William D. Jeatran has been elected vice president andchair-elect of Assurex Global, a network of independent insurancebrokers, the organization announced.

Mr. Jeatran is chief executive officer of RJF Agencies Inc.,Minneapolis. He was elected at the Assurex annual meeting inToronto.

Matt Coleman, president, commercial lines, of Denver-based VanGilder Insurance Corp., was elected treasurer; and Johnny Pitts,chief manager of Lipscomb & Pitts Insurance, Memphis, Tenn.,was named secretary.

Paul J. Hering, managing principal and CEO of Barney &Barney LLC, San Diego, continues as chair of Assurex Global.

New board members elected to three-year terms include Jim Davis,partner at John L. Wortham & Son, L.P., Houston; Robin Harman,global network director for HSBC Insurance Brokers (UK) Ltd.,London; and Kurt D. Watson, president and chief operations officerof The IMA Financial Group Inc., Wichita, Kan.

Shareholders also re-elected Greg Collins, president ofSeattle-based Parker, Smith & Feek Inc., to the board.

Assurex Global, with 117 partner firms, counts itself theworld's largest privately held risk management, commercialinsurance and employee benefits brokerage group, with annualpremiums of $23 billion.