People & Places

Todd Jackson, owner and partner of McGowan Insurance Group, has been named chairman of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (the Big “I”).

Jackson was installed as the 2024-2025 chairman of the industry group at its fall conference in Indianapolis, which also serves as McGowan’s headquarters.

Along with Jackson, Lou Moran III, president of Inter-Agency Insurance Service in Knoxville, Tennessee, was sworn in as Big “I” chairman-elect. Angela Ripley, president of VW Brown Insurance Services in Columbia, Maryland, will be the 2024-2025 vice chair.

Global specialty insurer Chaucer hired Alex Baker as class underwriter within its political violence and crisis management team. Baker will lead the delivery of their growth strategy and portfolio management in the U.S. market.

Baker previously worked at AXA XL (Catlin) for 13 years, specializing in underwriting terrorism and political violence risks.

Resilience, headquartered in New York, named Rebecca Jones as senior vice president of engineering and Jeremy Gittler as global head of claims.

Jones takes over leadership responsibilities for the company’s engineering team and software delivery efforts. She brings over 20 years of experience leading growth market technology initiatives for various SaaS companies, most recently serving as senior vice president of technology at Disco.

Gittler will lead the company’s global claims team. Before joining Resilience, he held underwriting and claims leadership positions at global commercial insurance provider AXA XL, where he launched and built its cyber claims team.

USG Insurance Services Inc., headquartered in Tampa, Florida, made three new hires to its teams in Texas, Arkansas and Georgia.

Thomas McMahon joins USG’s Arlington, Texas, office with over 25 years of industry experience. He most recently served as a broker and sales manager for FloodFlash.

Kelly Buck joins the USG team in Little Rock, Arkansas, as a producer/broker on their personal lines team. With over 20 years of experience in the insurance industry, she most recently served in personal lines underwriting at Risk Placement Services.

Tara Gudenkauf joins USG’s Atlanta team as a producer/broker. With 20 years in the E&S insurance industry and 38 years overall in commercial insurance, Gudenkauf most recently served as senior vice president of underwriting at Southern Insurance Underwriters Inc.

W.R. Berkley Corp., headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, appointed Antonio Q. L. Rhodes as president of Berkley Mid-Atlantic Insurance Group, a Berkley company.

Rhodes has nearly 20 years of experience in the property/casualty insurance industry. He most recently served as executive vice president and head of property/casualty for Keystone Insurers Group.

Lockton named Josh Korzon chief operating officer (COO) for the Northeast. Korzon succeeds Tim Ryan, who has been appointed as the company’s U.S. president.

Korzon has 20 years of experience in the insurance industry. He most recently served as executive vice president at Lockton. As Northeast COO, Korzon guides business operations for offices in Boston; Portland, Maine; West Hartford and Norwalk, Connecticut; New York City; Philadelphia and Blue Bell, Pennsylvania; Washington, D.C.; and McLean, Virginia.

Acrisure, headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, appointed Bill Farber as head of growth for its Mid-Atlantic region, which includes Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.

Farber has 30 years of experience in asset protection and risk management. Farber served as president and CEO of Agency Partner Donner-Farber & Associates Inc., before joining Acrisure.

Alliant Insurance Services named Brad Heter as vice president and producer within its employee benefits group serving Alliant’s Midwest region, specifically in the Ohio market.

Heter has over 20 years of experience as an employee benefits advisor and joined Alliant from Oswald Companies.

Christensen Group Insurance, headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, tapped Chuck Mazzanti to spearhead its expansion into the Chicago metropolitan area.

Mazzanti is a commercial lines producer with over 15 years of industry experience. He most recently served as a construction risk management consultant at Assurance, a Marsh & McLennan Agency LLC company.

Risk Strategies, headquartered in Boston, appointed Tom Panos as managing director of its Chicago office.

Panos has over 15 years of experience in the insurance industry. He joined The Baldwin Group through its acquisition of Rosenthal Brothers in 2008 when he joined as a producer. Panos’ work has spanned various industry sectors, including real estate, non-profits, manufacturing and distribution, hospitality and warehousing.

JM Wilson, headquartered in Portage, Michigan, hired Savana Musolf and Lisa Hudson as assistant property and casualty underwriters.

Musolf works with independent insurance agents and company underwriters in Michigan and Texas.

Before joining JM Wilson, Musolf worked for over two years as a personal lines CSR at Acrisure.

Hudson supports underwriters with new and renewal property and casualty risks and works with independent insurance agents and company underwriters in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Before joining JM Wilson, Hudson worked as a Medicare Insurance Agent for three years.

Ryan Specialty, headquartered in Chicago, hired Michael F. Albian as president, group captives, Ryan Alternative Risk.

Albian has 15 years of experience in the insurance industry, the last 11 of which he has spent creating, growing and managing numerous group captive programs. He most recently served as senior vice president at Captive Resources, LLC and previously served as an insurance broker at Hub International and in private wealth management at UBS.

Stephens Insurance LLC, an affiliate of Stephens Inc., announced Scott Miller will join the firm as a senior vice president within the property/casualty practice.

Miller brings more than 25 years of experience in the insurance industry, serving clients with complex risk management profiles across the United States.

Based in the firm’s Little Rock, Arkansas, headquarters, he most recently served as a senior vice president at IMA Financial Group.

Fideles Advisors, headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, appointed Tim Lovett chief systems and distribution advisor.

Lovett previously served as director of business development and strategic partnerships at The Hartford and as manager at Nationwide Brokerage Solutions.

Lovett has also provided consultancy within the insurance carrier and distribution arenas, focusing on insurance technology and workflow automation.

Lockton, based in Kansas City, Missouri, hired benefits consultant Chad Young as senior vice president based in its Houston office.

Young previously served as an account executive at Aetna and held senior account executive roles at Assurant and The Hartford.

He most recently served as an area vice president and a benefits consultant at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. for over 13 years.

CRC Group, a wholesale specialty insurance distributor with headquarters in Birmingham, Alabama, added new faces to its team in the Southeast.

Sam Rector joined the Nashville office as a broker. He has spent almost 10 years in the industry, including recent work as an associate director with a multinational company.

Chris Young is now a personal lines underwriting team leader in CRC’s Alpharetta, Georgia, office. He has some 26 years in the insurance business, including a role as senior personal lines underwriter with a wholesale broker.

Davon Fields has joined CRC’s Birmingham, Alabama, office as a broker. He recently was vice president with an insurance brokerage.

Donnie Waters was named senior team leader in the group’s Tampa office.

He has more than 20 years’ experience in the industry and was recently a managing partner with a wholesale brokerage.

Buckner appointed Kevin Peterson as its new director of partnerships.

Peterson joins Buckner from WCF Insurance, where he was most recently senior vice president of middle market. Before that, he spent over 20 years at Nationwide.

Buckner is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The Liberty Company Insurance Brokers named Pierce Dyer vice president and producer.

He is based in Seattle and operates from the Woodland Hills, California office.

Pierce Dyer represents the fourth generation of Dyers in the insurance industry. Dyer’s great-grandfather and grandfather founded W.C. Dyer & Sons in 1913 in Salem, Oregon.

The Liberty Company Insurance Brokers is based in Gainesville, Florida.

Chris Mast joined Alliant Insurance Services as senior vice president, producer within its employee benefits group serving operations in the Rocky Mountain region.

Mast has more than 20 years of experience consulting employers across various industries.