People & Places

August 1, 2022

Specialty insurance broker CAC Specialty added four professionals to its senior living practice — David Thurber as senior vice president, Shannon Holt as senior vice president of workers’ compensation, Mark Holt as senior vice president of risk management, and Yvonne Wiltse as senior account executive.

Thurber joins CAC with a background in senior living professional liability and employment liability claims.

Shannon Holt brings decades of experience in workers’ compensation program design, pricing structure, and claims oversight management.

Mark Holt will serve as senior vice president of risk management. In addition to risk management, he will be assisting with large property losses and coverage advocacy.

Wiltse will add expertise in the complex day-to-day service needs of senior living clients.

Omaha National Group Inc. appointed Bryan Connolly chief operating officer.

Connolly, who co-founded Omaha National in 2016, previously served as chief financial officer.

Connolly has spent over two decades in the insurance industry. He began his career with Mutual of Omaha and later moved to a Berkshire Hathaway insurer where he spent more than a decade, building data analysis and internal audit programs and ultimately leading their insurance and investment accounting teams.

Chris Leisz joined the E&S/Specialty Alternative Ventures leadership team at Nationwide. He will lead the Alternative Ventures Organization, reporting to John Lopes, senior vice president, Programs, Alternative Ventures and Innovation.

In this role, Leisz will be responsible for ensuring the successful growth of existing ventures and reviewing new opportunities.

Leisz joins Nationwide from Risk Placement Services where he served as president of RPS Signature Programs Division, leading all operational activities including strategic planning, business, and corporate development, P&L, M&A, and market relationships since early 2018.

QBE Re made several promotions and appointments in its New York office.

Salvatore Sama has been appointed head of U.S. Financial & Professional lines and Casualty Treaty. He joined QBE Re in April 2021 as senior vice president – head of U.S. Financial and Professional lines from Swiss Re. The Fin Pro and Casualty sub classes have been merged under Sama’s leadership to further unify the product offering.

Jane Farren was promoted to the role of vice president, U.S. Financial & Professional Lines having previously held the role of lead Financial & Professional lines treaty underwriter.

Tim Barber was named general manager for North America on a permanent basis, having assumed the role on an interim basis in April. Prior to this, he was head of Casualty treaty London since 2011. Barber will also perform the role of global head of Casualty Treaty.

New Jersey-based specialty property/casualty insurer Coaction Global named Ellen Edmonds as chief actuarial officer. She joins Coaction with more than 30 years of experience across reserving, pricing, and financial reporting.

Most recently, Edmonds served as senior vice president and chief reserving actuary at Everest RE, following a career with roles of increasing responsibility at Everest, Crum & Forster, and Reliance Insurance Co.

Ryan Specialty Holdings Inc. named Bradley Bodell chief information officer.

In this role, Bodell will lead Ryan Specialty’s technology and security teams and be responsible for developing the vision, strategy and technology capabilities needed to enable and support revenue growth, drive operational excellence and mitigate risks across the enterprise.

Based in Chicago, Ryan Specialty is a service provider of specialty products and solutions for insurance brokers, agents, and carriers.

Core Specialty Insurance Holdings Inc. expanded its excess and surplus (E&S) primary product liability line with the addition of three underwriters: Guy Harris – AVP underwriter;, Jason Rockel – lead underwriter; and Matt Madar – senior underwriter.

Harris, Rockel and Madar were most recently with AmTrust E&S Insurance Services. Prior to joining AmTrust they were with Great American Insurance in Risk Solutions.

Core Specialty’s product liability line is based in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based United Fire Group Insurance announced several recent promotions.

UFG promoted: Tim Borst to assistant vice president, corporate development; Allison Slager to assistant vice president, vendor management department; Leah Olson to assistant vice president, underwriting; Tyler Probasco to assistant vice president, underwriting; and Bradley Hance to assistant vice president, surety division.

Additionally, Eric Martin was appointed as a senior vice president within corporate finance.

DOXA Insurance Holdings appointed Michael Robbins to lead the company’s sales force in Texas as regional sales director, headquartered in Dallas.

Robbins, a 14-year veteran of the insurance industry, brings a wealth of specialty commercial lines program insurance knowledge to the table. He most recently served as the business relationship manager for Mountain States Insurance Group.

