People & Places
Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) announced Sanjay Godhwani has been named president, North America region, and David Bresnahan is taking on the role of global chief operating officer.
Godhwani is responsible for all North America region underwriting and underwriting support groups, customer and broker engagement, and BHSI’s global catastrophe engineering and analytics group.
He has more than 25 years of industry experience and is a fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society.
Godhwani continues to be based in Boston.
Bresnahan has more than three decades of insurance industry experience.
In his new role he oversees real estate and administration, finance, audit, information technology and operations throughout BHSI’s global platform. He continues to be based in Boston.
BHSI provides commercial property/casualty, healthcare professional liability, executive and professional lines, transactional liability, surety, marine, travel, programs, accident and health, medical stop loss, homeowners, and multinational insurance.
The Big “I” reported that Madelyn Flannagan, vice president of agent development, education and research, retired on March 31.
Flannagan dedicated her 26-year career to providing data and research to the insurance industry and independent agents, leading education and advocacy programs, and serving the independent agency channel in general.
During her tenure, Flannagan led the association’s advocacy programs for education, Best Practices, technology, diversity and inclusion, talent recruitment, development and young agents, as well as the Trusted Choice Disaster Relief Fund and the Trusted Choice COVID-19 Relief Fund.
Her research of ongoing industry trends included the biennial Agency Universe Study, a comprehensive picture of the independent agency system, as well as the annual Market Share Report and other studies with various carrier partners.
Flannagan was an independent insurance agent for 15 years before joining the Big “I” in 1995.
Aon named Mike Merlo as claims leader for U.S. and Bermuda. In his new role, Merlo will work with the firm’s claims leaders across all product lines. He also will be a primary contact for chief claims officers at insurers in the U.S. and Bermuda to support clients on difficult claims.
Merlo has worked at Aon for 18 years. He most recently was part of the firm’s U.S. national casualty coverage advocacy and claims resolution practice, working with clients on complex claims.
He will report to both Neil Harrison, Aon’s global chief claims officer, and Joe Peiser, head of commercial risk, North America.
POWERS Insurance & Risk Management hired Kelly McDowell as a producer and Kaylee Rucker as an administrative assistant.
McDowell will handle new and existing accounts, as well as provide excellent customer service and communication with her clients.
She has more than 10 years of insurance industry experience. Prior to joining the company, McDowell served as a licensed sales professional for local insurance agencies.
Rucker will provide administrative and clerical support for the insurance agency. She previously worked at various customer support-related businesses.
Based in St. Louis, Missouri, POWERS Insurance & Risk Management provides personal and business insurance, surety, and risk management.
SECURA Insurance named Sarah Krause as vice president – human resources.
Krause returns to SECURA from Integrity Insurance Co., where most recently she served as assistant vice president enterprise transformation operations, leading the selection and execution of new strategic partnerships to co-create solutions that would accelerate business transformation. Prior to this, Krause was assistant vice president, talent management and operations, with responsibility for all functions of human resources, facilities and support services.
SECURA, headquartered in Neenah, Wisconsin, is a regional group of property/casualty insurance companies operating in 13 states.
Root Inc. hired Rob Bateman as its new chief financial officer, effective April 11.
Bateman joins Columbus, Ohio-based Root as CFO with over two decades of broad strategic, financial and operational experience across the insurance industry, most recently as president and CFO of Ategrity Specialty Insurance Co. He has built and led multiple teams that have successfully driven profitability and forward momentum in the auto insurance space.
Prior to Ategrity, Bateman served as CFO of Infinity Property & Casualty Corp. His experience also includes roles as CFO at COUNTRY Financial, multiple progressive leadership roles at The Hartford, and a senior manager role at KPMG.
In September 2021, Root announced that previous CFO Dan Rosenthal would be taking on the role of chief revenue and operating officer. He has served in both roles as the national search for the new CFO was conducted.
USG Insurance Services Inc. hired Greg Howard as producer/broker, commercial lines, in the Houston branch.
