People & Places

Patrick Sterling will lead RIMS, the risk management society, as president for the 2022 term. Sterling is vice president at the steakhouse restaurant chain Texas Roadhouse in Louisville, Kentucky, and is a 34-year veteran of the restaurant industry. He oversees executive and management staffing, benefits and compensation, human resource administration, risk management, asset protection and employee relations. A member of RIMS for 17 years, Sterling joined RIMS global board of directors in 2018 and has served as the secretary, treasurer and vice president.

Christopher J. Hampshire will serve as president and chair of The Institutes CPCU Society for 2022. A vice president in Gallagher Bassett’s carrier practice, he succeeds Sharon A. Koches as president and chair. Brett Clausen moves from secretary/treasurer to 2023 president-elect of the Society. He is a leadership development vice president for Farm Bureau Financial Services. Kevin Seward serves as secretary/treasurer for 2022. He is an application development manager at Farm Bureau Financial Services.

DealerPolicy, an insurance marketplace for automotive retail, appointed Tom Super head of agency solutions. Super brings 15 years of experience in strategy, general management and leadership to DealerPolicy. Most recently, Super served as head of property/casualty insurance for J.D. Power and Associates.

Cross Insurance, a subsidiary of Cross Financial Corp., promoted Mike Burton to senior vice president and general manager of Cross Benefit Solutions. He is based in Portland, Maine. An insurance industry veteran for more than 25 years, Burton most recently served as chief sales officer for Cross Insurance. Since its founding in 1954, Cross Insurance has grown through the acquisition of more than 120 insurance agencies throughout the Northeast. It now has offices in Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York and Florida.

Pouch, based in Niles, Illinois, and specializing in commercial auto insurance, appointed Mitch Jawitz as chief sales officer. Jawitz is a veteran of the insurance industry and has led teams in sales marketing, product and IT at Progressive, The Hanover and The Hartford. Pouch’s product is aimed at contractors, landscapers, florists and other small businesses that depend on a fleet of vehicles.

Alliant has added employee benefits consultant Holly Waldhoff as vice president within its Employee Benefits Group. Based in Chicago, Waldhoff will create a full range of strategic employee benefits solutions for a diverse portfolio of clients. Prior to joining Alliant, Waldhoff was a voluntary workplace benefits representative with an international insurance, employee benefits, and consulting firm. She has more than two decades of experience in the fields of marketing, business development, sales training, and benefits consulting.

OMS National Insurance Co. appointed Matthew Nielsen president and CEO, effective Jan. 1, 2022. Nielsen has worked at OMSNIC since 2015, serving as the company’s senior vice president of claims and underwriting. In 2018, he was elected to the boards of directors of OMSNIC and its subsidiary, Fortress Insurance Co. OMSNIC provides professional liability insurance coverage for oral surgeons and maxillofacial surgeons.

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance promoted Atlanta-based Angela Meyer to head of life sciences for North America. Meyer, previously head of life sciences for the Southeastern U.S., has been with Berkshire since 2014.

Doug Merriman was named president and CEO of Jacksonville, Florida-based CoventBridge Group, an investigations firm for the insurance industry. The firm’s founder, Dave Merrill, is stepping down as CEO and will serve as vice chairman of the company. Merriman will continue to work as chief operating officer, as well as CEO.

Beth Linton, vice president of Environmental Underwriting Solutions since 2006, is the new president of the wholesale insurance broker. Birmingham, Alabama-based EUS specializes in complex environmental coverage.

Alliant Insurance Services expanded its Florida team with the addition of William “Jib” Reagan as vice president over the employee benefits group, and Stephanie Grosso as assistant vice president. Reagan, based in Tampa, previously was assistant vice president with a global insurance brokerage and consulting firm. Grosso, also of Tampa, previously was a commercial lines agent with an international insurance brokerage and consulting firm.

The Villages Insurance Partners added Marie Mesadieu to its team of personal lines risk consultants in the agency’s Southern Trace office in Florida. Mesadieu began her career in the banking industry. She obtained her life/health insurance license in 2016 and her property/casualty insurance license after that.

Kenneth Cook has been named senior vice president of sales and client relations at Miami-based Global Risk Solutions. Cook has worked with State Farm and the Hartford Financial Services, and as a business consultant, and as a vice president at EagleView Technologies.

Vyrd Insurance Co., based in St. Petersburg, Florida, named industry veteran Elizabeth Bevelacqua director of sales and marketing. Bevelacqua has 15 years in the industry and previously worked with national and Florida carriers.

