Executive Changes
EMC Insurance Cos. Names Successor as President and CEO Bruce Kelley Retires

Employers Mutual Casualty Co. has named Scott Jean to succeed Bruce Kelley as president, chief executive officer and treasurer.

Kelley, who has been with the company for 35 years, resigned as president and treasurer of EMC Insurance Cos. on Jan. 3. As of that date, Jean took over as president and treasurer of EMC. Kelley will retire as CEO on March 11, and Jean will become president, treasurer and CEO for EMC Insurance Cos.

Kelley joined EMC in 1985 as the company's first in-house general counsel and served in that position for four years. In 1989, he was promoted to executive vice president. Kelley became president and chief operating officer in 1991 and was named chief executive officer in 1992 when his father, Robb Kelley, retired.

“I have been honored to lead the company that was founded by my great grandfather, John Alexander Gunn,” Kelley said. “The original focus of the company was selling workman's compensation insurance to employers in Iowa. And I am proud of how we have expanded the company to offering commercial lines property and casualty insurance products in more than 40 states.”

Jean joined EMC as an actuary in 1991. He was promoted to vice president and chief actuary in 2009 and executive vice president in 2015. In 2018, Jean moved into the position of executive vice president—finance and strategy, overseeing accounting, actuary, corporate risk management, EMC reinsurance, information technology, investments, corporate strategy and innovation.

—Barbara Edwards

Kaiser Permanente Names Interim CEO as Chairman and Chief Executive

The Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals has named Gregory A. Adams as chairman and chief executive officer. Adams had been interim chairman and CEO following the death of Bernard J. Tyson in November.

Adams has 30 years of leadership experience as a senior health care executive. Since 2016, he has served as executive vice president and group president, with direct responsibility for health plan and hospital operations in all eight Kaiser Permanente regions, serving more than 12 million members and operating 39 hospitals and 701 medical office facilities. Adams' responsibilities included co-leading Enterprise Shared Services to serve the operational needs of the regions and leading Kaiser Permanente's national Medicare care delivery strategy.

Prior to that, he was named regional president of Kaiser Permanente for Northern California in April 2008. In July 2013, he was appointed executive vice president.

Hartford Financial Appoints Genden Head of International Insurance

Hartford Financial has named Sean Genden as head of international insurance. He will be based in London.

Prior to joining Hartford, Genden held a number of leadership roles at Travelers' Insurance, including chief executive officer of its Lloyd's managing agency, CEO of the U.K.-domiciled insurance company and most recently its international business insurance segment lead.

Former Lloyd's Head Joins Clyde & Co. Board

Clyde & Co. has named Inga Beale and Stephen Chipman to join its management board in the newly created position of independent members.

Beale, former chief executive officer at Lloyd's, and Chipman, former U.S. CEO at Grant Thornton, transitioned to their new roles on Jan. 1.

Beale was CEO of Lloyd's between 2014 and 2018, during which time she initiated a large-scale digital and cultural transformation program and led its expansion into China, Dubai and India. She has held senior leadership positions across the insurance sector globally, including as group CEO at Canopius and Converium, and has previously held management positions at Zurich Insurance and GE Insurance Solutions.

Chipman in 2016 became CEO of technology-enabled business services company Radius and subsequently held the role of group managing director, international expansion services when Radius was acquired by international expansion consultancy and services company Vistra in 2018.

AIG Names Zaffino President

Peter S. Zaffino became president of American International Group Inc. on Jan. 1, taking over the title from AIG CEO Brian Duperreault. Zaffino continues to serve as global chief operating officer of AIG and chief executive officer of general insurance.

Zaffino joined AIG in July 2017 as executive vice president, global COO and then assumed the additional role of CEO of AIG's general insurance business in November 2017. He joined from Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc., where he served as CEO of Marsh LLC from 2011 through 2017 and as chairman of the risk and insurance services segment of Marsh from 2015 to 2017.

“Today's announcement recognizes the value that Peter has brought to AIG over the last couple of years,” Duperreault said in a statement. “His strategic approach to our general insurance business, particularly with respect to the foundational changes we have made in the areas of underwriting and reinsurance, has been critical to the significant turnaround taking hold in that business.”

Liberty Specialty Markets Names Head of Terrorism Underwriting

Liberty Specialty Markets named Jennifer Rubin to the newly created role of senior underwriting executive and head of terrorism underwriting in North America.

Rubin, who is based in New York, has 19 years of experience in the sector and was previously senior vice president, head of property and terrorism at Hiscox USA.

Penn National Announces Successor to Retiring CEO Christine Sears

Penn National Insurance has named Robert Brandon to succeed Christine Sears as president and chief executive officer.

Brandon, who joined Penn National in 1995 and most recently served as chief operating officer, transitioned to the president role on Jan. 1 and will assume CEO duties once Sears retires on Aug. 31. Sears will remain on the company's board of directors.

