People & Places

National

Liberty Mutual Insurance appointed Marc Orloff president of Global Risk Solutions (GRS) North America, middle market.

Orloff most recently served as president of field operations and marketing for GRS North America, where he was responsible for delivering commercial and specialty products across all lines of business.

Liberty Mutual also appointed Dieter Korte as Global Risk Solutions North America chief underwriting officer, middle market.

Korte has more than 30 years of underwriting and leadership experience. Before Liberty Mutual, Korte led CNA Financial’s middle market team and was senior vice president, global excess casualty manager at Chubb NA, where he spent 25 years.

Gabriel Galanski joined AXIS Capital Holdings Limited as head of North American property/casualty programs. Before joining AXIS, he served as a vice president with the Macquarie Insurance Facility. Previously, he was an associate client executive at Marsh & McLennan.

Monica Ningen has been named CEO of U.S. P/C Reinsurance at Swiss Re, effective July 1. Ningen replaces Keith Wolfe, who has decided to pursue opportunities outside of Swiss Re.

Ningen has nearly three decades of experience in the re/insurance industry, starting her career at E.W. Blanch, a reinsurance broker. She joined Swiss Re in 2006 when Swiss Re acquired GE Insurance Solutions. Since that time, she has held several leadership roles in property underwriting, including head of property underwriting, U.S. and Canada.

Jolee Crosby was appointed to take over Ningen’s former role as president and CEO of Swiss Re Canada and English Caribbean.

East

Risk Strategies, based in Boston, named S. Stuart Spector chief operating officer, national employee benefits and related specialty group companies.

Spector comes to Risk Strategies with 30 years of experience in the benefits space. Before joining Risk Strategies, he held senior positions at Willis Towers Watson, Center for Medical Technology Policy, National Council on Aging, Vertafore and Benelogic.

Most recently, Spector served as the regional operating officer at Willis Towers Watson, where he was responsible for leading the Eastern Region.

Midwest

Valley Insurance Agency Alliance (VIAA), a network of more than 160 independent insurance agencies in Missouri and Illinois, promoted Thomas “TJ” McCoy IV to personal lines manager for VIAA’s sister company Powers Insurance & Risk Management, headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri.

McCoy will service a high-net-worth book of business and assist in the training and best practice standards supervision of eight team members. He previously served as a personal lines service coach for VIAA. He also has served as an account manager at Bowersox Insurance Agency, Spectrum Insurance Group LLC and Marine Insurance Services LLC.

Church Mutual Insurance Co., based in Merrill, Wisconsin, promoted Dawn Bernatz to assistant vice president, corporate communications, and Koleman Brenner to assistant vice president, shared service operations.

Bernatz will manage internal communications, public and media relations, special events and multimedia production. She joined the company in 2016 as director of marketing strategy and communications.

Brenner will continue to lead support functions, including business process management, vendor and financial management and shared services reporting. He also assumes responsibility for commercial operations, corporate services and home office-based facilities. Brenner joined the company in 2017 as advisory IT people manager.

Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Co., based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, named Abel Travis senior vice president, affiliate operations.

Travis will lead agency enterprises, American Church Group LLC, and Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Services, operationally and strategically, and provide strategic leadership for MinistryWorks – payroll services and HR solutions.

Travis served most recently as the vice president and head of AF Group company, Fundamental Underwriters. He also has served in leadership roles at The Hanover Insurance Group, Chubb and Travelers.

David Mace joined Overland Park, Kansas-based Lockton Affinity as producer member for its recently launched crisis management and global casualty insurance practice, Latitude Risk.

Mace formerly served as executive vice president of product for FocusPoint International and has more than 18 years of experience in special risk underwriting, brokerage and incident response. Mace was a founder of SportifyInsurance and has previously served as Americas representative at Griffin Underwriting Ltd. and assistant vice president – zonal manager, crisis management division at AIG.

Southeast

Larry Chapman Jr., recently an agent with Alfa Insurance, is the new deputy insurance commissioner for the Alabama Department of Insurance.

