People & Places

CRC Group, headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, hired Vince Colosimo as executive vice president in the company’s New York City downtown office. Colosimo will assume the role of office president in mid-2025, with current Office President Fred Curatolo taking on a newly created role as office chairman.

Before joining CRC Group, Colosimo most recently served as executive vice president at Markel.

AXA XL appointed Anne Marie Elder global chief underwriting officer.

Based in Hartford, Connecticut, Elder will collaborate with regional underwriting operations to set the strategic direction, and support business development, of AXA XL’s collective marine, aerospace, and specialty niche portfolios, under a newly created global specialty branch.

Elder previously served as AXA XL’s global chief underwriting officer, marine.

Marsh McLennan, headquartered in New York, appointed David Liston as U.S. and Canada chief commercial officer (CCO).

Liston previously served as Marsh U.S. and Canada corporate segment leader, and recently had an expanded role across Marsh and Mercer, driving mid-market offerings for the region. His appointment follows the transition of Susan Potter to the role of president, Mercer U.S. and Canada.

Liston, who has been with Marsh for over 30 years, previously served as the U.S. sales and marketing leader, and prior to that was responsible for the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut region. He is based in New York.

Markel Group Inc., based in Glen Allen, Virginia, named Mike Heaton executive vice president and chief operating officer.

Heaton most recently served as executive vice president at Markel Group. From 2016 to 2022, he served as president of Markel Ventures and was the chief operating officer of Markel Ventures before that.

Risk Strategies, headquartered in Boston, named Stuart Piltch president of its Risk Strategies Consulting business segment.

A 35-year consulting industry veteran, Piltch joined Risk Strategies through the 2021 acquisition of Cambridge Advisory Group, a pharmacy, actuarial and benefits consulting firm founded by Piltch in 1999. In his new role, Piltch will be responsible for the Risk Strategies Consulting business segment, including growth, strategic direction and client satisfaction.

Risk Strategies also named John T. Carson as employee benefits leader, New England region. Carson will be responsible for the regional strategy for the employee benefits business segment.

Carson has over 20 years of experience in business development and executive leadership in health, retirement, equity compensation and human resources/payroll administration. He previously served as the head of U.S. commercial growth for TELUS Health and, before that, as chief revenue officer for Vericred and Flores & Associates.

Risk Strategies is a privately held brokerage firm offering risk management advice, insurance and reinsurance placement for commercial companies, nonprofits, public entities, and individuals from more than 100 offices.

World Insurance Associates, in Iselin, New Jersey, named Andrea Haan chief human resources officer. Haan is based in Chicago.

Haan comes to World with over 25 years of human resources leadership experience in the insurance, financial services and data and analytics industries. Before joining World, Haan was senior vice president of global talent for Circana.

Lockton, headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, named Steve Goldenberg executive vice president, operations. He is based in Kansas City.

Goldenberg joins Lockton from Aon where he held several senior leadership roles throughout his 15-year tenure, including most recently serving as global chief operating officer, commercial risk solutions.

Leif Assurance, headquartered in St. Louis, hired Lauren Elizabeth Gulli as brand marketing specialist and Connor Kay as digital marketing specialist.

Before joining Leif Assurance, Gulli was a marketing director for a business consulting firm. Kay previously worked as a business development representative at Axiom.

Valley Insurance Agency Alliance (VIAA), a family of more than 160 independent insurance agencies in Missouri and Illinois, hired David Drda as an alliance coordinator.

Drda has 12 years of insurance industry experience, previously serving as an account manager for sister company Powers Insurance & Risk Management.

Matt Cohan joined Alliant Insurance Services as vice president within its employee benefits group. The Kansas City-based consultant will serve a national client base.

Cohan joins Alliant with more than 20 years of industry experience. Before joining Alliant, Cohan was vice president and director of employee benefits with IMA Financial Group Inc.

Acrisure, headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, tapped long-time partner Kelly Reed to lead its newly established Great Lakes regional unit, encompassing its businesses in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio.

