People & Places
Lockton Re, the reinsurance business of independent insurance broker Lockton, added Brian Lewis as senior broker, leading the Cyber practice for North America. He is based in Lockton Re’s New York office.
Lewis has over 20 years of insurance broking and underwriting experience and was most recently cyber product leader at Zurich North America.
Sedgwick, the Memphis, Tennessee-based provider of claims management, loss adjusting and technology-enabled business solutions, named Emily Fink as its new chief marketing officer.
Fink joins Sedgwick with more than 20 years of experience in marketing and brand management. She spent the last 11 years at Liberty Mutual Insurance, most recently as president, Marketing and Distribution. Among her accomplishments at Liberty Mutual was creating the iconic mascots, LiMu Emu and Doug, and the “Liberty, Liberty, Liberty” jingle used in national advertising campaigns.
Aon plc, headquartered in London, named two new leaders in global and U.S. commercial risk.
Arshi Ahmed has been named global head of analytics for financial, professional and cyber products, commercial risk. Ahmed previously led commercial risk data analytics for cyber programs. She is based in New York.
Ben Von Obstfelder has been named head of U.S. casualty analytics for commercial risk. Von Obstfelder, based in Chicago, previously served as director of analytics and innovation within Aon’s North America casualty team for commercial risk.
Tokio Marine North America, headquartered in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, promoted Caryn Angelson to executive officer at Tokio Marine Holdings and chief diversity and inclusion officer (CDIO). She replaces Mika Nabeshima who is taking over the role of chief sustainability officer.
Angelson currently serves as deputy CDIO, chief HR officer of Tokio Marine North America Services and chief legal officer.
State Farm Mutual named President Jon Farney as the company’s next chief executive officer. Farney will succeed retiring CEO Michael Tipsord on June 1.
Farney joined State Farm in 1993 and has served in a variety of executive leadership roles. Farney succeeded Tipsord as president of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. on Jan. 1.
Tipsord took the helm of the company in 2015. He began his State Farm career in 1988. He was elected chairman of the board of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance in 2016, and will continue to serve as chairman when Farney becomes CEO later this year.
EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants (EPIC), headquartered in San Francisco, named Jim Romanelli as executive vice president. Based in New York, Romanelli will focus on growth in the Northeast region.
Romanelli has over three decades of experience in the insurance industry.
The New Hampshire Insurance Department (NHID) promoted Jason Dexter to assistant commissioner and Michelle Heaton to director of life and health.
Dexter joined NHID in 2019 as the life and health forms compliance administrator.
Heaton has nearly six years of experience as an attorney in the New Hampshire Department of Justice administrative prosecutions unit. Since joining the NHID, she has served in various capacities.
California-based independent insurance broker Woodruff Sawyer is expanding its East Coast footprint with the addition of six executives.
Matthew Kelly, Robert Trager, Bob Kempner, Chris Iovino, Eric Wagner, and Michael Rella – who previously were with Acricure’s construction and commercial risk practice – will open Woodruff Sawyer’s first office in New York.
The New York team members have backgrounds in construction, bonding, and surety.
The Hartford, headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut, appointed Matthew Massaro head of sales and underwriting for its middle and large commercial businesses’ Northeast division.
Massaro has been with The Hartford for over 25 years, most recently serving as regional vice president for the Connecticut and Long Island, New York offices.
Alliant Insurance Services, headquartered in Irvine, California, hired Lou Spina as senior vice president with Alliant Specialty, bolstering the company’s New York-based surety team. The surety industry veteran brings more than 36 years of experience.
Alliant also added Branden Neal as senior vice president on the value-based healthcare solutions team within the employee benefits group. He is also based in New York.
LAUNCH, headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, named JT Seger as chief technology officer. Seger’s experience includes being a co-founder at Sequel and a principal software engineer at Maptician and iN2L+LifeLoop.
Kraus-Anderson Insurance (KA), in Minneapolis, hired Andrew Creary and Joe Tietema as business risk consultants, and Shannon Strom and Nick Swanson as benefits advisors.
Creary comes to KA from Kansas City-based Lockton Cos., where he served as a business and risk consultant.
Tietema previously was a commercial lines advisor for Assured Partners of Minnesota.
Strom recently served as the vice president of growth at Elevate Advisory Group, an employee benefits firm based in Plymouth, Minnesota.
Swanson founded Ezra Insurance Group, an independent health insurance agency.
Farmers Alliance Companies, headquartered in McPherson, Kansas, promoted Brad Miller to vice president, information technology (IT).
Miller joined Farmers Alliance in 2001 and has held various leadership positions in data and technology. He was promoted to director of IT in 2021 and continues these responsibilities.
Westfield, headquartered in Westfield Center, Ohio, named Stuart Rosenberg to the newly created position of president of standard lines.
With two decades of experience at Westfield, Rosenberg most recently served as enterprise leader for personal insurance, chief innovation and strategy officer, and interim head of commercial insurance.
JM Wilson, headquartered in Portage, Michigan, named Eric Chalus as transportation underwriter.
Chalus joined JM Wilson in 2021 as an assistant transportation underwriter.
Dallas-based Brown & Riding appointed Bill Stratico national professional liability practice leader.
Stratico has over 35 years of industry experience. He joined Brown & Riding in 2010 as a management and professional liability broker, and most recently served as senior vice president.
McGlinchey Stafford, headquartered in New Orleans, named former Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon, an attorney, as a member. While his insurance regulatory practice is national in scope, he will primarily work from the Baton Rouge and New Orleans offices.
Donelon became commissioner in 2006 and was elected to four consecutive terms, ending in January 2024. He also has represented Jefferson Parish in the Louisiana House of Representatives.
Alliant Insurance Services hired April Files as senior vice president within the Alliant Americas division. She is based in Houston.
Files comes to Alliant with more than 24 years of experience as an industry generalist, including her most recent role as senior director of commercial lines at Marsh and previous roles at Arthur J. Gallagher and Lockton Companies.
Atlas Insurance has named Jared Hawkins and Michael Howard partners in the Sarasota, Florida-based agency.
Howard is a third-generation insurance agent at the firm.
Hawkins is a second-generation agent who specializes in construction coverage. He has been with Atlas since 2011.
Winston Welch joined Crest Insurance Group in its Tucson and Scottsdale, Arizona, offices.
Welch has extensive experience in management and business development, both in the United States and internationally. He previously served as U.S. support manager at TrackMan and as omni sales and operations lead at Dick’s Sporting Goods.
Alliant Insurance Services hired Frank Ross as vice president within its Alliant Americas division.
Ross joins Alliant with a property/casualty insurance background encompassing risk management, cyber liability, and executive liability. Before joining Alliant, he was senior vice president at USI and senior vice president at Wells Fargo.
Willy Hammond joined the Alliant’s private client division as vice president, senior loss control specialist.
Hammond has 30 years of industry experience and previously served as national director of premier accounts at The Cincinnati Insurance Companies, and as vice president, platinum accounts, risk management services at AIG, private client group.
ICW Group Insurance Companies promoted Paul Zamora to chief underwriting officer.
Zamora joined ICW Group nearly 20 years ago to oversee its workers’ compensation underwriting business. He most recently served as senior vice president of workers’ compensation underwriting. Zamora has more than 30 years of experience in the insurance and underwriting business.
ICW Group is headquartered in San Diego, California.