People & Places

June 20, 2022

David H. Long, Liberty Mutual Insurance CEO since 2011, will retire at the end of the year.

Timothy M. Sweeney, currently Liberty Mutual’s president, has been appointed CEO effective January 2023. Sweeney has been with the insurer nearly 30 years and will be the 10th CEO in its 110-year history, Liberty Mutual said.

Long, who will serve as executive chairman on the company’s board of directors, has been with Liberty Mutual for 37 years. He was appointed president in 2010, CEO in 2011, and chairman in 2013. Long is credited with growing Liberty Mutual into the sixth-largest global P/C insurer.

Since his appointment as president about a year ago, Sweeney has had oversight of the organization’s three business units — Global Risk Solutions, Global Retail Markets (GRM) and Liberty Mutual Investments.

He previously served in a variety of senior leadership positions, including president of GRM — the company’s global personal and small commercial insurance division.

Home insurer Hippo appointed Richard McCathron as chief executive officer.

McCathron has served on Hippo’s board of directors and as the company’s president since February 2017.

MAPFRE USA, a personal and commercial auto writer and home insurer in Massachusetts, said Jesse Zimmerman has joined its leadership team as vice president of commercial lines.

Zimmerman will oversee the company’s commercial underwriting and product strategy in Massachusetts to further grow the company’s commercial auto and commercial property business.

Zimmerman has 20 years’ experience in the property/casualty insurance industry, including most recently 13 years with Travelers in its small commercial lines division.

Previously, he served in small commercial and personal lines at Hartford Financial Services Group and Allstate.

Vermont Gov. Phil Scott appointed Sandy Bigglestone as deputy commissioner of the captive insurance division at the Department of Financial Regulation (DFR). She will begin her new job at the end of the summer, assuming the role from David Provost, current deputy commissioner, who is retiring.

Provost joined Vermont’s insurance department in 2001 and was appointed to the role of deputy commissioner of the captive insurance division in 2008 by then Gov. James Douglas.

Provost is the third to serve in the role in Vermont’s 40-year history of regulalting captives.

Bigglestone started as an entry-level examiner in the captive division in 1997, was promoted to director of examinations in 2008, and then named director of captive insurance in 2010.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy appointed Maria Del Valle Koch director and chief judge of the workers’ compensation division within the New Jersey Department of Labor & Workforce Development.

This appointment comes after the previous director, Russell Wojtenko, Jr., was confirmed by the Senate as a Superior Court judge.

The division helps settle disputes and operates special compensation funds. The division is also involved in identifying non-compliant employers of workers’ compensation laws, as well as levying and collecting penalties and restitution once such employers are identified.

Powers Insurance & Risk Management and sister company Valley Insurance Agency Alliance (VIAA) recently promoted Tim Davis to chief operating officer (COO).

Davis previously served as director of operations at both companies. As COO, he will supervise the overall business operations strategies and daily operations for both Powers Insurance & Risk Management and VIAA.

Responsibilities include creating IT solutions and overseeing hiring and training, as well as developing and administering the company’s policies and procedures.

Powers Insurance & Risk Management is one of the largest family owned and operated independent insurance agencies in the bi-state region.

VIAA is a cohesive family of nearly 150 independent insurance agencies in Missouri and Illinois.

Alera Group named John Mollica as chief information and innovation officer (CIIO), effective June 6, 2022.

In this role, Mollica will be responsible for leading the vision, strategy and operations of Alera Group’s technology teams. He will partner with Alera Group’s senior business leaders to evaluate and implement technology solutions that continue to drive innovation and operational excellence.

Prior to this role, Mollica served as Alera Group’s vice president of business intelligence and transformation.

Before joining Alera Group, he held senior management and product roles in insurtech. He has also previously held senior finance and transformation roles at Citigroup, AXA XL, and Marsh & McLennan.

Holmes Murphy added Ryan Anderson as the property/casualty specialty practice leader in the company’s expanding Minneapolis market.

Anderson joins the Holmes Murphy team with nearly 20 years of industry experience. His knowledge, expertise, and industry relationships will be key assets to Holmes Murphy, not only in Minneapolis but across the enterprise, the company said.

