People & Places
Charles Symington has been appointed to the role of executive vice president at the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (the Big I).
Symington joined the Big I in 2004 on the government affairs staff. Since 2016, he has served as senior vice president for external, industry and government affairs. He was named the successor to current president and CEO Bob Rusbuldt, who will retire on Aug. 31, 2023.
The Big I said Symington’s new title is an interim role as he prepares to take over as the top executive on Sept. 1, 2023.
Markel Corporation appointed Sarah Maxwell managing director, commercial excess wholesale, for the Markel Specialty division.
Maxwell joined Markel in 2009 and most recently served as senior director, commercial excess casualty wholesale for Markel Specialty. She has nearly 20 years of experience in the insurance industry and has held various leadership roles within the commercial excess casualty wholesale product line.
Maxwell is based in Markel’s Glen Allen, Virginia, office.
Compre appointed claims veteran Bill Bouvier as claims director, North America.
Bouvier will be based in Compre’s Connecticut office and will lead the North American claims team in managing Compre’s portfolio, including technical oversight of third-party administrators and vendors, and managing customer experience.
Bouvier brings more than 30 years of direct and reinsurance claims experience to Compre and joins from RiverStone where, for the past eight years, he was vice president and director of assumed reinsurance claims.
Matt Postulka has rejoined the Arbella Insurance Group, in Quincy, Massachusetts, as vice president and chief information officer (CIO).
Postulka is responsible for all company technology, including security, architecture, application development, internal infrastructure, and project management.
In 2012, Postulka joined Arbella as a manager and was promoted several times before becoming the company’s assistant vice president and deputy CIO. In 2020, he joined the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston as CIO and senior vice president of technology and operations before returning to Arbella.
Specialty insurance broker Risk Strategies expanded its New England region leadership team with the addition of Charlie Graham as senior vice president, private client services.
Graham joins Risk Strategies, based in Boston, with more than three decades of insurance industry experience, most recently from Orchid Insurance. Graham began her insurance career as an underwriter before moving into account management.
In 2007, she joined Platinum Partners before the company was acquired by Orchid Insurance. She then was appointed to lead the New England region before taking on a national business development executive role.
Distinguished Programs, a New York, New York-based national insurance program manager, appointed Matthew Walters as business development manager.
His new role will support the Distinguished builder’s risk, city insurance, New York brick and brownstone, and vacant building products.
Walters recently served as underwriting manager in the small urban and transitional real estate division where he led the underwriting team.
Walters joined Distinguished Programs in 2019, bringing 18 years of experience in underwriting and leadership roles. Prior to this, he led underwriting teams at All Risks, LTD and NSM Insurance Group.
Alera Group, an independent, national insurance and wealth services firm, named Mervin McCormack as senior vice president, director of property/casualty market relationships working out of the New York, New York, offices.
McCormack will be responsible for leading all property/casualty carrier and intermediary partnerships at Alera Group.
McCormack brings 30 years of insurance industry experience to Alera Group, most recently as executive vice president and chief marketing officer at Foa & Son, an Alera Group company, for 19 years. Prior to joining Foa & Son, McCormack held various leadership and underwriting positions with Chubb, Atlantic Mutual and RSA.
WTW appointed Michelle Cui as director, actuarial property/casualty, in its insurance consulting and technology business.
Cui joins WTW in its Chicago, Illinois, offices from Zurich North America, where she served as vice president and actuarial director.
She has held actuarial and leadership roles at the American Association of Insurance Services and Allstate Insurance Co., specializing in pricing, predictive analytics, and product development for both commercial and personal lines.
Powers Insurance & Risk Management, a family owned insurance agency in St. Louis, Missouri, promoted Chris Sullivan to commercial practice leader.
Sullivan has been with the company for eight years and previously worked as a risk management advisor at Powers’ Emerging Risks division where he helped clients navigate risks in the cannabis, hospitality, construction, and professional services industries.