Reed has over 15 years of experience in healthcare, surety, construction, manufacturing, professional liability and transportation. He previously served as CEO at Vast.

Schauer Group in Canton, Ohio, named Vice President Alex Schauer head of its employee benefits division.

Schauer, who is based out of the firm’s Cleveland office, has been with Schauer Group since 2014. Schauer represents the fourth generation of Schauer Group leadership and is assuming departmental responsibilities held for decades by William T. Schauer, who now serves as vice chairman of Schauer Group.

Jeffrey Houston has been appointed to the Texas Risk Management Board for a term set to expire on Feb. 1, 2025. Additionally, Gerald Ladner Sr. was named chair of the board, which coordinates, monitors and directs information resources management within state government.

Houston, of Dripping Springs, is senior vice president at Mondee Holdings Inc. in Austin. He is a member of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Society of Austin and former member of the CFA Society of Chicago.

Ladner, of Austin, is a semi-retired property/casualty insurance company senior executive. His 42-year career included serving as vice president of Strategic Agent Partnerships and External Affairs, vice president of Sales, and regional president for State Auto.

Lou Lerant joined South & Western Insurance as a business development specialist. South & Western Insurance, based in Addison, Texas, is a member of the Bridge Specialty Group.

Lerant will work closely with sales and underwriting to grow revenue organically. Lerent has over 10 years of insurance industry experience in marketing and underwriting.

The board of directors for CompSource Mutual Insurance Co., headquartered in Oklahoma City, appointed Trey Ingram chief executive officer.

Ingram has served nine years on CompSource Mutual’s board and previously served as CEO at Momentum AI and Legend Energy Services.

Steve Hardin, CompSource Mutual’s chief financial officer, has served as the company’s acting president since November and will continue as president along with his current role as CFO.

BenefitMall, headquartered in Dallas, named Jenny Long as sales manager for retention overseeing Georgia and Florida markets.

Long brings 15 years of industry experience to her new role. Before joining BenefitMall, Long served as a retention manager and a sales executive with Humana.

Leah Barr joined commercial transportation insurance wholesaler Across America Insurance, based in Riverside, California, as chief financial and technology officer.

A 20-year insurance industry veteran, Barr was previously technology manager in the premium accounting department for Amwins and vice president, CFO at Hanover Excess & Surplus.

Marc Sobel joined Aspire General Insurance Services in Rancho Cucamonga, California, as state expansion and strategic account manager. He will focus on Aspire’s state expansion plans, starting with Arizona.

Sobel has 30 years of insurance expertise, primarily in specialty auto. He most recently served as a senior sales executive at Kemper, where he worked for over 20 years.

Burnham Benefits Insurance Services, headquartered in Irvine, California, named William Foderaro as managing director.

Foderaro has more than 20 years of experience in the employee benefits industry. He was most recently managing director at OneDigital.

Mercury Insurance, headquartered in Los Angeles, named Simon Zhang chief data and analytics officer.

Before joining Mercury, Zhang was chief data scientist at GrowingIO.

BenefitMall named Carmen Perea sales executive for Northern California. Perea has more than two decades of industry experience. Perea previously worked as an account executive at Dickerson Insurance Services, An Alera Group Co.

Anne Belinn joined Alliant Insurance Services as a vice president within its employee benefits group. Belinn will provide employee benefits consulting to a wide variety of clients nationwide.

Belinn has over 25 years of experience in employee benefits consulting and served a lengthy tenure as a senior vice president and partner at Woodruff Sawyer.

Alliant is headquartered in Irvine, California,

C3 Risk & Insurance Services in San Diego promoted two employees to partner positions.

Doug Shea, construction practice leader, joined C3 in 2021 as its construction practice leader. He previously worked with Barney & Barney and Marsh McLennan.

Chris Morse, producer, joined C3 in 2022. He previously worked at Brown & Brown and at Wells Fargo.