People and Places

Applied Systems names chief marketing officer: AppliedSystems, an insurance software company,announced that Ian Hoffman has joined thecompany’s executive team in the new role of chief marketingofficer. Hoffman will be responsible for the direction of allbranding, marketing and communications strategy at Applied Systems,the North American market leader in insurance agency and brokermanagement software. He reports to Chief Executive Officer ReidFrench. Hoffman formerly served as senior vice president ofmarketing at Intergraph Corp., a global software company at theforefront of geospatial and computer-aided design software.

Zurich appoints head of product development and head ofNorth America Railroad: Gary Hirschkron will be the headof product development for Zurich Global Life in North America,effective immediately. Hirschkron will lead the product developmenteffort for Global Life in the North American market, as well asdrive the development and maintenance of the product portfolio. Healso will be involved in the profitable growth of each of ZurichGlobal Life's distribution pillars across North America: FarmersNew World Life, Corporate Life & Pensions, IndependentFinancial Advisors and Private Banking. Also announced today isthat Jim Dowdy will add responsibility for its railroad practice inaddition to overseeing Zurich's Specialty Lines Property businessand Ron Mathewson and Gary Linde as casualty underwriterssupporting the Railroad business.

New president of Smart Choice Agents program: SmartChoice reported that Chris McLeod willjoin the organization as president of the Smart Choice^®agents program on November 16. As former vice president ofprofessional development for the Independent Insurance AgentsAssociation of North Carolina (IIANC), Chris brings over 40 yearsof hands-on industry experience to her new role. She has served inevery area of the industry from personal and commercial lines salesand service, and agency management for a national brokeragefirm.

Mergers and Acquisitions

CSI appoints new program manager:ConsumerSpecialties Insurance Co. (CSI) has appointed Ames & GoughInsurance/Risk Management Inc. (A&G) as ProgramManager for its program. CSI had been working with Hanna, Kremer& Tilghman Insurance (HKT), but it was sold to another agencythat decided to withdraw from the program management business. Ames& Gough will coordinate all risk selection and recruitment,serve as national broker, and issue policies for CSI. Primaryobjectives include serving current policyholders and seekadditional participants for the CSI program.

BB&T to acquire California insurance agency: Branch, Banking andTrust Insurance Services expands its operations withthe acquisition of Precept Group, an industry- leading full-serviceemployee benefits consulting and administrative solutions firm.This acquisition adds 140 employees to BB&T Insurance Services.The new agency, which operates under the Precept Group name, willcontinue to manage precept consulting services and proview benefitsadministration services.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. acquires Trissel Graham &Toole: Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.,announced that is has acquired Iowa-based Trissel Graham &Toole (TGT). Trissel Graham & Toole (TGT) offersrisk management, property/casualty and employee benefit insuranceservices for their commercial and personal lines clients in thecentral US. Also, they specialize in placing coverages for themanufacturing, education, healthcare, construction, municipality,and transportation industries. According to insurance broker, MarkSchwab, Robert Karll and their staff will continue to operate intheir Davenport and Sterling, Illinois locations under thedirection of Thomas Gallagher, Midwest regional manager ofGallagher's retail property/casualty brokerage operation.

MMA acquires a division of Kaeding, Ernst & Co.:Marsh& McLennan Agency (MMA), a subsidiary of insurancebroker Marsh Inc., has acquired the employee benefits division ofKaeding, Ernst & Co., a Marlborough,Massachusetts-based employee benefits, life insurance, andfinancial planning consulting firm. Terms of the transaction werenot disclosed. The division, with approximately $600,000 in annualrevenue, will become a part of Bostonian Group, a Marsh &McLennan Agency company, further expanding Bostonian’s depth andexpertise in employee benefits.

New Policies

Swiss Re Corp. Solutions launches primary non-admittedproduct: Swiss Re CorporateSolutions announced the launch of its primary non-admittedprofessional liability product for US-based law firms. The newprimary non-admitted lawyers’ professionalliability coverage, which is geared toward law firmswith 1-150 employees, complements Swiss Re’s primary LPL product,which has been available for more than 35 years