Chapman will be the department’s liaison with other government offices and industry associations and will manage the public outreach and media relations program, and administration of the department.

He joined Merck Pharmaceutical in 1997, followed by 12 years in sales with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama. He ran his own insurance and consulting firm, CSS Advisors, for six years before joining Alfa in 2018.

Sanjeev Chaudhuri, the former chief actuary at Alfa Insurance, is the new chief actuary for the department.

Chaudhuri has more than 20 years of experience in property/casualty insurance, life insurance, and accident and health, and is a fellow of the Society of Actuaries.

Philip Baddour has been appointed to a second six-year term as a full commissioner at the North Carolina Industrial Commission, which handles workers’ compensation claims disputes. If approved by the state General Assembly, his new term will begin May 1, 2023.

Baddour in 2017 was appointed to his first term as a commissioner, after he served as a deputy commissioner for 17 years. In 2019, he was as chairman of the commission.

Before joining the Industrial Commission, Baddour practiced law in his hometown of Goldsboro, North Carolina. Baddour also previously served as a JAG officer in the North Carolina National Guard.

Elias Admassu is now deputy commissioner at the Industrial Commission.

He litigated claims before the Industrial Commission from 2009 through 2020, representing employers and insurers. He also served in the North Carolina Division of Employment Security and as counsel to the state Department of Justice.

Most recently, Admassu was a special deputy attorney general, representing the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services in complex employment, labor, disability, and constitutional law litigation in federal and state courts and before administrative agencies.

Byars/Wright Inc., a 77-year-old independent agency in Alabama, named Gabe Clement president.

Clement, who joined the firm in 2014 as a broker, helped launch the Birmingham branch in 2019 and was named sales team leader in 2021.

Clement also serves on the Associated Builders and Contractors of Alabama Board of Directors and was awarded the Alabama Associated General Contractors of America 2020 Top 40 Under 40 In Construction.

Previously, Haig Wright was president and CEO of the agency but the two positions were recently separated. Wright remains CEO of the agency, as well as CEO of the parent company, WRM Group, which was formed last year after the merger of Byars/Wright and Pritchett-Moore Insurance in Tuscaloosa.

West

Aspire General Insurance, based in Rancho Cucamonga, California, named Byron Storms chairman of the board.

Storms has worked in senior leadership positions, including president of National General. He joined Aspire General in 2015 and will continue to serve as president and CEO.

Storms has spent over 30 years in the insurance industry, working in various roles, including senior vice president of sales, president, and CEO, as well as launching and running a general agency.

In addition, Tom Newgarden was appointed to Aspire’s board of directors.

Newgarden has more than 30 years of experience with carriers across the property/casualty personal lines spectrum. Newgarden’s previous roles include executive vice president, chief underwriting officer, chief analytics officer and president of National General Preferred.

AMERIND announced the return of CEO Derek Valdo following a year-long religious leave as appointed spiritual leader (3rd War Chief) for the Pueblo of Acoma. Before his departure in January 2022, Valdo appointed Chief Operating Officer Robert Dahl acting CEO.

AMERIND, headquartered in Ana Pueblo, New Mexico, creates affordable, sustainable insurance products and services for Indian Country, strengthening Native American communities and economies and elevating tribal sovereignty.

AMERIND was founded in 1986 and is a 100% percent Tribally owned and operated insurance company.

Scott Kipper was named insurance commissioner at the Nevada Division of Insurance for the third time. Kipper was appointed to the post following the resignation of Barbara Richardson, who had served in the role since 2016.

Kipper served prior stints as Nevada Insurance Commissioner from 2008 to 2010 and again from 2011 to 2015. He has more than 30 years of experience in the insurance industry.

Kipper most recently served as the deputy director of operations for the State of Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner.

Prior to that he founded a private consulting firm providing technical expertise on insurance issues.

He has also served as the insurance administrator of the Oregon Insurance Division, deputy commissioner at the Office of Health Insurance for the Louisiana Department of Insurance, and senior regional director for State Affairs at America’s Health Insurance Plans.