Howard brings 30 years of industry experience to the USG team, most recently from Burns & Wilcox.
As producer/broker at USG, Howard will expand his industry relationships and book of business, and assist in developing USG’s southern footprint.
USG is a national wholesale broker and managing general agent with 20-plus offices across the country.
Watkins Insurance Group added eight staff members to address growing demand for the Austin, Texas-based company’s insurance services and risk management solutions.
Among the new hires are five property/casualty agents: Reed Carlton, Reid Reynolds, Tye Hardin, Travis Kelley and Will Peckham.
Additionally, Watkins expanded its group benefits department by hiring two senior benefits consultants: Joe Morales and Jeff Kloc.
Watkins also announced it hired Moises Guedes as the agency’s new claims manager.
Universal Insurance Holdings, parent company of Florida’s largest private insurance carrier, announced the appointment of three people to key positions.
Arash Soleimani, who was formerly executive vice president and director of investor relations at Heritage Insurance Holdings, was named chief strategy officer at Universal.
Rob Luther, Universal’s vice president of corporate development and investor relations, has been elevated to chief investment officer.
Gary Ropiecki, the senior vice president and controller at Universal, has been made principal accounting officer.
Lockton, a national provider of insurance, benefits and financial services, named Nick Evancho vice president and senior account executive in the firm’s Southeast aviation practice, based in Atlanta.
Evancho joins Chris Latta in Atlanta and Carl Shephard in London, who were appointed to the aviation group earlier this year.
Evancho, a licensed pilot, began his career in 2006 at AIG.
Latta was named vice president and account executive.
He joins Lockton from Starr Aviation, where he recently was assistant vice president, Northeast U.S. He has more than a decade of experience in aviation underwriting.
Crawford & Co., one of the world’s largest publicly traded providers of claims management and outsourcing for brokers, carriers and corporations, named Andrew Bart CEO of international operations.
The move comes after a restructuring at Atlanta-based Crawford, the company said.
Bart has been with Crawford for 18 years, recently as CEO in Australia and the Pacific region. Prior to moving into management, he worked as an adjuster on large and complex claims for property, mining, business interruption, product liability and product tamper claims.
He will now focus on international growth for the company.
McGriff, a Charlotte, North Carolina-based insurance broker and a subsidiary of Truist Holdings, announced new appointments and new roles for managers at the company.
Kyle Samuel, who previously was president of M&T Insurance Agency in Buffalo, New York, has been named chief operation officer at McGriff.
Before M&T, Samuel was a managing director for USI Insurance Services and its predecessor, Wells Fargo Insurance Services, and was with Aon Risk Solutions for 17 years.
Rocco Orlando was named carrier relations executive, with responsibility for coordinating McGriff’s P/C carrier contracts.
Mike Breedlove has been appointed national director, middle market, and will work closely with the business’ specialty and industry practice leaders to provide middle market clients with access to subject matter specialists when needed.
Patrick Maguire is assuming the role of national director, specialty practices, in addition to continuing to lead McGriff’s energy practice.
Carolyn Littlefield has been named director, strategic projects, with responsibility for overseeing large corporate projects.
Robert Plummer has rejoined McGriff’s national construction practice, based in Birming-ham.
Plummer previously spent 19 years with the company in construction risk management and property insurance.
The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Industry named Daniel Clements as assistant director of the Captive Insurance Section.
Clements is a licensed, certified public accountant and has done risk examinations in the public and private sector.
Clements recently served as director for regulatory, audit, and internal controls for AIG/FortitudeRE, where he led regulatory efforts for a third-party administrator that oversaw 4.5 million insurance policies. He also worked as financial audit lead analyst for Cigna Health.
Tennessee is ranked as the sixth-largest captive domicile in the United States, with 149 captive insurance companies and 352 protected cells, with an annual gross written premium exceeding $1.7 billion, the department said.