Prior to joining Holmes Murphy, Anderson was a senior vice president at Hays Companies, now Brown & Brown, for nearly 14 years. Anderson also spent time as a senior executive risk underwriter at Travelers.

Hylant hired Carman Baines as client executive. Based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Baines will play a critical role in driving new business for the family owned, full-service insurance brokerage, and delivering outstanding service to existing client partners.

With more than 20 years of experience in the insurance industry, she will serve within the sales arm of the company — a key area accelerating new and organic growth for Hylant’s services.

A Florida insurance executive will soon join the board of governors for Citizens Property Insurance Corp.

Charlie Lydecker was formerly president of the retail division of Brown & Brown Insurance, and is now CEO of Foundation Risk Partners.

He was named to the Citizens board in late May by Florida’s chief financial officer, Jimmy Patronis.

Lydecker replaces Marc Dunbar, a Tallahassee attorney and gaming lobbyist whose term ends Aug. 1.

Lydecker left Daytona-based Brown & Brown in 2017 and launched Foundation Risk Partners, which became one of the largest commercial insurance brokers in the country, according to news reports.

His appointment should help quell concerns that Citizens’ board members have not had enough experience in the insurance business.

Seaglass Insurance Group, a managing general agent domiciled in Florida, appointed Esther Murray as risk management consultant.

Murray was previously safety management consultant for the MEMIC, Maine Employers’ Mutual Insurance Co., a workers’ compensation insurer based in Maine.

The move will help Seaglass specialize in providing workers’ compensation coverage for the healthcare sector, Seaglass CEO Tod Austin said in a statement.

The Liberty Company Insurance Brokers, based in Gainesville, Florida, named Kevin Honaker senior vice president and producer.

Honaker is based in California, where Liberty has expanded in recent years.

He has more than 25 years in sales and producing, and was previously vice president with Brown & Brown Insurance. He also served as senior vice president at Hogan Insurance Services.

Liberty said it is one of the fastest-growing privately held brokerages in the United States.

Hub International, a global insurance broker, named Mark Bowron senior vice president and chief marketing officer for the Carolinas.

Bowron, a licensed property/casualty advisor, was previously the director of carrier relations for PCF Insurance Services and was chief brokerage officer at Gallagher. He is based in Charlotte.

Headquartered in Chicago, Hub International provides risk management, insurance, benefits and wealth management services.

The North Carolina Industrial Commission will see three new faces at deputy commissioner positions, and one full commissioner was reappointed.

Gov. Roy Cooper named Myra Griffin to a second, six-year term as commissioner, which begins July 1. Her appointment is subject to confirmation by the state General Assembly. The governor named Griffin vice-chair of the commission in 2019.

Commissioners are the first step in the appeals process in workers’ compensation claims disputes, after deputy commissioner issue decisions.

Patrick Wooten, a deputy state attorney general for workers’ compensation matters since 2003, was named deputy commissioner. Wooten has litigated hundreds of complex workers’ compensation cases before the Industrial Commission on behalf of state agencies and institutions.

Michelle Denning, who has worked at the Industrial Commission and at the attorney general’s office, was also named deputy commissioner.

She represented the Industrial Commission in noninsured cases and in penalty enforcement matters and later represented the N.C. Department of Public Safety in workers’ compensation litigation.

Anne Harris, a long-time claimants attorney, also was recently named deputy commissioner. While practicing law, Harris was a North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission certified mediator.

The Commission also named Amber May as general counsel. She recently returned to the Industrial Commission after eight years as Rules Review Commission counsel at the North Carolina Office of Administrative Hearings.

UFG Surety named Brian Daniels a regional manager overseeing expansion of its surety bonding business into the Northwestern U.S.

Daniels is located in Seattle, Washington.

UFG Surety is the surety division of UFG Insurance.

Risk Placement Services named Jeffrey Marks transportation program manager based in Taos, New Mexico.

Marks will lead the development of programs that will fill the void in current market offerings and provide services to RPS’ transportation clients.

Marks was previously assistant vice president of commercial underwriting at Striker Insurance Services. He also previously worked for American Family Insurance, Canal Insurance and Hallmark Financial in commercial lines roles.

RPS is an excess and surplus wholesale broker and managing general agency.