People & Places

Liberty Mutual Insurance Global Risk Solutions (GRS) President Neeti Bhalla Johnson announced two newly-created global executive leadership positions and appointments: Matthew Moore as president of Underwriting and Susanne Figueredo Cook as chief operating officer.

Also, Phil Hobbs has been appointed president of Liberty Specialty Markets (LSM), succeeding Moore.

All positions will report to Bhalla Johnson.

Moore, who will continue to be based in London, previously served as president of LSM — GRS’ global specialty operation — and has 25 years of experience in the industry, working for Liberty Mutual for the past two decades.

Figueredo Cook joins Liberty Mutual from Travelers Insurance, where she worked for more than 20 years in various leadership positions, including underwriting, claims and global operations.

Hobbs has 20 years of experience in the industry and has served LSM for more than 15 years in a range of leadership roles. His previous position was deputy managing director, where he was responsible for underwriting strategy, and prior to this he was chief actuary for over a decade.

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) has promoted Kathy Reid to head of Casualty, North America.

Reid has 25 years of insurance industry experience. She has been senior vice president at BHSI since 2013. Prior to that, she was with AIG for 16 years.

She will continue to be based in Chicago.

Rhode Island-based Starkweather & Shepley Insurance Brokerage (S&S) reports that Nathan Oberg has joined its commercial division and will focus on the marine industry.

Oberg comes to S&S with experience in the marine trades. As a licensed captain, he operated and managed charter and private vessels throughout the Atlantic, ranging from Maine to the Caribbean. Off the water, he has worked in all areas of a shipyard, from hands-on work to many years as a service and project manager.

UFG Surety expanded its presence in the Mid-Atlantic by adding surety veteran Benton Kyner to the team. As surety branch manager, Kyner will oversee the buildout of a new surety branch office in Virginia.

Kyner has more than 33 years of surety experience in Virginia and surrounding states. His career includes management and leadership roles with Travelers for 13 years, and before that with BB&T and Zurich North America.

United Fire Group is a licensed property/casualty insurer in 50 states, plus the District of Columbia.

Vantage Group Holdings Ltd. hired Andrew Lea as senior vice president of cyber liability, technology E&O, media and management professional liability insurance.

Lea brings underwriting experience from senior-level underwriting roles with commercial insurance carriers including Zurich Insurance, Swiss Re and AIG, as well as some prior broking experience at Marsh. Most recently, he was head of commercial E&O, cyber & media Liability underwriting at CNA Insurance in Chicago.

Vantage offers an array of specialty re/insurance products covering global risks, including niche property/casualty classes.

MJ Insurance hired Chazney Gates as IT project manager. This is a new role for the company.

As IT project manager, Gates will be responsible for managing all aspects of MJ’s technical project portfolio and oversee successful project completion to ensure exceptional client and employee experience.

Gates comes to MJ Insurance from IU Health, where she served as associate project manager and provided support to ensure technology requirements were met for the new IU Health Bloomington replacement hospital.

Texas Mutual Insurance Company named James (Jim) Ziolkowski, of Lakeway, Texas, as regional vice president for its Austin office. In this role, Ziolkowski, who has worked at Texas Mutual for seven years, will oversee regional operations for Austin and the surrounding areas.

With 30 years in the industry, Ziolkowski holds valuable experience in recruiting, training, developing and mentoring future organizational leaders. He was most recently a senior manager for regional underwriting at Texas Mutual.

Roach Howard Smith & Barton (RHSB) added Adam Smith and Hudson Yoder as assistant vice presidents. They are part of its Fort Worth office’s growing commercial Property & Casualty sales practice.

Smith and Yoder, in their role as assistant vice president, will focus on commercial P/C insurance solutions for middle-market businesses.

Smith’s background is in healthcare consulting (transaction advisory, M&A analytics, and managed care negotiations.) Yoder has over six years of experience in marketing and sales with life insurance and long-term care solutions.

SBMP Insurance Group hired Jim Brzozowski to serve as executive director.

Brzozowski comes to SBMP with 16 years’ experience in the P&C industry. During that time, he has worked in various roles in business development, underwriting and product management.

Founded in 1989, SBMP Insurance Group represents 21 individually owned agencies with 37 locations throughout the state of Texas.

