People & Places

September 19, 2022

The Hilb Group appointed Darren Cohen to the new position of senior vice president, Carrier Relations and Insurance Strategy.

Cohen came to Hilb Group, headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, in December 2020, when Hiram Cohen & Son Inc. joined the company. He has more than 25 years of experience.

Environmental specialty MGA Magnolia Grove Insurance Services added three senior hires following its launch in early August.

Richard Edwards joins Magnolia Grove as chief underwriting officer, having previously held the role of senior underwriter, environmental, at Dual North America.

Kevin Fussell assumes the role of vice president. Fussell joins Magnolia Grove from Dual Commercial LLC where, since 2019, he held the role of senior environmental underwriter.

Joliana Hodges also joins the team as senior underwriter from Dual North America, having spent close to four years gaining experience in environmental underwriting.

Liberty Mutual Insurance appointed Kevin Smith as president of Global Risk Solutions (GRS) North America. Smith has more 30 years of experience across property, casualty and specialty insurance, most recently as president and chief operating officer of CNA’s specialty business.

WestfieldPro of Westfield Specialty, headquartered in Westfield, Ohio, named Sara Trokan as senior vice president, specialty claims. She previously served more than 17 years in financial and professional lines claims at Chubb.

Chris Blough has been named president of Synergy Comp Insurance Co., headquartered in Sharon, Pennsylvania. Blough has served as the president of a commercial finance company, the CEO of a credit union, and most recently the CEO of Mennonite Mutual Insurance Co.

Lew Kachul is stepping down as president but will continue with the organization as CEO.

Bill Stedman joined insurance broker Lockton in its Northeast region as president of people solutions in Philadelphia. In this role, Stedman will lead an employee benefits team in the Center City and Blue Bell offices.

Stedman has worked in employee benefits for 20 years. Before joining Lockton, he spent 15 years with Trion/MMA, most recently serving as national private equity practice leader.

Michael J. Andersen joined Choice Financial Group in Virginia Beach, Virginia, as president and chief operating officer. Andersen has 37 years of experience, including 20 years as a partner at William Gallagher Associates, and most recently, as president of AssuredPartners’ New Jersey-based lawyers practice and wholesale operations.

Gary Wagner joined Alliant Insurance Services as a first vice president of Alliant Power.

Wagner has been in the insurance industry for 24 years with the last 13 years as an account executive focused on the power sector. His industry experience includes traditional U.S. markets, as well as London, Bermuda and the industry-specific mutual.

He is an Accredited Adviser in Insurance (AAI) and Associate in Claims (AIC).

St. Louis, Missouri-based Powers Insurance & Risk Management hired three new team members.

Maggie Stringer, commercial account manager, has 20 years of insurance industry experience as both a claims account manager and liability claims adjuster.

Sierra Brown, commercial account processor, previously worked as a patient safety assistant at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.

Crystal Swanigan, claims advocate manager, has over 30 years of insurance industry experience.

The Kansas Association of Insurance Agents (KAIA) added Valerie Gardner as marketing manager. Previously, Gardner was the marketing operations manager at Outlook Business Solutions and corporate marketing manager at Securities America Inc. She has over 20 years of marketing experience.

H.W. Kaufman Group promoted Chris Zoidis to president and CEO of Atian Insurance Companies.

Zoidis began his career in commercial property/casualty underwriting before spending nearly a decade with Deloitte Consulting. He joined Kaufman in 2007, advancing to oversee the Burns & Wilcox special risk underwriting division and expert practice groups.

Zoidis will continue serving as a Kaufman executive vice president, guiding the company’s London strategy as well as its international businesses that span the U.K, Europe and South America.

The company also promoted Jessalynn Suda to vice president, reporting to Zoidis. She joined Kaufman 15 years ago, and has played a significant role in Atain’s growth and strong underwriting results.

Lockton, a global brokerage firm that provides insurance and employee benefits, named two new executives in its Tennessee region.

Jay Brown, with 25 years of experience, will be president in Lockton’s Nashville and Memphis offices. He will oversee culture, performance and business growth, as well as client relations.

Lockton also named Barry Boster vice president and producer in the Nashville office. For almost 30 years, Boster has worked in the healthcare arena for Cigna, Humana and Mercer.

Insurance broker McGriff named Arkansas-area executive Will Thames to lead its operations in Charlotte, North Carolina. Before joining McGriff, Thames was an executive vice president at Brown and Brown in Florida.

McGriff also hired Jason Dockery as senior vice president for its real estate and hospitality practice.

Dockery previously oversaw real estate and hospitality practice for a global insurer. He has 20 years of experience in the P/C industry.

Alliant Insurance Services named Eric Kaufman a senior vice president in its employee benefits group. He is based in Los Angeles. Prior to joining Alliant, Kaufman was a senior vice president with a national insurance brokerage and consulting firm.