Experienced in niche program sales and retail distribution management, Robbins has worked with companies such as Midlands Management Corp., Distinguished Programs, Safeco Insurance and others.

McGriff, a full-service retail insurance broker, hired Chris Fulbright as a senior vice president and producer in its employee benefits department in Houston. The industry veteran has more than 20 years of benefits and human resource consulting experience.

For the past 15 years, Fulbright has served in employee benefits leadership roles overseeing business development, service, and strategic consulting for the energy, hospitality, and health care industries.

SterlingRisk Aviation, based in Destin, Florida, hired Kris Larkin as vice president and senior account executive.

Larkin, who has almost two decades in the aviation insurance business, was previously client service supervisor for Arthur J. Gallagher’s aviation practice. She held previous positions with State Farm Insurance and Aviation Services of Illinois.

Larkin will oversee accounts and account personnel, facilitate audits and inspections to mitigate client risks, and will coordinate with underwriters and claims representatives.

SterlingRisk Aviation, a division of New York-based Sterling Risk, is an independent insurance brokerage for regional, national and international clients, the company said in a news release. It was founded in 1932.

Jackie Obusek has been named chief deputy insurance commissioner at the North Carolina Department of Insurance.

Obusek succeeds Michelle Osborne, who is leaving to become a professor at Campbell University.

Obusek is a 20-year veteran at the department.

In 2017, she was named senior deputy commissioner, overseeing financial analysis, licensing, examinations, and liquidations.

In 2022, she became part of the senior regulatory team overseeing captive insurance companies.

The Independent Insurance Association of Georgia installed Michael Iverson as president of the organization.

Iverson is CEO of the M.D.

Iverson Group, an insurance agency in Fairburn, Georgia.

He previously served as chairman of IIAG, vice president, and in other positions.

Iverson is past chair of the Mid-America Technical Conference, which works with the Insurance Services Office, the National Council on Compensation Insurance and ACORD, the insurance standards organization.

He also has spoken on risk management in Georgia university settings.

Also serving on IIAG’s Executive Committee through June 2023 are President-Elect Wendi Hamby Washowich, of Hamby & Aloisio; Vice-President Jimbo Floyd, of Turner, Wood, and Smith Insurance; Secretary-Treasurer Jarrett Bridges of Turner and Associates; Immediate Past President Ashley Hines Ellis of BBWH Insurers; and Andy Siegel of Siegel Insurance, who was elected as Georgia’s national director for the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America.

Donald Matz Jr., the longtime president of Tower Hill Insurance Group in Florida, will soon take over as president and CEO of Producer’s National Corp., an insurance holding company.

During his 26-year tenure at Gainesville-based Tower Hill, Matz was credited with leading the introduction of the company’s private flood insurance program, its marketing partnership with Safeco Insurance and the launch of the Tower Hill Insurance Exchange in 2021.

Matz will take the helm at Producer’s National on Aug. 15.

Producer’s National, a partner with Resolute Global Partners investment firm, is based in Niles, Illinois. It is moving to expand its member companies and its non-standard auto line, while developing niche lines, the company said.

Producer’s National also includes Unique Insurance and Stonegate Insurance.

After two decades at the North Carolina Department of Insurance, Leane Rafalko has joined Hylant Global Captive Solutions.

Rafalko had been the DOI’s chief captive analyst since 2014 and was insurance company examiner manager for three years before that.

She will now be a captive consultant for Hylant, which has seen significant growth in its captive service business.

The company was founded in Toledo, Ohio, in 1935 and has offices around the country.

IMA Select in Colorado named Sandy Harvath president.

Harvath has been with IMA Financial Group since 2003, most recently serving as the president of its Colorado market. She began her career at IMA as construction account manager and progressed to construction account executive, executive vice president of commercial lines and in 2016, was promoted to Colorado market president.

IMA Select is an entity of IMA Financial Group Inc., an independent integrated financial services company offering insurance brokerage and wealth management services.

IMA Select is an insurance advisor for small businesses and individuals.

Insurance Office of America added Scott Armstrong to its employee benefits services division in the Western U.S.

Armstrong has nearly 30 years of experience in the insurance industry.

He was previously an employee benefits consultant at HUB International/Der Manouel Insurance Group.

Insurance Office of America is a privately held insurance brokerage headquartered in Longwood, Florida.