People & Places

Specialty broker Amwins appointed Sam Baig and Jeff McNatt as presidents of Amwins Brokerage. James Drinkwater, who has served as president of the brokerage division since 2008 and was named president of Amwins Group in 2018, will focus on his roles as president of Amwins and executive chair of Amwins Global Risks. Prior to his new role, Baig served as executive vice president and leader of the Georgia branches of Amwins Brokerage. McNatt previously served as executive vice president and leader of the Florida branches of Amwins Brokerage.

Stamford, Conn.-based reinsurance advisor TigerRisk Partners added Will Cheney as partner. Cheney has nearly 20 years of experience as a reinsurance broker with a focus on property risk and joins from Lockton Re, where he was senior broker and co-leader of the property practice. Cheney is based in Boston.

Kimball Hughes Public Relations appointed Rod Hughes as president. Hughes previously served as vice president. Gary Kimball, who launched the company in 1995, will continue in a consulting role and advise on client strategy, crisis communications and new business development.

Insurance broker Willis Towers Watson appointed Casey Petersen as head of Primary Casualty Broking for North America. Petersen, based in Chicago, joined Willis Towers Watson in 2005 and has held numerous leadership positions across the Midwest.

Markel Corporation named Hollis Zyglocke regional president of its mid-Atlantic division for Markel Specialty. Zyglocke joined Markel in 2017 and has served as senior director for underwriting and production, casualty/excess and umbrella in the mid-Atlantic.

Renaissance Alliance named Lorenzo Jackson senior vice president and New York sales leader. Jackson recently served as Great Lakes region president for Main Street America Insurance. Renaissance said it works with independent property/casualty agencies to grow premium and maximize revenue.

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance named Elisa Zurlini as the new head of transactional liability claims. Zurlini spent 15 years at AIG, most recently as assistant vice president for financial institutions and mergers and acquisitions.

National Coverage Corp., an insurance intermediary focused on excess and surplus, construction casualty and property insurance, named Ryan Darragh president. Darragh has been director of casualty at the company since 2017 and has more than 17 years of brokerage experience. NCC is based in Sayville, New York.

Insurance broker McGriff, a subsidiary of Truist Holdings, promoted Crystal Sanderson, senior vice president and director of McGriff’s sales center, to practice leader for national personal lines and small business, and Rachael Yelverton, who leads business development for small business and personal insurance, to chief distribution officer for small business and personal lines.

Jillian Taylor has been named chief financial officer at Louisville-based ClearPath Mutual Insurance Co. Taylor, formerly CFO at Lawyers Mutual of Kentucky, has 11 years in the industry and 16 years in accounting and finance. ClearPath Mutual is a monoline workers’ compensation carrier.

Synapse Services, a specialty wholesale insurance broker, appointed Emris Graham to lead its new dedicated energy practice, based in Birmingham, Alabama. Graham has 16 years’ experience broking complex energy-related risks.

Builders Insurance Group, an Atlanta-based provider of workers’ compensation, liability and property insurance for businesses, named Antonio Barner chief operating officer and senior vice president of strategy, and Brent Johnson vice president of reinsurance and specialty business.

AAdvantage Insurance Group in Glen Carbon, Illinois, hired Gracie Diaz as account executive. Diaz is a bilingual insurance specialist who caters to both English and Spanish speaking clients. Diaz previously worked for an insurance company based in Edwardsville, Illinois.

Alera Group named Perry Braun as managing director of business consulting. Braun, who is based in Illinois, brings more than 35 years of experience in employee benefits and healthcare.

Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based TrueNorth Companies named Transportation Division Executive Vice President Trent Tillman, as its new president. Jason Smith, current president and CEO, will remain CEO. Tillman also will continue to serve as transportation division EVP.

Boyd, Shackelford, Barnett and Dixon, an independent retail brokerage firm with offices in Plano and Dallas, Texas, named Stormie Partee commercial team lead and operations manager. Partee has 18-plus years’ experience in the industry and has served in various roles including account and operations management for regional and national agencies.

Alliant Insurance Services hired Harrison McCorkle as vice president, based in Houston. McCorkle joins Alliant with a comprehensive background in workers’ comp, product liability, general liability and various other coverages. Prior to joining Alliant, McCorkle handled property/casualty risk with a global insurance brokerage and consulting firm.

CMR Risk and Insurance Services Inc. of San Diego, California, named Travis Pearson CEO, Erik Wenstone chief operating officer, and Bill Brennan chief revenue officer. Pearson is the founding principal and current president of CMR. Wenstone joined CMR in 2007 as a principal and vice president. Brennan joined CMR in 2020 and has more than 20 years of industry experience.

Pathpoint Inc. named Melissa Chi head of product. Chi joins Pathpoint from Stord where she was director of product. Pathpoint is a self-service excess and surplus platform licensed in all 50 states, and is a coverholder at Lloyd’s of London.

Lockton Cos. named Aaron Cahoon executive vice president in its Seattle-based Washington practice. Cahoon joins Lockton from USI.

Aon plc named Jillian Slyfield chief innovation officer. Slyfield, based in San Francisco, most recently served as Aon’s digital economy practice leader.

Alliant Insurance Services named Meghan O’Malley first vice president. O’Malley will lead the Western region, providing cyber solutions. Alliant also named James Fraser senior vice president in its Denver employee benefits team.