He has a Commercial Lines Coverage Specialist (CLCS) designation and is a Professional Workers’ Compensation Advisor (PWCA).
The board of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association selected its chief legal and legislative officer, David Durden, to be the association’s next general manager, effective Oct. 1.
Durden began working at TWIA in June 2012. Previously, he served as the Deputy Commissioner of Public Affairs from 2007 to 2012 at the Texas Department of Insurance, where he was responsible for coordinating all facets of public relations, communications, and the tracking of emerging issues.
Durden began his tenure at the Texas Department of Insurance in 1985 and served in various capacities.
Austin, Texas-based Sensa appointed Steven Brown — formerly of Allstate and AAA — as chief operating officer.
Brown has more than 35 years of experience in every aspect of P/C insurance. His background includes leadership roles in distribution, claims, underwriting, product management, service, processing, reinsurance and pricing.
Sensa’s offerings includes automatic accident detection and real-time help with every policy.
Breckenridge Insurance, a wholesale brokerage, hired Sam Frihart as a commercial property underwriter in its specialty property program, based in Atlanta.
Previously, Frihart was property facility underwriting director at Arch Reinsurance and an underwriter in the wholesale property division of Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Companies.
Breckenridge Insurance is part of Breckenridge Group.
McGriff, a retail insurance broker and subsidiary of Truist Insurance Holdings, hired Paul Zederbaum as the practice leader for the newly formed Private Equity Risk Advisors group.
Based in Charlotte, Zederbaum will oversee transactional risks during due diligence and ongoing insurance and risk management.
With two decades of industry experience, Zederbaum spent the past nine years working with a large global broker as director, client services, for its Southeast Private Equity Group.
EPIC Insurance Brokers, a property/casualty insurance brokerage and employee benefits consultant, named Parker Rains as managing principal for its property/casualty practice.
Rains, based in Nashville, will oversee business development and client management for EPIC.
He previously was vice president for a regional commercial insurance agency and was head of the agency’s Tennessee, Alabama and Florida markets.
Pinnacol Assurance in Denver, Colorado, named Wes Parham vice president of public affairs.
Parham will have responsibility for legislative strategy, lobbying efforts, community relations and external advocacy.
Parham is an experienced government relations executive with relationships throughout the key regulatory, legislative, labor, business and state government organizations in Colorado.
He spent the past seven years at Xcel Energy, most recently as director, regional government affairs.
Parham began his career as a congressional staffer and has also worked on statewide political campaigns.
The Pacific Series of Lockton Companies in Sonoma, California, added two employee benefits specialists in the broader North San Francisco Bay Area, Elizabeth Swanson and Nilda Pizano.
Swanson’s 25 years of professional experience includes working as senior account manager at Woodruff Sawyer and benefits consultant at a regional employee benefits brokerage firm before it was acquired by Risk Strategies.
Swanson also has served in leadership positions at various companies including Trinchero Family Estates, Harbor Plastics and Ford Motor Company.
Pizano has more than 13 years of experience overseeing human resources and employee benefits at Sonoma’s Best Hospitality Group, Gloria Ferrer Caves & Vineyards and Freixenet Mionetto.
Venbrook Group LLC named Louis Pippin as chief claims officer of Venbrook Claims Services.
Pippin has nearly 30 years of experience in the areas of multi-line property/casualty liability lines, case management, cost control, compliance standards, and related service delivery of claims and claims handling.
Pippin was most recently with McLarens, and additionally has held positions at State Insurance Fund and Midlands Claims Administrators Inc.
Venbrook also announced four key promotions to the leadership team.
Sarah Novakovich was promoted to chief operating officer at Venbrook Claims Services.
Angelique King is now executive vice president at Carl Warren & Co.
Marc Pittinaro becomes executive vice president at Venbrook Claims Services.
Suzie Spencer is now vice president, business development for Carl Warren & Co.
Venbrook is headquartered in Los Angeles, California, and has various locations across the country.