Alera Group promoted Bill Brown to managing director in the South Central region overseeing growth and operations in Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas.

Bringing 20 years of industry expertise, Brown most recently served as a managing partner within Alera Group.

Specialty Comp Insurance Solutions (SCIS), a division of Specialty Program Group, LLC (SPG), promoted Steve Math to president and CEO of SCIS, reporting to Chris Treanor, president of SPG.

Math takes the leadership helm from Jay Chase, who will be joining the SPG leadership team as executive vice president and consultant assisting SPG in its strategic growth planning.

Math joined SCIS in 2019 as executive vice president and chief underwriting officer. Prior to SCIS, he served as senior vice president of underwriting and field operations with Texas Mutual Insurance Company.

SCIS is a national workers’ compensation facility specializing in underwriting for middle market, hard to place, high hazard risks. SCIS is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) General Manager John Polak will retire at the end of 2022 after 11 years of leading the wind and hail insurer of last resort for the Texas coast. The board of directors will immediately begin a candidate search to find a well-qualified and capable leader to fill this role.

Before coming to TWIA in 2011, Polak held the positions of CEO, COO, CIO and CUO in insurance companies ranging from large national and international carriers to midsized regional carriers.

During a career spanning five decades, he oversaw the development and growth of profitable specialty books of business in both personal and commercial lines. He has overseen catastrophe loss responses in Florida, Louisiana, Texas, and other parts of the country.

Oakbridge Insurance Agency in Atlanta has named Scott Kiser as senior vice president and private client group practice leader.

Kiser, with 28 years in the property/casualty insurance business, was previously head of regional sales for Donegal Insurance Group.

Oakbridge was formed in 2020 through the merger of four insurance and risk management firms, and is now one of the largest privately owned agencies in the region. It has experience in agriculture, bonds and sureties, construction, transportation and other lines.

EPIC Insurance Brokers and Consultants, a property and casualty insurance brokerage, announced that James Kennedy has joined the firm as a principal with Vanbridge, its financial services division.

Kennedy will work in the private equity space. He has a background in private equity and mergers and acquisitions, including due diligence, transactional services, advisory, and placement.

Kennedy will be based in Birmingham, Alabama, and New York City, but will work with all of EPIC’s national teams in the financial services space.

A Florida insurance regulator has moved into the private insurance sector. Branch Insurance Exchange, based in Columbus, Ohio, announced that Grant Phillips has been named its associate manager of regulatory affairs.

Phillips was previously the deputy director of government affairs for the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, according to the Florida Politics news site and Phillips’ Linkedin page.

Branch was launched in 2019 by insurance veteran Steve Lekas and tech entrepreneur Joe Emison. It offers home and auto insurance.

The North Carolina Department of Insurance bestowed high honors on Richard Taylor, who has owned and operated an insurance agency in the state for more than 70 years.

Taylor bought the insurance agency in Lumberton, North Carolina, in the 1950s. At age 94, he doesn’t come into the office as often as he once did, according to a local news report.

In October, Taylor sold the agency to Janis Rozier, but he still maintains an office decorated with years of photographs and awards.

State Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey said Taylor was well deserving of the department’s Order of the Guardian Award.

Highwing named Jim McKenney CEO, and added an advisory board of experienced professionals to support its expansion.

McKenney will lead the company’s team of insurtech professionals. President and Co-founder Erik Mitisek will remain with the firm, leading new business development, marketing and sales.

McKenney previously led a team in product and underwriting as senior vice president for Liberty Mutual.

The new advisory board will be chaired by Patrick Kinney, a retired executive vice president for Travelers. The board includes Piyush Singh, founder and CEO of Terrene Labs, and Jim Klotz, former vice president and research council fellow for Aite-Novarica Group.

Highwing in Denver, Colorado, provides open-

data-powered solutions to help brokers and carriers with transactions and communication.

Gorst & Compass Insurance named Nelson Oliva a senior underwriter for personal lines.

Oliva is based in Los Angeles, California.

Oliva has more than 20 years of personal insurance experience. He began his insurance career with Gorst & Compass.

Gorst & Compass is an independently owned wholesale insurance firm headquartered in Los Angeles.