Franklin Street, a commercial real estate and insurance services firm, named Robert Allen president of its insurance division, based in Tampa, Florida.
Allen will oversee a national team that provides commercial insurance offerings, including program design, market placement, portfolio administration, lender compliance, risk management and claims advocacy.
Allen began his career as an insurance broker in South Florida in 1988, with a company that would eventually become Marsh, one of the world’s largest insurance brokerage and risk management firms.
He also spent 25 years with Willis, including years as managing partner of its Tampa office. In 2015, he was named president of Willis Towers Watson’s Atlanta division.
In 2019, Allen joined USI, where he was a practice leader in the company’s property/casualty division.
Woodruff Sawyer named John Neuhalfen director of operations in commercial lines.
He previously spent 15 years at Chubb, where he was most recently a regional vice president.
Neuhalfen is based in Woodruff Sawyer’s San Francisco office.
Woodruff Sawyer also named Lenin Lopez vice president, corporate securities attorney, for its management liability practice.
Lopez is based in San Diego, California.
Lopez previously served as lead U.S. corporate counsel at Takeda, where he was in charge of SEC and NYSE compliance, as well as governance functions.
He also served in similar senior counsel roles at Sempra Energy, Shire, Baxalta and CareFusion.
Woodruff Sawyer is based in San Francisco and has offices throughout the United States.
Sharon Thaler, national director of workers’ compensation field underwriting operations at AF Group/CompWest, has been elected to chair the California Workers’ Compensation Institute board of directors for 2022.
Thaler was elected at CWCI’s 58th annual meeting in Walnut Creek.
She was first elected to CWCI’s board as a representative of AIG in 2017 and has been a member of the institute’s executive committee since 2020, serving as vice-chair for the past year.
Others serving on CWCI’s 2022 executive committee will be Eric Belk of Travelers; Martin Brady of Schools Insurance Authority, an associate member; Eric Hansen, Preferred Employers Insurance; Kris Mathis, CopperPoint Insurance Cos.; Vernon Steiner, State Compensation Insurance Fund; and Matthew Zender, AmTrust North America, who chaired the Institute’s Board for the past two years.
Also elected to serve on CWCI’s 2022 board were Ira Feurlicht, AIG; Mary Beth Pittinger, Chubb; Christopher M. Thurman, CNA; Dwight Robertson, Employers; Robert L. Hughes, The Hartford; Amanda Granger, ICW Group; Carolyn Turpin, Liberty Mutual Insurance; Jim Hurley, Republic Indemnity; Carmen Sharp, The Hanover Insurance Group; Christine Closser, WCF Insurance; Michael Cunningham, Zenith Insurance Co.; Neil DeBlock, Zurich North America; and Peggy Sugarman, with the City and County of San Francisco, an associate member.
The California Workers’ Compensation Institute is a private, nonprofit association whose members include 23 insurer groups, along with 30 large public and private self-insured employers in the state.
Alliant Insurance Services named Kerstin VanZanten vice president within its employee benefits group.
She is based in Orange County, California.
VanZanten’s background includes experience in benefits communication and enrollment, and leadership roles with various large insurance carriers.
VanZanten previously was with EOI Service Co., and was with Transamerica Employee Benefits before that.
Newport Beach, California-based Alliant Insurance Services is a distributor of diversified insurance products and services.
Burns & Wilcox added several new associates specializing in architects and engineers insurance, and management liability to its professional liability practice group.
Maria Small joins as a professional liability broker and is based in San Francisco.
Small has 15 years of industry experience. She most recently worked at Sequoia Consulting Group.
The others joining Burns & Wilcox are Tameka Livatino and Erin Pritchett.
Livatino joins as underwriting director of architects and engineers, and is based in Chicago.
Pritchett joins as a professional liability broker and is based in the company’s Detroit/Farmington Hills corporate headquarters in Michigan.
Burns & Wilcox is a member of the H.W. Kaufman Group, which operates in over 60 offices.