People & Places

NIP Group names group president/COO: NIP Group promotedDave Springer to group president and chief operating officer.Springer will aid in NIP specialty insuranceexpansion. Prior to joining NIP, he held senior executive positionswith AmTrustFinancial Services and Prudential Insurance Co.

Big I issues 3 agent awards: The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers ofAmerica (Big I) named the following award winners atthe 2012 Big I Legislative Conference andConvention, April 25-27:

• Clay Jackson of BB&T Insurance Services in Nashville,Tenn., received the Sidney O. Smith Award. Theaward is given annually by the Big I and the Independent Insurance Agents of Georgia to anagent or broker working in the field of governmentaffairs with outstanding service.
• Forrest "Brick" Schnobrich of Iowa receivedthe 2011 Barney Burns Award. It is presented to aninsurance professional who makes a great contribution to InsurPac. Under Schnobrich's leadership, Iowaincreased its contribution to InsurPac by more than 30percent.
• The New Hampshire Assn. of InsuranceAgents received the 2011 HerndonAward, which is given to the state association whoselegislative achievements for the previous year have beendeemed most valuable.

Mergers & Acquisitions

Forethought buys The Hartford's individual annuitiescapabilities: Houston-based financial services company,Forethought, is set to purchase The Hartford's individual annuity and new businesscapabilities, according to a recent agreement betweenthe two companies. This consists of product management,distribution and marketing units, as well as the suite of productscurrently being sold. Most of The Hartford's individual annuityemployees will be offered positions with Forethought, according toa press release. As a part of the agreement, The Hartford willstill write new annuity products during a transaction period.Further agreement terms have not been disclosed.

New Programs

Willis Re introduces personal auto vehiclemodule: Willis Re, the reinsurance brokerage arm of Willis Group Holdings,announced the addition of ISO Risk AnalyzerPersonal Auto Vehicle Module to its existing joint marketingrelationship with ISO—a member of the Verisk InsuranceSolutions group at Verisk Analytics. ISO Risk Analyzer is a suite ofpredictive models that help insurers classify, segment and pricerisks. The Personal Auto Vehicle Module can use vehiclecharacteristics to predict collision and comprehensive losses at ahighly granular level. Willis Re will offer select clients theability to license this module, effective immediately.

News

Travelers announces Click portal: Travelersintroduced the Travelers Click portal. It is an expansion of the company's bond &financial products technology platform, dedicated tosimplifying the online process of purchasing and issuing commercialsurety bonds. Significant features of Travelers Click includesimplified navigation, smarter technology, faster executionand an ever-evolving platform.