People & Places

Willis NorthAmerica announced several executive appointments to its NewYork office: Louise Pennington will serve as COO,where she will be responsible for driving the company's clientadvocacy model; Alexandra Littlejohn will take theposition of regional placement officer, and will oversee $1.7billion of premiums in the marketplace; JillSulkes recently took on the role of executive vicepresident in the New York office.

Vince Terlaje was named president of NIF Pacific. Hesucceeds Gordy Phelps, who will serve as managingdirector for NIF Pacific.

StarrCos. selected Meredith Ryan-Reid to fill therole of North American leader for accident & health. She hasmore than 14 years of industry experience and will be responsiblefor overal growth, profitability, distribution and productofferincs for the division.

Brad Lew was chosen to fill the role of seniorvice president of JLT Reinsurance's new West Coast office. He previouslyworked for Willis Re and has property-casualty and professionalliability experience.

Guy Carpenter welcomed PeterBarr as senior vice president. The appointment is part ofGuy Carpenter's plans to grow its regional reinsurance marketexpertise. Barr has more than 30 years of industry experience.

Scott Bayer was hired as senior vice presidentof excess and surplus lines and Tony Angelo waspromoted to regional vice president for Philadelphia Insurance Cos.'s SoutheastRegion. Bayer will define the company's presence in thenon-admitted market, identifying profitable niches, providingadditional product offerings and expanding distribution sources.Angelo built a $25 million book of business in 3 years afterstarting with Philadelphia's Alabama office in 2009.

The InVEST program awarded William“Bill” Allen Jr., a Travelers Select salesexecutive, with the Dach Award. The award honors an insuranceindustry volunteer who has made large contributions in fosteringthe growth and development of InVEST.

Joe Zuk joined BMS Groupas senior vice president for its reinsurance property-casualtyteam. He will focus on production of new reinsurance business inthe property-casualty segment.

New Programs

Victor O. Schinnerer & Co. added a miscellaneousprofessional liability program, to be underwritten through ACE CommercialRisk Services. It will be available for small businesses withannual revenues of less than $5 million, including businessconsultants, human resource consultants, TPA's trustees, temporarystaffing and home inspectors.

The Insurance Automation Group released version5.0 of its iAutomate: Erlon Surety software. The software aims toreduce costs and the potential for error in developing and managingsurety bonds. New features include:

• TAM interface
• Manage user lists option
• Multiple transaction codes.

Digital Insurance launched aprivate insurance exchange designed to address the needs ofsmall- and medium-sized businesses. The exchange gives employers adefined contribution solution; all they need to do is designate theamount they want to contribute annually to each benefits packageand arrange payroll deduction. Employers can also prioritize andcustomize their insurance needs by selecting coveragefrom an online marketplace.

OneBeacon Professional Insurance created anon-admitted lawyer's professional liability product for law firmsin certain areas of practice. Features of the product include:

• Limits starting at $1 million and up to $5 million
• Disciplinary proceedings costs coverage at$25,000/$100,000
• Definition of professional legal services including lawyer,notary, arbitrator/mediator, court appointed fiduciary, lobbyistand trustee
• Business placed with a OneBeacon surplus lines underwritingcompany with A.M. Best “A” rating.

News

The WoodlandsFinancial Group (TWFG) has plans to expand with the addition ofnew branches located in California, Delaware, Illinois, Louisiana,Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and Virigina. Many newbranch managers will be former captive agents.

Mission Select Insurance Services was formed with the backing ofK2 InsuranceServices to provide an alternative for Texas independentinsurance agents who sell residential property insurance in thestate. The company will use proprietary software to enable agentsto price and bind coverage quicklyand will underwrite businesses onbehalf of financially sound insurers. The co-founders are DaveLacefield, president, and Ashley Hunter, CFO.

Swett & Crawford established EthosUnderwriting Services, a medical stop loss MGU. It will be headedby industry veterans Paul Cromar and Mike McDonald. Together thepair has more than 45 years of industry experience. The MGU isa response to a growing number of companies with employees whoself-fund their health benefits programs.