People & Places

Marsh & McLennan Cos. announced theaddition of Keith Walsh as vice president, head ofinvestor relations. Walsh's new position ends a 13 year equityresearch analyst role with Citi.

Lauri Benefiel joined Combined Agents ofAmerica as agency manager of its CAA Insurance Servicesdivision. She has a background in brokerageoperations management.

SPARTA Insurance Co. appointed TomColosi to fill the role of senior vice president ofunderwriting. He recently led The Hardford's group captive programbusiness and has 20 years of commercial insurance experience inalternative risk, commercial programs and national accounts.

Mergers & Acquisitions

Marsh &McLennan acquired Howalt+McDowell Insurance, an independentagency in South Dakota. Howalt+McDowell offersproperty-casualty, surety, personal protection and employeebenefits insurance to individuals and midsize businesses inthe upper Midwest. Marsh believes the acquisition willadd high-quality, local talent to its upper Midwest region andcompliment and expand resources available to its clients.

New Programs

Travelers improved Travelers Deluxe in responseto the evolving business environment, adding the followingcoverages and more:

• Extended business income coverage period of 180 days
• Green building alternative incentives
• Electronic data processing equipment coverage embedded inbusiness personal property coverage
• Leasehold interest undamaged tenants improvements
• Personal property in transit
• Dependent business income/extra expense

Markel launched a risk management portal forDataBreach policy holders that will assist in the prevention ofnetwork, cyber and privacy breaches and provide support for lossrecovery. The portal will be powered and maintained by NetDiligence.

News

Aon Risk Solutions created Flood Secure, aninsurance facility providing replacement coverage to U.S.organizations that have impaired aggregated flood limits on theirproperty policy. Coverage will provide immediate reinstatement ofimpaired flood limits for up to $25 million and is backed byLloyd's of London.

WAHVE isproviding independent agencies and other firms hit by Sandyimmediate access to experienced insurance workers to help withclaims support work. WAHVE is offering a discount on its hourlyrate and waiving the setup fee.