at Century Risk Advisors Inc. (CRA), an independent insurance agency offering insurance and risk management services.
Brown has 20 years of experience in the insurance industry with experience in leadership, analysis of upcoming market trends, client service and client retention.
Based in Boca Raton, Florida, Century Risk Advisors is an independent insurance agency offering risk management and insurance brokerage services.
Core Assurance Partners Inc. has hired Rob Huber to the firm as deputy managing director of Core Assurance Atlanta LLC, a newly formed subsidiary. In this role, Huber will be responsible for strategic growth in the Southeast. Additionally, Huber will seek new and foster existing partnerships for the firm, building on the traditional niche markets Core Assurance Partners serves.
Huber will work closely with Core Assurance Chairman Tom Rutherfoord in leading the firm’s expansion and continuing to build the risk management and insurance brokerage operation.
Huber joins Core Assurance Atlanta having most recently been with GuideOne Insurance, where he served in an executive role leading sales, marketing and field underwriting. Prior to that, Huber held leadership roles with CNA, ACE (now Chubb) and AIG.
Core Assurance Partners is an insurance, surety and risk management firm based in Virginia.
Wholesale insurance broker and underwriting manager, Burns & Wilcox, promoted Bonnie Steen and Cain Webber to management roles in its New Orleans office. Steen has been promoted to managing director from vice president and associate managing director, and Webber has been promoted to associate managing director from manager of commercial insurance.
Steen has more than 35 years of insurance industry experience. In her role as managing director, Steen leads the growth strategy of the New Orleans location. Steen also oversees and manages operations of the New Orleans team while simultaneously supporting the Monroe and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, locations.
Webber will assist in the New Orleans office’s growth strategy, working alongside Steen. He has been with Burns & Wilcox for more than a decade and has held various roles with increased leadership responsibilities during his tenure. He currently oversees the Commercial Underwriting department. Webber has experience and knowledge working with London syndicates and contracts.
Burns & Wilcox is a member of H.W. Kaufman Group.
The Oklahoma Insurance Department (OID) appointed Donald Ashwood as captive coordinator, a position in which he will coordinate increased activity with captive insurers in Oklahoma.
Ashwood joined the OID in 2014 and most recently served as financial operations officer. Ashwood began his new role on Feb. 1. Oklahoma now has 40 licensed captives, with three new licenses issued last year.
James “David” Caldwell, Jr. has been appointed as executive counsel, and Rebecca Mowbray has been named as deputy commissioner of Public Affairs at the Louisiana Department of Insurance.
Caldwell served as deputy director of the Criminal Division of the Louisiana Department of Justice from 2008 to 2016. In that role, he was responsible for the daily operations within the Criminal Division, which included oversight of the Medicaid Fraud, Insurance Fraud and Investigations divisions, and drafted legislation on behalf of the department. Most recently, he has worked in private practice and as field counsel for Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. in Texas.
Mowbray covered property insurance issues and rebuilding for the Times-Picayune after Hurricane Katrina. She worked as a journalist for more than 15 years at the Times-Picayune, the Houston Chronicle and other publications. Most recently, she served as assistant inspector general for Inspections and Evaluations at the City of New Orleans Office of Inspector General.
Cincinnati, Ohio-based Core Specialty Insurance Holdings Inc. has filled several roles within its Property Division. David Phillips and Christopher Muller have joined Core Specialty as senior vice presidents of Property Underwriting. Additionally, Laurence Bunin and Adam Tyburski have joined as co-heads of Personal Lines Fronted Programs.
Phillips was most recently E&S Property head for Pioneer Underwriting, where he was responsible for building underwriting strategy, product and execution. Prior to that, he helped build Maxum Specialty E&S Property following his time with Arch Specialty, Wellington Underwriting and J. Linneman & Company.
Muller joined Core Specialty from the property E&S division of Axis, where he was the Southeast Unit Manager responsible for a team of underwriters. Prior to Axis, he spent time with Lexington, Ironshore and Montpelier Re.
Bunin most recently was an original founding executive of Spinnaker Insurance Co. in 2015.
Tyburski, also a co-founder of Spinnaker, served as the chief underwriting officer.
The Professional Insurance Agents of Wisconsin (PIAW) hired Natalie White as the association’s new communications director.
White joins PIAW after several years of working in the Wisconsin legislature. In addition to absorbing the media and marketing functions of PIAW, she will represent the organization’s interests at the Capitol.
The Wisconsin State Legislature convened for the 2021-2022 session on January 4, 2021.
The Liberty Company Insurance Brokers in Woodland Hills, California, has added Jessica James to the firm.
James focuses on construction, environmental, professional liability, non-profits, cannabis and lessor’s risk.
She has more than 21 years of experience in the industry as both a business owner and risk management professional.
Tacoma, Wash.-based Propel Insurance has named Angelo Fusaro as chief financial officer. Fusaro succeeds Pete Hendrick, who has announced his retirement after serving as CFO since 2004.
Fusaro has more than 20 years of experience in financial and operational management. He comes from HUB International, where he served for 14 years across various senior finance leadership roles. Fusaro has also held positions at Perdoceo Education Corp. and Ernst & Young.
Propel Insurance is a privately-owned insurance agency that provides property/casualty, risk management, workers’ compensation, employee benefits, personal insurance and other products across North America.
Lockton Pacific Series has named Lorrinda Lattimore as vice president of voluntary benefits. Lattimore is based in Lockton’s Irvine, California, office.
Lattimore has more than 20 years of experience in leadership, sales and operations. Lattimore was previously a vice president and broker for Allstate Identity Protection – formerly InfoArmor. Her other experience includes stints at AON and AIG.
Lockton Pacific Series has eight offices throughout the Western U.S., including Portland, Oregon, Las Vegas, Nevada, and California offices in San Francisco, Sacramento, Encino, Los Angeles, Irvine and San Diego.