People & Places

Scott Whitehead was promoted to Markel Wholesale's product line leadership team asdirector of binding authority. Whitehead succeeds EvansNash, who was named managing director of wholesalemanagement.

National Life Group appointed JohnBlumberg general agent for a new agency in WestchesterCounty, N.Y. Prior to his appointment, Blumberg represented MassMutual and Northwestern Mutual Insurance Cos. JamesOrtenzio was chosen as general manager of the company'sNew Jersey region. Ortenzio has previous experience with MetLife asa managing director. Julio Soria was appointedgeneral manager of the company's South Florida agency. Soria hasheld leadership roles at New York Life, Prudential FinancialServices and the MONY Group. Pam Blalock joinedNational Life's leadership team as vice president and regionaldevelopment officer. Her focus will be on growth initiatives atmultiple career agencies.

Delia Wright joined CRC|Crump's Dallas office as a property-casualtyassociate broker. Wright has previous experience with AmericanUnderwriting Managers, Swett & Crawford and Aon and will helpCRC|Crump build its commercial lines department in Dallas.

AmWINS Group Inc. announced four hires. BrianBartlett joined the brokerage as vice president. He haspreviously worked with Chartis, Turner Construction, Lockton Cos.and Marsh New York. Todd Fane joined WebTPA asvice president of sales. He comes to AmWINS from his role asdirector of IT at Truman Medical Center. TomMartin also joined WebTPA as vice president and bringswith him more than 20 years of experience in managed healthcare andinsurance. Wayne Gutridge joined NEBCO and willlead the international benefits practice. Prior to AmWINS, Gutridgeimplemented successful programs for companies including WellsFargo, Delta and the US Olympic committe.

New Programs

Asterisk Financial Inc. released its PersonalGuarantee Insurance (PGI) in all 50 states and the District ofColumbia. PGI coverage is the first of its kind–it protectsbusiness owners, partners and investors against personal assetlosses that result from signing personal guarantees. The company isalso experiencing record growth, marking a gross written premiumincreas of 300% since last year.

Ironshore will offer acustomized Lawyers Management Liability Program through itsLloyd's Pembroke Syndicate 4000 in London. The programincludes individual firm attorney coverage asa protection against risks related to insolvency.

QBE combined protections for business owners within asingle product, FlexBiz. Product offerings include:

• Pricing flexibility
• Online rating system to avoid duplicated information
• No workers' comp payroll limitation

News

Markel FirstCorp announced the release of an enhancedindependent agent portal and rebranded logo. The portal adds valueby increasing efficiency, speed of quoting and ease of access toinformation that is integrated between carrier and producer. Therebranding reflects the unity between Markel Corp. andFirstCorp.

The Indiana Health Care Assn., HOPE and LeadingAge Assocs.chose Caitlin-Morgan Insurance Services' workers'comp solution for its current members. This allows members toreceive benefits, including:

• Dividend payouts
• Customized loss prevention
• Lower claims costs
• Fast claims resolutions.

LexisNexis Risk Solutions integrated LexisNexisInsurance Exchange into its commercial insurance business. The neworganization hopes to develop more holistic, innovative commercialinsurance solutions.