Sears joined Penn National Insurance in 1980 as a financial analyst and progressed through the financial division, becoming a senior vice president and chief financial officer in 1999. She became president and CEO in 2014.

Penn National also elevated John Foster from vice president of underwriting operations to senior vice president of insurance operations. That promotion also took effect on Jan. 1.

Ascot Names Drew Walter Head of Cyber and Commercial E&O

Ascot has named Drew Walter as executive vice president and head of cyber and commercial E&O. Tracy O'Hara, Abigail Oliver, Greg Garijanian, and Ben Mancuso will also join the team.

In his new role, Walter will build a business writing cyber alongside technology, media, and miscellaneous E&O classes. The team will have a national presence across the United States and will focus on wholesale and limited retail distribution to write admitted and nonadmitted products and will be based in New York.

Walter joined Ascot after almost 10 years with Axis Capital, where he was head of global cyber &technology underwriting delivery. Walter oversaw the regional underwriting on a range of cyber and errors and omissions products throughout the United States.

“The addition of Drew's team exponentially strengthens our U.S. financial lines presence,” said Greg Wolyniec, president and chief executive officer, Ascot U.S. “The E&O lines complement our existing lawyers professional liability and recently launched D&O and FI offerings while the team's cyber expertise will be used to provide standalone and innovatively bundled cyber solutions across many of our lines of business.”

AmTrust Promotes CFO to President

AmTrust Financial Services Inc. has promoted Adam Karkowsky from chief financial officer to president. He will report to Barry Zyskind, chairman and chief executive officer of AmTrust.

As AmTrust CFO, Karkowsky has led the transformation of AmTrust's finance organization, strengthening financial reporting capabilities, processes and procedures. In his new role, Karkowsky will continue to focus on developing relationships with agents, brokers, partners and clients.

Karkowsky joined AmTrust in March 2011, serving as executive vice president, strategic development and mergers and acquisitions, and has been AmTrust's CFO since June 2017. Previously, Karkowsky worked in various finance and strategy roles in the private equity and insurance industries, including as vice president, mergers and acquisitions insurance group, at American International Group Inc. He began his career as a corporate associate at Katten Muchin Rosenman.

NAIC Elects South Carolina Insurance Director as President

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners has elected its officers for 2020.

South Carolina Insurance Director Raymond G. Farmer will be president. He was appointed director of the department in 2012, the NAIC said.

Florida Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier has been named president-elect. He was appointed commissioner by the Florida Financial Services Commission in 2016. Idaho Insurance Director Dean L. Cameron, appointed department director in 2015, will serve as vice president.

Missouri Insurance Director Chlora Lindley-Myers, appointed in 2017, will serve as secretary-treasurer.

The officers assumed their duties on Jan. 1.

The 2019 NAIC president was Maine Insurance Superintendent Eric A. Cioppa.

Lincoln Financial Group Appoints Interim President

Lincoln Financial Group named Eric Reisenwitz as interim president of its group protection business, succeeding Dick Mucci, who retired. Reisenwitz transitioned into his new role on Dec. 31. He will report to Dennis R. Glass, president and chief operating officer.

Reisenwitz will be responsible for the continued growth and profitability of the business and oversee the division's product development, underwriting, distribution, claims, service, strategy and marketing efforts.

Reisenwitz has more than 30 years of experience, both domestic and international, in the group insurance and employee benefits area. He most recently served as senior vice president and COO for Lincoln's group business, responsible for the business' distribution, claims and operations functions. He joined Lincoln in 2012 and has served in a variety of senior leadership roles in the group business. Prior to Lincoln, he held leadership positions with other insurance companies, including MetLife, Aetna and Cigna.

President & CEO of Plymouth Rock Assurance Direct Group to Retire

Plymouth Rock Assurance Direct Group President and Chief Executive Officer Gerry Wilson has announced his retirement.

Wilson will remain in his current position until a successor is found. A national external search process is now underway to find a new president and CEO to lead the company's direct-to- consumer and Prudential agent automobile insurance operations, the company said in a statement.

Since 2000, Wilson has served as president and CEO at the Plymouth Rock New Jersey location.

“It has been a privilege to lead Plymouth Rock in New Jersey these past two decades,” said Wilson in a statement. “I am enormously proud of our growth and what we have accomplished together. The company's future prospects are extremely encouraging and I look forward to a smooth transition.”

Beazley Names Chief Marketing Officer

Beazley has named Georgina Peters-Venzano as chief marketing officer.

Peters-Venzano will transition into her new role in March and will lead Beazley's global marketing and communication strategy and head up a team based in the United States and the United Kingdom. She will be based in London.

Peters-Vanzano has more than 18 years of marketing and communications experience in the insurance and financial services sectors. She joins from CNA Hardy, where she was director for brand strategy, marketing and communications for almost six years. Prior to this, she was senior marketing communications manager at Coller Capital and communications consultant at Chubb Insurance Company of Europe.