Jonathan Habart was named director of the Captive Insurance Section at the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance. Habart formerly served as acting director of the section, as well as an assistant director.

Southern Insurance Underwriters, a managing general agency based in Atlanta, named Whitney Griffith underwriter for garage insurance. Griffith, based in SIU’s Alpharetta, Georgia, office, has more than eight years’ experience in commercial underwriting. SIU, established in 1964, offers commercial transportation, property and casualty, workers’ compensation, inland marine and other products.

Orion180, a homeowners insurance provider based in Florida, named Ryan Jesenik chief operation officer. Jesenik joined Orion180 in 2020 as senior vice president for sales and operations, and has overseen significant growth for the company, which operates in seven Southeastern states. Orion said it employs technology to serve independent agents and enables real-time quoting, and binding.

Greenwich Transportation Underwriters named Matt Grimm president. Grimm has more than 25 years of transportation insurance management, including 10 years in private law practice. Most recently, he was president of Vanliner, serving the moving and storage industry. Greenwich is a managing general agency and program manager, specializing in commercial auto and logistics insurance. It is based in Brentwood, Tennessee.

Wright Flood hired Angie LaTour as vice president of sales and marketing. LaTour has 27 years’ experience in property/casualty insurance. She previously was sales manager at Florida Peninsula and Edison Insurance companies, and assistant vice president of operations at Fidelity National P&C, which is now part of St. Petersburg, Florida-based Wright Flood.

Houston-based Skyward Specialty Insurance Group named two Carolinians to executive positions. Tim Brewer, formerly vice president of commercial surety with Swiss Re, now holds a similar position at Skyward. Brewer is based in South Carolina. Dan Kearney will oversee the excess and surplus liability team. Kearney recently was with North Carolina-based IAT Insurance Group.

Summit Consulting, a workers’ compensation insurance manager, named Patrick Smyth chief financial officer.

Smyth has served as a financial executive with Liberty Mutual and as a managing director with PricewaterhouseCoopers. He succeeds Dave Conway, who is retiring in March.

Based in Lakeland, Florida, Summit is part of the Great American Insurance Group.

Joe McDonald, captive and risk finance product manager at IRMI, the International Risk Management Institute, returned to South Carolina as head of the captive insurance division at the Department of Insurance. McDonald had previously worked as licensing coordinator for the SCDOI captive division.

San Francisco, California-based Coalition named Jennifer Livingstone head of strategic agency management.

Livingstone has more than 25 years of leadership experience in broker management, business development, marketing, underwriting, operations and sales, and was most recently chief marketing officer at CNA Insurance. Coalition provides cyber insurance and security.

Reno, Nevada-based risk management and insurance brokerage firm, LP Insurance Services LLC, added Steve Cooper to the Truckee/Tahoe commercial insurance team. With nearly 20 years of experience in financial services and insurance, Cooper has an emphasis on commercial risk, especially construction and outdoor industries.

Lehi, Utah-based PCF Insurance Services named Colleen O’Hara vice president of marketing and communications, Charles Banyai vice president of regional operations, and Lori Marino vice president and regional growth leader. O’Hara previously was an executive vice president at Acrisure. Banyai, also formerly with Acrisure, has more than 14 years of experience in insurance. Marino has more than 25 years of experience in the insurance and financial space.

Allied American Underwriters, a division of USG Insurance Services Inc., named Susan Altrock program manager in Scottsdale, Arizona. Altrock has more than 25 years of industry experience, most recently with National Program Administrators. AAU is a program manager that offers programs for commercial lines to USG retail agents and other distribution channels.

WTW named Jennifer Knox corporate risk and broking leader for the Southern California market. Knox will oversee the Los Angeles, Irvine and San Diego corporate risk and broking teams. Knox has nearly 30 years of commercial property/casualty experience. WTW provides services in the areas of people, risk and capital.

Colorado-based workers’ compensation insurance provider, Pinnacol Assurance, named Jennifer Neppel chief investment officer. Neppel will succeed David Bomberger, who will retire on March 1 after nine years with Pinnacol. Neppel has a background in investment management, mostly for large healthcare organizations.

Alliant Insurance Services named Collin Krickl vice president in Phoenix, Arizona. Krickl will serve a broad base of clients across the Southwest region. Alliant is a distributor of diversified insurance products and services.